Monthly Archives: <span>August 2012</span>

Thousands Evacuated as Isaac Floods Outside New Orleans

Isaac continued to pour unrelenting rain on Aug. 30, flooding areas north and south of New Orleans even as the city’s fortified defenses held and forcing officials to launch speedy evacuation and rescue efforts in the face of fast-rising waters. …

Massachusetts Strikes Down 18.8% Workers’ Comp Rate Hike Proposal

Massachusetts Division of Insurance announced Thursday that it has rejected a request to raise the state’s workers’ compensation rates by 18.8 percent.Massachusetts regulators’ decision to strike down the request and keep the rates unchanged came after a five-month public comment …

About Half of Louisiana Without Power as Isaac Moves Further Inland

About half of Louisiana was without power on Aug. 30 as Tropical Storm Isaac moved inland. The Public Service Commission said 903,000 homes and businesses around the state — about 47 percent of all customers — were without power. Entergy …

OSHA Cites Louisiana Gas Plant after Blast Left 1 Hurt

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Plains Gas Solutions LLC in Eunice, La. following a February explosion and fire that left a worker severely burned. Proposed penalties total $111, 000. OSHA on Aug. 29 …

U.S. Insured Losses from Hurricane Isaac Could Reach $2B: AIR

Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insured losses from Hurricane Isaac to onshore properties in the U.S. will be between $700 million and $2 billion. AIR estimates include wind and storm surge damage to onshore residential, commercial and industrial …

Washington Given $50,000 For Tsunami Debris Bags

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has given the state of Washington $50,000 to help pay for trash bags and bins to collect debris washing ashore from the Japanese tsunami. The state Ecology Department says most of the small debris …

Insurance Laws Hurting Colorado Wildfire Victims

Victims of wildfires that destroyed more than 600 homes this year say Colorado’s insurance laws need to be changed. State officials told victims attending a hearing in Fort Collins on Wednesday that they have heard complaints that some insurance companies …

Fat Tire Maker Says River Water Tainted By Colo. Wildfire

The maker of Fat Tire beer says it’s using a reserve water supply because the water in northern Colorado’s Poudre (POO’-der) River is tainted by a wildfire that destroyed hundreds of homes in June. New Belgium Brewery objected when it …

Court Mistakenly Posts Secret San Bruno Settlement

A California court has mistakenly posted secret Pacific Gas & Electric settlement documents showing more than $2 million went to a teenager burned in the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion. The 2010 blast killed eight people and destroyed dozens of …

Families Sue over Kansas Grain Elevator Blast

Family members of four people killed in a grain elevator explosion last year in northeast Kansas are suing employees of Bartlett Grain Co., including its current president Bob Knief, less than five months after federal investigators pinned the blame for …