Latest Pennsylvania Headlines

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

Pennsylvania Debates Contractor Misclassifications

Jun 16 2008 // A bill to punish builders that avoid worker’s compensation fees and other costs by wrongly classifying workers as independent contractors was recently amended on the Pennsylvania House floor. The legislation aims to...

Pennsylvania Lawmakers Debate Use of ‘Independent Contractor’ Label

Jun 5 2008 // A bill to punish builders that avoid worker’s compensation fees and other costs by wrongly classifying workers as independent contractors was amended on the Pennsylvania House floor on Tuesday. The legislation aims...

Business Moves

Jun 2 2008 // Main Street America, Great Lakes Casualty The Main Street America Group, a regional property/casualty insurer based in Jacksonville, Fla. that writes business up and down the East Coast, is expanding to the Midwest. The...

Pennsylvania Gas Line Explosion Levels Vacant Building, Injures 4

May 23 2008 // A backhoe operator hit a gas line Wednesday, causing an explosion that leveled a vacant restaurant building and injured at least four people. Work was being done on curbs and sidewalks in the area. Cogan said workers were...

Ratings Roundup: Liberty Mutual, PMA, Selective, Lititz, Brethren

May 20 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘BB+’ junior subordinated debt rating to Liberty Mutual Group Inc.’s (LMGI) Series C junior subordinated notes in an amount up to $1.25...

Business Moves

May 19 2008 // AmWINS, Beacon Risk Strategies Charlotte, N.C.-based AmWINS Group Inc. acquired Beacon Risk Strategies, a Seattle-based managing general underwriter of excess-loss benefits insurance. Terms of the transaction were not...

Atlantic Specialty Completes Acquisition of Pa. Wholesale Broker ESL

May 16 2008 // Atlantic Specialty Lines of Pennsylvania, LLC, a subsidiary of Atlantic Specialty Lines, Inc. has acquired the business assets of ESL, Inc., effective May 1, 2008. ESL, which was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Penn National...

Pennsylvania Prosecutors Say Ex-Judge Can Get Fair Trial in Erie

May 13 2008 // Pennsylvania prosecutors say former Superior Court Judge Michael Joyce’s insurance fraud trial should remain in Erie’s federal court. The 59-year-old Joyce wants the trial moved to U.S. District Court in...

Hobbs Joins NSM Direct in Pa. from HRH

May 9 2008 // David W. Hobbs has joined Conshohocken, Pa.-based NSM Insurance Group as director of NSM Direct, which is the brokerage firm’s retail insurance operation. Hobbs previously held the position of president of HRH of...

Conectiv to Pay $1.65M to Settle Racial Suit in Pennsylvania

May 8 2008 // Conectiv Energy and three subcontractors will pay $1.65 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed by four black workers in Pennsylvania who said they were subjected to racial slurs, Ku Klux Klan graffiti and a noose...

Pennsylvania Troopers Make Record Number of DUI Arrests

May 7 2008 // Pennsylvania’s State Police last year arrested 15,583 people for driving under the influence, a 3 percent increase over the number arrested for DUI in 2007, and the highest total for a single year in the...

Medical Malpractice Suits on the Decline in Pennsylvania

May 5 2008 // The number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania declined for a third consecutive year in 2007, according to figures released by the state Supreme Court. The number of suits, 1,617, represented a 4.5...

Pennsylvania Highway Deaths Dropped in 2007

Apr 28 2008 // Pennsylvania officials say highway deaths dropped in 2007, but more are being blamed on aggressive driving. The state Department of Transportation says that 1,491 people died on Pennsylvania highways last year....

FDA Reportedly Finds ‘Concerns’ at Merck Plant in Pennsylvania

Apr 25 2008 // A newspaper says federal inspectors are reporting 49 areas of concern at Merck & Co. Inc.’s vaccine plant in Montgomery County. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that it obtained an unpublished report on the...

Pennsylvania Malpractice Insurance Subsidy for Doctors Lapses

Apr 21 2008 // A five-year, $1 billion taxpayer subsidy to help Pennsylvania doctors buy medical malpractice insurance lapsed at the end of last month, forcing physicians to pay higher premiums unless Democrats and Republicans break an...

Pa. Gov. Rendell Forced to Withdraw Ario Nomination

Apr 21 2008 // Republican lawmakers in the Pennsylvania Senate are refusing to consider Gov. Ed Rendell’s nominee for the job of state insurance commissioner, forcing the governor to withdraw the nomination. Aides say Rendell plans...

New Markets

Apr 21 2008 // The following markets were selected from the MyNewMarkets database of 25,000 coverages and programs. To find additional markets, or to submit markets, go to www.MyNewMarkets.com. Liquor Liability Coverage Nuts &...

N.Y. City to Lower Catskills Reservoirs to Reduce Flood Risk to Pa.

Apr 18 2008 // At the request of Gov. Ed Rendell, New York City has agreed to release more water from its reservoirs in the Catskills in an effort to reduce the danger of flooding in communities downstream along the Delaware...

Number of Medical Malpractice Suits in Pennsylvania Down

Apr 16 2008 // The number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania declined for a third consecutive year in 2007, according to figures released Monday by the state Supreme Court. The number of suits, 1,617, represented a 4.5...

FEMA: Faulty Pumps Could Change Bethlehem, Pa. Flood Map

Apr 11 2008 // Federal officials say failure to repair 15 flood-control pumps along the Lehigh River could cost Bethlehem property owners money. The city argues that the pumps have never been used, and repairs that could cost millions of...