Latest Florida Headlines
All the headlines from our Florida Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010 Was Bigger Than Satellite Images Showed
Feb 14 2020 // Toxic and invisible oil spread well beyond the known satellite footprint of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a new study. Scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel school of Marine and...
AAA Carolinas Merges with The Auto Club Group
Feb 14 2020 // The Auto Club Group (ACG) and AAA Carolinas have merged and combined operations, it was announced last month. With North and South Carolina part of The Auto Club Group family, the company now serves more than 13.5 million...
$100M Suit Filed Against 22 Florida Hotels for Allegedly Allowing Sex Trafficking
Feb 12 2020 // Two Florida women who were victims of sex trafficking have sued almost two dozen hotels where they were forced to have sex, claiming the businesses did nothing to stop the illegal activity. At the hotels around the...
The Hilb Group Acquires Regency Insurance Group of Florida
Feb 12 2020 // The Hilb Group, LLC (THG) has acquired Florida-based Regency Insurance Group, LLC (RIG). The transaction became effective Feb. 1, 2020. Based in Bonita Springs, Fla., RIG is a property & casualty agency that...
8 Convicted of Stealing $5.2M from South Florida Casino
Feb 11 2020 // Four former South Florida casino employees and their wives have been convicted of stealing $5.2 million from the business over several years. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami announced Tuesday that Michel Aleu,...
AM Best: Florida Insurers Brace for Challenging June Reinsurance Renewals
Feb 11 2020 // Although the 2019 hurricane season did not have a significant impact on Florida, loss creep from prior storms continues to weigh on reinsurers, leading to a likely rise in rates for the upcoming June renewal period. As...
Business Moves
Feb 10 2020 // East The Hilb Group, Kerr-Boswell, Wickford Insurance Agency The Hilb Group LLC has acquired Virginia-based Kerr-Boswell Inc. For more than 60 years, KB has provided employee benefits, property/casualty, life, health and...
20 Noteworthy Agency Merger Stories of 2019
Feb 10 2020 // 1. January Nationwide Acquires Liability Insurance Program Manager E-Risk Services: Nationwide acquired a New Jersey privately held program manager specializing in management liability lines. Nationwide said E-Risk will...
Florida Business Owner Accused of Evading $200K in Workers’ Comp Premium
Feb 7 2020 // A Florida business owner is accused of evading paying nearly $200,000 in workers’ compensation insurance premiums over the course of a year, according to a statement from the Florida Department of Financial...
Report: Florida Will See Noticeable Climate Change Impacts in 20 Years
Feb 6 2020 // When scientists talk about climate change effects like sea level rise and extreme temperatures, they’re typically referring to things predicted to start noticeably occurring as soon as, say 2050, or into the next...
Forget Robots. Dogs May Be Taking Crop Inspection Jobs.
Feb 5 2020 // Dogs specially trained by the federal government’s Agricultural Research Service scientists have proven to be the most efficient way to detect huanglongbing—also known as citrus greening—according to a paper just...
Commentary: It’s Time to Reform the Florida Cat Fund, Give Consumers Rate Relief
Feb 5 2020 // Floridians currently pay the highest homeowner’s insurance rates in the nation, and no one should be surprised by this. Florida is a long relatively narrow large peninsula jutting out into bodies of warm water prone...
The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers of Florida Add Bobyack as Partner
Feb 4 2020 // The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers has added Rob Bobyack to the firm as a partner at its Moody Insurance Group office. Bobyack began his career in the insurance industry in 1997 as a workers’ compensation...
Florida City Facing $1.8M in Repair Costs from Invasive Iguanas Burrowing Near Dam
Jan 31 2020 // Invasive iguanas burrowing into the soft dirt around an aging dam cost a Florida city $1.8 million in emergency repairs. Employees noticed last year that water was seeping round the edges of a decades-old weir that...
Florida Woman Pleads Guilty to Hurricane Irma Disaster Assistance Fraud
Jan 31 2020 // A Florida woman has pleaded guilty to lying about damage caused by Hurricane Irma. Deannajo White, 39, pleaded guilty in Jacksonville federal court Friday to one count of disaster assistance fraud, according to court...
Schalk Appointed President of Florida-Based St. Johns Insurance; Bowen to Retire
Jan 31 2020 // St. Johns Insurance, a privately-held insurer specializing in homeowners’ insurance products and services headquartered in Orlando, Fla., announced that Reese Bowen will retire from the role of president and Jesse...
Miami Aims To Be Carbon Neutral by 2050 Under ‘Climate Ready’ Plan
Jan 28 2020 // With sea level rise already lapping at its door, the city of Miami made its first significant commitment to address the root cause of climate change, not just the symptoms. The city government plans to go carbon neutral by...
Florida Man Accused of Making Fraudulent Hurricane Irma Claims
Jan 27 2020 // A Florida man has been accused of lying about damage caused by Hurricane Irma, federal prosecutors announced this week. An indictment was returned charging Deontre Javan Taylor, 26, of Jacksonville, with disaster...
HOA Settles Suit with Florida Woman Who Fed Vultures, Gators for $53K
Jan 27 2020 // A Florida woman who fed vultures, alligators and other wildlife behind her gated-community home has agreed to pay $53,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by homeowners association. Palm Beach County Judge Scott Kerner...
Florida Lawmakers Weigh Proposals to Fight Algae Blooms
Jan 27 2020 // The scum of blue-green algae was so thick and invasive in Florida two years ago that it suffocated fish by the thousands. Birds dropped dead. And people stayed out of the water. Offshore, a toxic swarm of rust-colored...
