Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Report: COVID-19 Accounts for 1-in-9 California Workers’ Comp Claims in 2020
Sep 28 2020 // The California workers’ compensation COVID-19 claim count continued to grow in August, albeit at a much slower rate than in July, with new data showing that as of Sept. 21, the state had recorded 5,130 COVID-19...
Florida Gov Lifts Virus Restrictions On All Businesses
Sep 28 2020 // Gov. Ron DeSantis lifted all restrictions on restaurants and other businesses in Florida on Friday, and banned local fines against people who refuse to wear masks as he seeks to reopen the state’s economy despite the...
Wildfire Forces Home, Hospital Evacuations in California’s Napa Valley Wine Area
Sep 28 2020 // A wind-driven wildfire erupted on Sunday in the heart of northern California’s Napa Valley wine country to spread across nearly 2,000 acres (809 hectares), forcing the evacuation of a hospital and hundreds of homes,...
Suit Filed in California Says Scooters Rented by Uber, Segway Don’t Have Turn Signals
Sep 25 2020 // A class action lawsuit has been filed against several scooter rental companies, including Uber and Segway, because the scooters don’t have turn signals and the makers don’t warn consumers about that danger. The...
Hauser Pleads Guilty in College Admission Plot
Sep 25 2020 // A California businessman with ties to an Ohio-based insurance agency who is said to have steered “Full House” star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, to the ringleader of the...
California Governor Planning to Ban Sale of New Gas Vehicles in 15 Years
Sep 25 2020 // California will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger cars and trucks in 15 years, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday, establishing a timeline in the nation’s most populous state that could force U.S....
Western Wildfires Taint Vineyards With Taste Of Smoke
Sep 25 2020 // Smoke from the West Coast wildfires has tainted grapes in some of the nation’s most celebrated wine regions with an ashy flavor that could spell disaster for the 2020 vintage. Wineries in California, Oregon and...
A.J. Gallagher Alleges Alliant’s Poaching ‘Playbook’ Has Cost It Employees, Clients
Sep 25 2020 // California-based insurance broker Alliant is again being sued over an alleged poaching scam, this time by rival Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Gallagher claims Alliant, with assistance and capital from its private equity...
New York, California Could be Fastest Growing States for Renewables
Sep 24 2020 // U.S. environmental policies will drive long-term demand for renewable energy, Moody’s Investors Service said in a new report. The report depicts a “a credit positive for renewable energy developers” in...
As Wildfires Spread, Public Safety Tech Startups Lack Venture Capitalists’ Backing
Sep 24 2020 // Silicon Valley’s innovation engine has been slow to produce useful new tools to help firefighters like Dave Winnacker extinguish the deadly blazes that each year fill California’s skies with smoke. Winnacker, a...
The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers Adds Borchardt in California
Sep 24 2020 // The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers has named Sean Borchardt a partner in the Woodland Hills, Calif., office. Borchardt has more than 15 years of experience. He previously has held positions at Gallagher, Relations...
Few Resources, Old-Growth Forest Allowed Growth of California Wildfire
Sep 23 2020 // A lack of firefighting resources in the hours after it was sparked allowed a fast-moving wildfire to make an unprecedented run through Southern California mountains and eventually find fuel in old-growth trees to become...
For Carnival Cruise Lines, 1920 ‘Death on the High Seas Act’ Curbs Coronavirus Damages
Sep 23 2020 // Carnival Corp. is poised to dramatically curb monetary damages for passengers killed by the coronavirus under the latest court decision to side with the company. If a ruling Monday by a Los Angeles federal judge is...
Lockton Pacific Promotes Hostovich and Barnes in California
Sep 23 2020 // Lockton Insurance Brokers LLC, the Pacific region of global insurance broker Lockton Cos., has named Teena Hostovich vice chair of Lockton Pacific and Greg Barnes president of Greater Los Angeles. Barnes and Hostovich are...
California Farm Worker Arraigned for Alleged Workers’ Comp Fraud
Sep 22 2020 // Eduardo Medina Ruelas, 46, of Sanger, Calif., was arraigned this week on multiple counts of felony insurance fraud after allegedly defrauding his employer and RISICO Claims Management Co. to collect $38,000 in...
California Wildfire Threatening More Than 1,000 Homes
Sep 22 2020 // A wildfire burning through brush and timber from the mountains to the desert northeast of Los Angeles threatened more than 1,000 homes on Tuesday as crews across the West battled dozens of other major blazes. The Bobcat...
California Burnin’ – a Warning Against One-Party Rule: Opinion
Sep 22 2020 // “California, folks, is America fast forward.” Thus said Governor Gavin Newsom, hoarsely, amid brown smoke at the North Complex Fire on Sept. 11. “What we’re experiencing right here is coming to a...
Burnham Benefits in California Names Martin Chief Growth Officer
Sep 22 2020 // Irvine, Calif.-based Burnham Benefits Insurance Services Inc. has named Chris Martin chief growth officer. Martin has 30 years of experience in the healthcare and insurance industry. He was previously chief business...
California Governor Signs Workers’ Comp Law Protecting Workers from Virus
Sep 21 2020 // California companies must warn their workers of any potential exposure to the coronavirus and must pay their employees workers compensation benefits if they get sick with the disease under two laws that Gov. Gavin Newsom...
Report Shows Steep Drop in California Workers’ Comp IMRs in 1st Half Year
Sep 18 2020 // The number of independent medical reviews used to resolve California workers’ compensation medical disputes fell sharply in the first half of 2020 as the pandemic took a toll on the state’s economy with...
