Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Southern California Edison to Pay $80M to US Over 2017 Wildfire
Mar 18 2024 // Southern California Edison agreed to pay the United States $80 million to cover costs and damages incurred by the U.S. Forest Service from the 2017 Thomas wildfire in California’s Los Padres National Forecast, the...
Waymo’s Robotaxi Expands into Los Angeles, Starting Free Rides in Parts of City
Mar 14 2024 // Robotaxis will begin cruising the streets of Los Angeles this week when Google spinoff Waymo starts offering free rides to some of the roughly 50,000 people who have signed up for its driverless ride-hailing service. Waymo...
California Insurance Commissioner: Allow Cat Modeling in Rates for Wildfires
Mar 14 2024 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said he will allow catastrophe modeling to be used in rate regulation for wildfires, a move he says will help restore insurance options for Californians. It was the latest...
California Insurer of Last Resort Is Unprepared for Big Disaster
Mar 14 2024 // California’s property insurer of last resort told lawmakers that it’s financially unprepared to cover the costs of a major catastrophe in the state. The plan now faces $311 billion in potential losses, up from...
Oil Sheen off California Possibly Caused by Natural Seepage From Ocean Floor
Mar 13 2024 // An oil sheen spotted off the Southern California coast last week was possibly caused by a natural seep from the ocean floor, but the exact source still isn’t known, U.S. Coast Guard officials said. Authorities...
People Moves: California Insurance Commissioner Lara Announces Appointments, Reappointments to Boards and Committees
Mar 13 2024 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara appointed new members and reappointed members to several state insurance boards and committees. New appointments include Ronald Coleman Baeza to the California Life and Health...
Xcel Texas Wildfire Legal Reckoning to Take Years to Play Out
Mar 12 2024 // (Xcel Energy Inc. will likely be wrangling for years with the legal fallout from the wildfires burning through the Texas Panhandle. The experience of utility companies in California and Oregon sued over massive blazes...
HUB Acquires Assets of Bolds Risk & Insurance Services in California
Mar 12 2024 // Hub International Ltd. acquired the assets of Bolds Risk & Insurance Services in Larkspur, California. Ron Bolds, president of Bolds Risk, and the Bolds Risk team will join Hub Central and Northern California in the...
Huge Texas Blaze Shows Power-Line Fires Are a Widespread Threat
Mar 11 2024 // Massive wildfires sparked by power lines used to be a California problem, one many utility executives considered safely confined to the Golden State. No more. Texas officials on Thursday blamed the state’s...
California Insurance Co. Says Judge’s Tentative Order Won’t Stop CDI Overreach
Mar 11 2024 // A California court’s tentative decision in a dispute between the California Department of Insurance and the California Insurance Company “failed to undo the unprecedented use of the CDI’s conservation...
No Recoverable Oil From Massive Spill Off Southern California Coast
Mar 11 2024 // No recoverable oil remains in the water after a sheen was reported off the Southern California coast, but the cause remains unclear, officials said. Authorities detected the 2.5-mile long oil sheen Friday morning. Crews...
States Scramble to Catch Up on Oversight as AI Pervades Everyday Life
Mar 11 2024 // While artificial intelligence made headlines with ChatGPT, behind the scenes, the technology has quietly pervaded everyday life — screening job resumes, rental apartment applications, and even determining medical care in...
Huge Texas Blaze Shows Power-Line Fires Are a Widespread Threat
Mar 8 2024 // Massive wildfires sparked by power lines used to be a California problem, one many utility executives considered safely confined to the Golden State. No more. Texas officials on Thursday blamed the state’s...
Cannabis Sales Outlook Promising for Insuring Cannabis Specialists
Mar 7 2024 // A new report shows global legal cannabis spending grew to $36 billion in 2023, and more importantly, that languishing sales in longer-legal states may soon start to swing back up – two big, encouraging signs for insuring...
Former California Agent Arraigned for Allegedly Stealing $380K in Premiums from Businesses
Mar 7 2024 // Formerly licensed insurance agent Marcia Wable, 66, of Clovis, California, was arraigned on eight felony counts of embezzlement, forgery, and false impersonation after a California Department of Insurance investigation...
Resilience in California Launches Technology E&O Coverage
Mar 6 2024 // San Francisco, California-based Resilience launched a Technology Errors & Omissions coverage for U.S. organizations with $300 million to $10 billion in revenue. With $10M in limits available for both primary and excess...
Bayer Notches More Wins in Roundup Weedkiller Cancer Trials
Mar 6 2024 // Bayer on Tuesday said it won a trial in a lawsuit brought by a retired postal service worker in Pennsylvania who alleged he developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma from using the company’s Roundup weedkiller. In addition to...
S&P Says Flooding Events for California Cities and Counties May Result in Credit Risks
Mar 6 2024 // California’s high rainfall in 2023 is continuing into 2024 but has yet to have a material effect on credit quality for cities and counties rated by S&P Global Ratings, however the longer-term effects on issuers...
New Jersey City That Limited Street Parking Hasn’t Had a Traffic Death in 7 Years
Mar 5 2024 // Street parking was already scarce in Hoboken, New Jersey, when the death of an elderly pedestrian spurred city leaders to remove even more spaces in a bid to end traffic fatalities. For seven years now, the city of nearly...
Experts Say California to Be Drought-Free Through 2025 Following Winter Storms
Mar 5 2024 // AccuWeather meteorologists say California will be free of widespread drought through the end of 2025 on the heels of a blizzard that dumped more than 80 inches of snow on the mountains of northern and central...
