Latest Iowa Headlines
All the headlines from our Iowa Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Former Iowa Agent Convicted of Insurance Fraud
Jan 23 2019 // A former Iowa insurance agent has been convicted of insurance fraud following an insurance fraud investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau. The division reported that Joy Marie Heldt, age 48, of...
Midwest Legislative Priorities Include No-Fault Auto, Distracted Driving, Contractor Fraud, Tort Reform
Jan 7 2019 // With some of the highest auto insurance rates in the nation, Michigan’s no-fault insurance laws — much maligned by the insurance industry and business interests — are sure to be a target for legislative...
3 Ex-Managers Claim U. Iowa Police Force Has Pattern of Bias
Jan 2 2019 // Three former managers for the University of Iowa police force claim in lawsuits that their jobs were eliminated as part of a “culture of discrimination” against older workers and other protected...
Civil Rights Commission: Iowa Employer Used Slurs to Disparage Black Workers
Dec 19 2018 // The Iowa Civil Rights Commission is taking legal action to enforce a $14,700 judgment against a business owner accused of using racial slurs to belittle black employees, court records show. Bruce Smith, of West Des Moines,...
Iowa Hardware Store Struck by Vehicles in 2 Accidents 5 Days Apart
Dec 10 2018 // The famous “jog” through the heart of Correctionville, Iowa, suffered a bit of a stumble in recent days. Make that stumbles. Plural. On Nov. 23, and again on Nov. 28, vehicles slid or rolled straight south on...
Ames, Iowa: Parking Ticket System Breached; Personal Info Possibly Stolen
Dec 3 2018 // As if getting a parking ticket wasn’t bad enough, the city of Ames is informing those who recently paid parking fines that their private information — including credit and debit card numbers — may have been...
Researchers: Houston’s Urbanization Partly to Blame for More Frequent and Intense Rain Events
Dec 3 2018 // Studies published earlier this year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Hurricane Center showing a dramatic increase in the frequency of intense rain events in the Houston area in recent...
Records Show Woman Admitted Setting Iowa Fires for Insurance Money
Nov 26 2018 // A woman has been accused of setting two fires in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Linn County court records say 48-year-old Carolyn Mittman is charged with two counts of arson. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call from...
Iowa’s Dubuque County Mulls Allowing ATVs on Public Roads
Nov 14 2018 // Nearly half of Iowa’s counties have approved use of all-terrain or utility vehicles for public roadways, and at least one large county is considering joining the trend. Dubuque County supervisors have been...
Iowa Adds New Insurance Producer Licensing Test Center at Camp Dodge
Nov 14 2018 // Iowa now has a new center for military veterans seeking to become insurance producers or adjusters to take licensing exams. The Iowa Insurance Division announced that Pearson VUE, the third party contractor that conducts...
Iowa’s FMH Launches New Cyber Risk Protection for Farmers
Nov 5 2018 // West Des Moines, Iowa-based Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa (FMH) is now offering FMH Cyber Risk Protection suite, which includes two new cyber risk products to provide protection and services in the event an...
Last Year’ Fiery Iowa Derailment Caused by Broken Rail, Poor Repairs
Nov 1 2018 // Federal investigators determined that a broken rail caused the fiery 2017 train derailment in northwest Iowa that released 322,000 gallons of ethanol. The National Transportation Safety Board has ruled that Union...
LMC Insurance to Offer Health Insurance Pool for Mid-Size Iowa Firms
Oct 31 2018 // LMC Insurance and Risk Management (LMC Insurance) is launching a new health insurance plan underwritten by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield for Iowa-based employers with 51-500 eligible employees. The program, referred...
Iowa Delays Launch of New Workers’ Comp Electronic Filing System
Oct 26 2018 // Iowa’s Division of Workers’ Compensation has delayed its planned roll out of a new electronic filing, case management, hearing scheduling and EDI system for workers’ compensation, WCES. The Division had...
Iowa Supreme Court: IDOT Officers Can Only Ticket Commercial Vehicles
Oct 22 2018 // The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that Iowa Department of Transportation officers do not have authority to issue speeding tickets to or arrest drivers outside of the regulation of commercial vehicles. The finding came...
Louisiana Contractor Awarded $62M in Fertilizer Plant Lawsuit
Oct 17 2018 // A federal jury has awarded a Louisiana mechanical contractor hired to help build a fertilizer plant in southeast Iowa $62.4 million after concluding the fertilizer plant’s general contractor defaulted on a...
Iowa Farm Bureau Unveils Unregulated Limited Health Plan
Oct 15 2018 // Health coverage offered by the Iowa Farm Bureau through a new option approved by the Iowa Legislature will allow people to be turned away if they have pre-existing conditions. The farm bureau has unveiled details of its...
4 New Insurers OK’d to Do Business in Arkansas
Oct 12 2018 // Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr has approved four new out-of-state companies to sell insurance products in Arkansas. The Arkansas Insurance Department (AID) has granted Certificates of Authority to...
Proposed Settlement of $51M Reached in Iowa Industrial Pollution Lawsuit
Oct 11 2018 // A proposed settlement of more than $51 million has been reached in a class-action lawsuit over pollution problems at an industrial plant in southeast Iowa. The Muscatine Journal reports that the settlement with Grain...
Iowa Pulls Florida Man’s Non-Resident Producer License for ‘Bait, Switch’ Tactics
Sep 25 2018 // The Iowa Insurance Division has ordered Covals Douze, of Coconut Creek, Florida, to pay administrative fines and fees totaling $43,895 and revoked his non-resident insurance producer license in a “bait and...
