May 23, 2013
A national nonprofit is cheering Hawaii’s new law that prohibits people from holding cellphones and other portable electronics while driving. Jonathan Adkins from the Governors Highway Safety Association in Washington says Hawaii’s law is tougher than laws in most other …
May 23, 2013
The U.S. Senate has approved a bill that includes funding aimed at improving Topeka’s levee system along the Kansas River. The bill approved in the Senate would provide about $15.7 million in federal matching funds for Topeka to correct problems …
May 23, 2013
About 17,000 Californians with serious medical problems will be moved from a state-run stopgap health insurance program to a federal plan starting in July, ensuring they will have no break in medical coverage until the national health care reforms kick …
May 23, 2013
Federal agents and the state fire marshal have effectively barred a federal safety panel from the site of a Texas fertilizer plant blast that killed 15 people and injured about 200 others, hampering its investigation, the panel’s chairman said. In …
May 23, 2013
New Mexico is slipping further into drought, having marked the driest two-year period in nearly 120 years of record-keeping. National weather forecasters and water managers shared the latest statistics on New Mexico’s devastatingly dry conditions during a meeting Tuesday. They …
May 23, 2013
A former Alaska state employee and his supposed masseuse are accused of worker’s compensation fraud. Scott A. Groom and Laurayne K. Fischer are charged with 93 counts including perjury, theft and falsification of business records. The two are currently living …
May 23, 2013
The owners of the Station nightclub say they didn’t know they needed to buy workers’ compensation insurance for the club’s part-time employees. Michael and Jeffrey Derderian are asking Rhode Island’s state Supreme Court to review a more than $1 million …
May 23, 2013
U.S. bankers and insurers are trying to use trade deals, which can trump existing legislation, to weaken parts of the Dodd-Frank Act designed to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. While the companies say they are seeking agreements …
May 23, 2013
A group of U.S. accounting professors is backing BP’s fight to rein in compensation it has to pay for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which is threatening to add billions of dollars to its growing bill for the …
May 23, 2013
The purpose of modeling is to anticipate the likelihood and severity of catastrophes so that companies can prepare for their financial impact — before they occur. The evidence suggests that, for the most part, modeling has achieved its mission. Eleven …