Latest California Headlines

All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.

California Data Privacy Proposal Could Get Even Tougher

Feb 25 2019 // The strongest data privacy law in the country may be about to get sharper teeth, and lobbyists representing the tech industry think it’s a disastrous idea. Companies that amass user data could be the target of mass...

Bayer Faces Second Trial over Roundup Cancer Risk Claim

Feb 25 2019 // Bayer AG is set to face a second U.S. jury over allegations that its popular glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup causes cancer, six months after the company’s share price was rocked by a $289 million verdict in...

California Bill Would Make Clergy Report Abuse Revealed in Confessions

Feb 22 2019 // A California lawmaker says clergy should be required to report suspected child abuse and neglect even if they learn of it during confession. Democratic Sen. Jerry Hill said the bill he introduced Wednesday is “about...

Aquiline to Acquire Relation Insurance Services in California

Feb 21 2019 // Aquiline Capital Partners LLC, a private equity firm investing in financial services and technology, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Relation Insurance Services from private...

Cavignac & Associates in California Adds Rodriguez in Surety Department

Feb 21 2019 // San Diego, Calif.-based Cavignac & Associates has named Jessica Rodriguez an account administrator within the agency’s surety department. Rodriguez serves as the client contact within the department for...

AM Best Revises Status to Developing for California Capital Insurance Co. and Subsidiaries

Feb 20 2019 // AM Best has revised the implications of the under review status to developing from negative for the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a-” of...

California Department of Insurance Issues Cease And Desist Order for Benefits Firm

Feb 19 2019 // The California Department of Insurance issued a Cease and Desist Order effective immediately upon NexGen Insurance Services Inc., Riverstone Capital, LLC (dba Riverstone Capital Insurance Services LLC) and its...

Auto-Owners to Acquire Capital Insurance Group in California

Feb 19 2019 // Auto-Owners Insurance has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Monterey, Calif.-based Capital Insurance Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Auto-Owners Insurance Group is headquartered in Lansing, Mich....

Actor Told He Can’t Copyright Dance Moves in California Lawsuit

Feb 19 2019 // “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” star Alfonso Ribeiro has been denied a copyright for the ?Carlton” dance, which he’s suing two videogame makers over. The denial from the U.S. Copyright Office was...

Lincoln-Leavitt Insurance Adds Gordon and Davis in California

Feb 19 2019 // Lakeport, Calif.-based Lincoln-Leavitt Insurance has added Tina Gordon and Maria Davis. Gordon will focus on commercial insurance for the construction, manufacturing, retail and wholesale industries. Davis is an account...

Aetna to Pay $935K in HIV-Related Privacy Breach in California

Feb 18 2019 // Aetna will pay $935,000 after one of its vendors sent letters to California patients that revealed via a window on the envelopes that the recipients were taking HIV-related medications. California Attorney General Xavier...

People

Feb 18 2019 // National MetLife has named Darla Finchum as head of the company’s U.S. property/casualty business, MetLife Auto & Home. Finchum had been serving in this role on an interim basis since last August. She will be...

NSAIDs Overtake Opioids as Top Workers’ Comp Drug in California

Feb 15 2019 // Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, or NSAIDs, have supplanted opioids as the most common therapeutic drug group prescribed to injured workers in California, according to a new California Workers’ Compensation...

Mudslides Carry Away Homes, Water Rescues Needed in California Storm

Feb 15 2019 // Motorists swam for their lives and residents were rescued from homes sliding downhill as the wettest winter storm of the year triggered floods and mudslides across California on Thursday. In Sausalito, just across the...

New Ventures, Driver Shortage Among Challenges in Trucking Insurance Market

Feb 15 2019 // The transportation industry is considered a barometer of the U.S. economy. If freight is trending up, so too is the U.S. economy. But capacity constraints for trucking – including a shortage of qualified drivers, low...

California Weighs Buying Disaster Insurance Policy to Cover Wildfire Costs

Feb 14 2019 // California’s insurance commissioner and a lawmaker want to the state to consider buying insurance in the private market to cover rapidly increasing costs of fighting wildfires due to climate change. State Sen. Bill...

Videogame Maker Asks Judge to Toss California Suit Filed over Rapper’s Dance

Feb 14 2019 // The makers of “Fortnite” have asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit from a rapper who says the video game is illegally using a dance he created. Epic Games filed the motion Monday to dismiss the lawsuit...

Wholesaler WSS Opens New Southern California Office

Feb 13 2019 // WSS has opened a new office location in Sherman Oaks, Calif. The new office is led by Mark Kaufman, chief operating officer, who joined WSS in 2018. WSS has expanded its southern California presence with eight new client...

What? Women Pay More Than Men for Auto Insurance? Yup.

Feb 12 2019 // It’s a widespread belief that men pay more for automobile insurance than women. But that’s only true for young adults. Several studies in 2018 and 2017 revealed that women over 25, particularly those between 40...

Mercury General in California Reports 4Q Earnings Loss

Feb 12 2019 // Mercury General Corp. reported a fourth-quarter loss of $81.9 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier. The Los Angeles, Calif.-based carrier said it had a loss of $1.48 per share. Losses,...