Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
XPT Group Acquires Sierra Specialty in California
Oct 29 2019 // XPT Group LLC has acquired Sierra Specialty in Fresno, Calif. Sierra Specialty will continue to operate under its brand name. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sierra Specialty was founded in 2005 by Kathy Schroeder...
PG&E Open to Extending California Wildfire Victim Claims Deadline
Oct 29 2019 // PG&E Corp. told a judge it’s willing to extend the deadline for victims of wildfires caused by the utility’s equipment to file claims in its bankruptcy. U.S. District Judge James Donato criticized the...
This Wildfire Metric Threatens to Upend PG&E’s Restructuring Plan
Oct 29 2019 // PG&E Corp. investors looking to learn their fate may not get the answer from the bankrupt power company. Instead, the key data point could pop up within days on the website of California’s forestry...
California Wildfire Damage at $25.4B and Rising
Oct 29 2019 // Damages from the fires ripping across California stand at $25.4 billion, and they’re bound to keep rising. The Kincade fire has cost $10.6 billion, while the tally in Southern California is $14.8 billion mainly from...
Lockton Pacific Series Promotes Harrison and Davis in California, Oregon
Oct 29 2019 // Sherri Harrison and Bryan Davis have been promoted in Lockton’s Pacific Series benefits practice Orange County, Calif., and the Pacific Northwest. Harrison’s expanded role now includes director of...
California Agent Arrested for Allegedly Stealing $148K, Leaving Client Uninsured
Oct 28 2019 // Insurance agent Stephen Mark Gomez, 64, of Lake View Terrace, Calif., was arraigned last week on eight felony counts of grand theft and embezzlement after allegedly collecting over $148,000 in insurance premium payments...
PG&E Power Shutoffs Hit 2.7M as California Wildfires Burn
Oct 28 2019 // Mass power shutoffs by PG&E Corp. left more than 2.7 million Californians in the dark Sunday, the state’s largest deliberate blackout ever, as the bankrupt utility tries to keep its equipment from igniting...
California Braces for Biggest Blackout Yet as Massive Wildfire Burns
Oct 25 2019 // As wildfires rage and utilities race to restore power, the worst may be yet to come for California residents. PG&E Corp. has restored power to about 165,000 customers in portions of 18 counties, or about 93% of those...
Direct Connection in California Names Nevins Marketing & Operations Director
Oct 25 2019 // San Francisco, Calif.-based Direct Connection Advertising & Marketing has named Kristen Nevins director of marketing and operations. Nevins joined the firm in 2018. She was previously at Scottsdale Insurance Co. (now...
500K-Plus Californians Lose Power; Large Wildfire Rages
Oct 24 2019 // More than half a million people have lost power across California as part of a deliberate blackout designed to keep power lines from igniting wildfires. Meanwhile, a major blaze has already erupted. PG&E Corp. and...
Applied Underwriters Responds to California Department of Insurance Effort to Halt Sale
Oct 23 2019 // Applied Underwriters executives have responded to efforts by the California Department of Insurance to halt the sale of one of its subsidiaries and threaten to upend a reported $920 million deal that’s been in the...
PG&E’s Latest Planned Power Cutoffs Could Impact Thousands of Californians
Oct 23 2019 // People in more than 180,000 homes and businesses in California could find themselves in the dark as Pacific Gas & Electric again plans to shut off power in parts of 17 counties for up to two days, as a preventive...
Burnham Risk in California Names Owens Chief Operating Officer
Oct 23 2019 // Irvine, Calif.-based Burnham Risk has named Sara Owens chief operating officer and partner. Owens will be responsible for growing the team, leading acquisition strategy and implementing techniques to maximize opportunities...
California Insurance Agent Arrested for Identity Theft And Forgery
Oct 22 2019 // Insurance agent Richard Valdriz, 52, has been charged with thirteen felony counts including identity theft, forgery, and grand theft after an investigation by the California Department of Insurance reportedly found that he...
Vape Pioneer Whose Product Sickened Dozens Started in Southern California
Oct 22 2019 // Some of the people rushing to emergency rooms thought the CBD vape they inhaled would help like a gentle medicine. Others puffed it for fun. What the vapors delivered instead was a jolt of synthetic marijuana, and with it...
California Roofer Arrested For Workers’ Comp Fraud, $50K Loss to Insurer
Oct 21 2019 // Herbert Allen Kelly III, 65, of Rancho Murieta, Calif., owner of Kelly Roofing Co., has been arrested on six felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud after allegedly underreporting his business’ payroll and...
California Workers’ Comp Institute Summarizes 2019 Legislation
Oct 21 2019 // Among the 870 bills that California Gov. Gavin Newsom acted upon for 2019 that were passed by the state Legislature, there were about 20 that may hold interest for the workers’ compensation community. The California...
California Balks at Applied Underwriters Sale, Questions Subsidiary’s Move to New Mexico
Oct 21 2019 // The California Department of Insurance has denied an application for approval of the sale of California Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Applied Underwriters that was sold in a massive deal that has been under scrutiny over...
California Threatened by More Blackouts With Wind Gusts
Oct 21 2019 // Almost two weeks after 2.3 million people in California suffered through forced blackouts, the state’s utilities are warning they may have to cut power again with dry, gusting winds raising the threat of...
Financial, Legal Advisors Scamming Elderly Has Become Big Business
Oct 21 2019 // Terry Ann McIntosh’s financial nightmare began four years ago, soon after she hired a caregiver through a family services website. McIntosh, then 75 and in a wheelchair, had assumed that the young woman who...
