Latest Iowa Headlines
All the headlines from our Iowa Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Washington Commissioner Issues Multiple Fines, Enforcement Actions
Jan 31 2007 // Washington’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner has ordered UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co. of Minneapolis to pay a $59,000 fine following an agency investigation into the company’s use of unapproved contracts...
Transamerica Occidental Life Moves Bulk of Operations to Iowa
Jan 15 2007 // Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Co. is moving the bulk of its Kansas City operations to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, costing 500 jobs and alarming city officials trying to bring businesses back downtown. The company’s...
E. Coli Outbreaks Have Industry, Government Increasing Safety
Jan 3 2007 // In light of food poisoning outbreaks involving spinach and lettuce, the government and the produce industry are scrambling to make leafy greens safer before the spring planting season. New guidelines from the industry are...
Government, Industry Push to Protect Food Chain
Jan 2 2007 // In light of food poisoning outbreaks involving spinach and lettuce, the government and the produce industry are scrambling to make leafy greens safer before the spring planting season. New guidelines from the industry are...
Minn. Taco John’s CEO Offers to Pay Medical Bills for E. Coli Victims
Dec 21 2006 // The head of Taco John’s International offered this week to pay medical bills for customers who got ill from E. coli bacteria at three of the chain’s Mexican restaurants. Some 76 people were sickened after...
Iowa Hawkeye-Security Insurance Expands Agent Network in Mo.
Dec 15 2006 // Hawkeye-Security Insurance, a member of Liberty Mutual Group, recently announced the recent appointment of six new agencies to its group of independent agents in Missouri. The following appointments broaden...
Regulator Study Shows Iowa Motorists Rank 50 Nationwide
Dec 15 2006 // Iowa motorists’ ability to avoid accidents has made the state one of the cheapest place to buy auto insurance, an industry report says. A survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, found that in...
Study Shows Iowa with Significant Insurance Industry Job Growth
Dec 12 2006 // A recent 48-page study by the Connecticut Economic Resource Center Inc. said that Iowa now surpasses Connecticut for insurance company job growth. From 1995 to 2005, insurance jobs in insurance companies in Connecticut...
It Figures
Nov 20 2006 // 2 percent Four of the Ohio’s five largest medical malpractice insurers have revised their rates to produce an average decrease of almost 2 percent for Ohio doctors this year, following years of increases, the Ohio...
Iowa State School Faces $10 Million in Costs to Repair Fire Damaged Building
Nov 14 2006 // It will likely cost $10 million for the University of Northern Iowa to restore a building that was damaged in a fire more than a year ago. At a Board of Regents meeting, officials said the Legislature paid $2 million to...
Democrats Seize Control in State Legislatures
Nov 8 2006 // The two major parties are no longer locked in parity in state legislatures. Wresting control from the GOP in all the chambers that changed hands outright, the Democrats now control the legislatures in more states than they...
Wellmark Commits $5 Million to Jobs Program in Rural Iowa
Oct 30 2006 // Des Moines, Iowa-based Wellmark Inc. has committed $5 million in venture capital to help encourage business development and expansion in rural Iowa communities. The effort is through the Iowa Farm Bureau’s Renew...
Sharing Power Seen as Option for Evenly Split Oklahoma Senate
Oct 30 2006 // Democratic and Republican state Senate leaders in Oklahoma may follow the lead of their counterparts in other states and share power if the chamber has a tie in membership after the Nov. 7 general election, officials...
Iowa Diocese Files for Bankruptcy over Sex Abuse Cases
Oct 13 2006 // The Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week, the fourth diocese in the nation to seek financial protection to deal with priest sex abuse cases. Bishop William Franklin said the diocese...
Iowa Principal Group to Expand Operations, Add 200 Jobs
Oct 2 2006 // Principal Financial Group Inc. is expanding its Des Moines operations and anticipates hiring at least 200 more workers by the end of 2007. The Des Moines-based insurance and financial services company said Friday it...
Iowa GuideOne, National Safety Council List America’s Safest Churches
Sep 28 2006 // The next time you go to church, you may notice security guards, controlled access, or a secure drop box for collections. These are just some of the innovative safety and security measures being implemented by churches...
Iowa Farm Bureau Ordered to Stop Free Memberships for Insurance Buyers
Sep 28 2006 // Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. can no longer give free Farm Bureau memberships to customers who agree to buy insurance, state insurance regulators said. Susan Voss, commissioner of the the Iowa insurance division, said a...
Iowa Hawkeye-Security Appoints Blue Valley and Garry & Associates
Sep 27 2006 // Hawkeye-Security Insurance, a member of Liberty Mutual Group, has added Blue Valley Insurance Agency located in Overland Park, Kan., and Garry & Associates Insurance Agency located in North Kansas City, Mo. to its...
Susan Voss, Iowa, Commissioner of Insurance
Sep 25 2006 // Iowa is perceived by other states as a model in terms of the number of companies domiciled in the state and those wanting to do business there, as well as having a very stable legislative and regulatory environment. But...
People and Places
Sep 25 2006 // Miami insurance agent Alex Soto has been inaugurated as the new president of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”), with Robert E. Fulwider and C. Brett Nilsson assuming the...
