Latest Maine Headlines

Maine Court Rejects Expansion of Snow Plow Subcontractors’ Liability

Aug 17 2007 // Businesses hired to remove snow from town roads do not owe a general duty of care to people who ride on them, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court has ruled. In denying the appeal of a man whose wife was killed in a collision...

Court Upholds Maine Law Mandating Blood Tests in Fatal Crashes

Aug 16 2007 // Maine’s highest court has upheld a state law that mandates blood alcohol and drug testing on drivers when a motor vehicle accident results in a fatality. The decision stemmed from a manslaughter case in which a lower...

Maine Court Rules Employer May Offset Workers Comp by Disability Sum

Aug 10 2007 // An employer may use a payment to an injured worker under its group life and disability plan to offset its workers’ compensation benefit payment, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court has ruled. The plaintiff had argued...

People and Places

Aug 6 2007 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America has named Deputy Secretary of Commerce David A. Sampson to serve as the association’s president and chief executive officer. Sampson takes over the reins on Sept....

Aug 6 2007 // People The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America has named Deputy Secretary of Commerce David A. Sampson to serve as the association’s president and chief executive officer. Sampson takes over the reins...

People

Aug 6 2007 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America has named Deputy Secretary of Commerce David A. Sampson to serve as the association’s president and chief executive officer. Sampson takes over the reins on Sept....

Maine Insurers Question Dirigo’s $78 Million Third Year Savings Figure

Jul 30 2007 // The Dirigo Health Board of Directors has determined that the state-run Dirigo Health program will save the state’s health care system $78 million in its third year of operation. An organization representing the...

OneBeacon Appoints Trahan as Maine VP

Jul 24 2007 // OneBeacon Insurance Group has named Ron Trahan as regional vice president of its Maine territory. Trahan will oversee all of OneBeacon’s business in the state, with particular emphasis on midsize and small commercial...

Maine Employee’s Widow Sues Employer Over Asleep-at-Wheel Crash

Jul 23 2007 // A floor products company faces a lawsuit by the Maine widow of an employee who was killed last year in a highway crash after he apparently fell asleep at the wheel while driving home from work. Another motorist who was...

Business Moves

Jul 23 2007 // Willis, InsuranceNoodle Willis Group Holdings Limited, the global insurance broker, has acquired Chicago-based InsuranceNoodle, an Internet distributor of U.S. small business insurance. Terms of the transaction were not...

Maine Woman Sues Employer for ‘Family Responsibility’ Bias

Jul 16 2007 // A federal judge has ruled that a Maine woman who claims she was denied a promotion because she had 6-year-old triplets may proceed with a lawsuit against her employer. Laurie Chadwick alleges that her supervisor told her...

Maine Investigators Seek Cause of Fire that Destroyed 5 Buildings

Jul 10 2007 // A predawn fire Sunday that began in a vacant apartment building also destroyed four other structures in Rumford, Maine’s Virginia section. No injuries were reported in the blaze that was spotted by a neighbor around...

Driver Cries Foul as New Maine Law Yanks His Driver’s License

Jul 10 2007 // A 23-year-old Maine motorist who lost his license for three years under a little-publicized provision of Tina’s Law is crying foul. Joe P. Dehetre of Turner has a long and checkered driving record that includes 10...

Maine Gov. Baldacci Signs Bill Allowing Dirigo to Self-Insure

Jun 29 2007 // Gov. John Baldacci this week signed into law a bill that authorizes Maine’s Dirigo Health program to self-insure. But it doesn’t mean that will happen overnight, or even anytime soon. For now, the...

Parties Discussing Refinancing of Maine’s Dirigo Health

Jun 21 2007 // Facing three conflicting committee recommendations, Baldacci administration officials, health industry, business and consumer representatives met with lawmakers once on Tuesday and planned to meet again to discuss...

Warning: Scammers using Maine insurer’s name

Jun 18 2007 // The Maine Bureau of Insurance is advising consumers to beware of an illegal sweepstakes scam targeting MMG Insurance Co., a Maine domestic workers’ compensation insurer located in Presque Isle. Officials at MMG...

Declarations

Jun 18 2007 // Declarations 21st Century “The financial world has changed and we must change with it to retain our leadership position. This panel will help the state bring its regulatory structure into the 21st Century,...

N.H. Joins Maine in Opposing Federal Real ID Program

Jun 12 2007 // Calling the federal Real ID Act “repugnant” to the state and federal constitutions, New Hampshire lawmakers voted to join other states — including neighboring Maine — in rejecting the federal Real ID Act as...

Maine Gov. Baldacci Expected to Sign Bill Blocking Real ID

Jun 8 2007 // Gov. John Baldacci is expected to sign a bill prohibiting Maine from implementing Real ID, the national identity card system that’s been vilified by critics as unworkable and too expensive, a spokesman said...

Maine Bill Bars Teens from Chatting While Driving

Jun 6 2007 // Maine tenagers who are used to chatting while driving may have to break the habit and leave their cellular phones alone while they’re behind the wheel. A bill, which has won all-but-final Senate approval after it was...