June 18, 2007
26 The number of people arrested by Florida officials on charges of using fraudulent identification to gain employment. The arrests stem from a joint investigation by the Department of Financial Services and the Department of Environmental Protection that found 115 …
June 18, 2007
Vulnerable Outer Banks “If we had a Katrina-sized storm, 75 percent of these islands could be gone. You can count on it cleaning the clock.” — Stan Riggs, a geologist at East Carolina University who has studied the barrier islands …
June 18, 2007
The National Hurricane Center has identified the names that will be used during 2007 to designate storms. Names of storms that are particularly destructive or deadly are retired and replaced. Names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y and …
June 18, 2007
State Farm will be able to cut its car insurance rates by about 16 percent on average if lawmakers do not continue the state’s no-fault accident system, state insurance regulators ruled recently. The Office of Insurance Regulation granted State Farm’s …
June 18, 2007
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., is pressing the Bush administration to fully fund a compensation program for sick nuclear weapons workers and calling for Senate hearings on why claims have been delayed. “It has come to our attention that critical …
June 18, 2007
Florida police, firefighters, paramedics and other first responders would have an easier time becoming eligible for workers’ compensation benefits, and would get a better package of benefits under legislation signed into law earlier this month by Gov. Charlie Crist. The …
June 18, 2007
After being available for four years, Health Savings Accounts (HSA) combined with a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) are finally catching on. A recent nationwide study indicated that 26 percent of U.S. companies with 500 or more employees are considering …
June 18, 2007
Among lessons that local businesses have learned and are putting into practice are: Get a plan. Officials with several Midstate companies that do business along the coast say they are offering training and providing educational materials for employees in hurricane-prone …
June 18, 2007
It took O’Charley’s regional operations director in Hattiesburg, Miss., most of a week to get in touch with the restaurant chain’s Nashville headquarters after Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast two summers ago. This summer, though, Dan Hunter has a …
June 18, 2007
Industry prefers government approach taken by Democrat Blanco over Republican Crist Florida and Louisiana are hurricane-prone states with similar property insurance problems, but their governors are taking wildly different approaches to fixing the insurance headaches. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a …