Latest Georgia Headlines

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

Georgia Insurance Agent Group Names Associate Director

Jan 3 2008 // The Professional Insurance Agents of Georgia announced the promotion of Carolyn B. Dodd to associate director. Dodd will have a key role in the association’s management and will direct PIAGA’s education...

City Records Destroyed, Water Department Damaged in Ga. Arson

Jan 3 2008 // A building housing the water-sewer department in Lafayette, Ga., was heavily damaged and years worth of records were destroyed when teens broke in and set it on fire early on New Year’s Day, authorities said. Glenn...

Ga. Church Heavily Damaged, 2nd Church Arson in a Week

Jan 3 2008 // State and local authorities are investigating an apparent burglary and arson that left an Albany, Ga., church heavily damaged. The fire was reported about 7:30 a.m. Monday at Metropolitan Baptist Church. The Georgia...

Top Insurance Stories in 2007 in Southeast

Dec 31 2007 // High heat, changing winds put reputations on the line. 1. Florida’s gamble “It’s all about rates,” maintained Sam Miller, of the industry’s Florida Insurance Council. Florida lawmakers in...

Ratings Roundup: Georgia Casualty, Conseco

Dec 31 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has placed the financial strength rating of ‘B+’ (Good) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb-” of Georgia Casualty & Surety Company under review with positive implications....

Cobb County Jury Fines Ford Motor Co. $3M in Georgia Woman’s Death

Dec 16 2007 // A Georgia jury issued a $3 million verdict against Ford Motor Co. for compensatory damages in a case in which a woman died when the seat back of her car broke when it was rear-ended in an accident. Mary Reese, 76, of...

N.C.-Based BB&T Insurance Services to Acquire Georgia Agency

Dec 13 2007 // BB&T Insurance Services announced plans to expand its metro Atlanta operation with the acquisition of Ott & Co. of Alpharetta, Ga. Founded in 1978, Ott & Company is a full-service employee benefits brokerage...

Georgia Closes Contractors’ Liability Loophole

Dec 2 2007 // General contractors in Georgia are no longer able to use subcontractors as a broad shield against bodily injury and property damage claims at construction sites under a new law. The new statute went into effect July 1. The...

Georgia’s Britt/ Paulk Insurance to Acquire Fla. Marine Agency

Nov 21 2007 // Britt / Paulk Insurance Agency, Inc., a privately-held program administrator in Carrollton, Ga., has agreed to acquire Mitchell, York & Cooper, LLC, a Florida-based marine Insurance broker. Financial details of the...

Ga. Tree Farmers Worry about Drought, Bugs in Aftermath of Wildfires

Nov 13 2007 // The wildfires that burned almost a half-million acres in south Georgia were snuffed out months ago, but tree farmers now face prolonged drought and insect infestations as they prepare to replant the vast...

FHM Insurance Teams Up with Georgia Restaurant Mutual

Oct 19 2007 // FHM Insurance Co.and Georgia Restaurant Mutual Captive Insurance Co. have joined forces to offer workers’ compensation insurance for the hospitality industry in Georgia. FHM has served the hospitality industry in...

Warrant Issued for Ga. Insurance Agent

Oct 18 2007 // A Jesup, Ga., insurance agent is wanted on insurance fraud charges, according to Insurance Commissioner John W. Oxendine. Catrina C. Whitley, 28, of Blackshear, Ga., has been charged with one count of insurance fraud for...

Ga. Company Recalls Meat from Restaurants in N.C., 3 Other States

Oct 17 2007 // A meat company in Forest Park, Ga., is recalling 1,900 pounds of ground beef sent to restaurants in Georgia, North Carolina, and two other states, saying it may be contaminated with E. coli. Arko Veal Company officials say...

Ga. Town’s Residents: Property Values Threatened by Waste Plant Odor

Oct 5 2007 // The town of Talmo, Ga., boasts a post office, a volunteer fire department, a few cattle farms, two Coke machines and 500 residents who grew up “on beans and cornbread,” locals like to say. But they have been...

Georgia’s BB&T Insurance Services Acquires Sidney O. Smith Inc.

Oct 1 2007 // BB&T Insurance Services announced plans to expand its metro Atlanta and north Georgia operation with the acquisition of Sidney O. Smith Inc. Sidney O. Smith Inc. currently provides commercial and personal property and...

3 Ga. Communities to Receive Federal Grants to Reduce Flood Chances

Sep 27 2007 // Gov. Sonny Perdue announced that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded $3,320,761 in projects that will reduce the possibility of flood damage in three...

3 Ga. Agents Violate Military Sales, Commissioner Revokes Licenses

Sep 25 2007 // For violating military sales regulations, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John W. Oxendine revoked the licenses of three agents The regulations were recently enacted to protect soldiers from unscrupulous solicitation,...

Ga. Gov. Continues Permits for Oversize Trucks Removing Burnt Timbers

Sep 18 2007 // Gov. Sonny Perdue extended an Executive Order that allows permitting through Sept. 30 for oversized trucks removing burnt timber from any of 21 southeast Georgia counties affected by wildfires this spring. These were the...

Ga. Drought Takes Partial Blame for Destructive Bug Infestation

Sep 10 2007 // Thousands of acres of trees are being killed in Georgia this summer by one of the worst infestations of Southern pine beetles in decades, forestry officials say. Carolyn Johnson, assistant refuge manager at Piedmont...

Ga. Insurance Commissioner Lanches Privacy Invasion Investigation

Aug 31 2007 // Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John W. Oxendine ordered a market conduct examination into recent allegations of invasion of privacy by Progressive Insurance Co. The examination resulted from allegations that...