Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Why Coastal Living Is Becoming Affordable for Only the Rich
Apr 24 2018 // When Hurricane Irma reached Florida’s Big Pine Key in September, it caused the floor of Terry and Sharon Baron’s cream-colored mobile home to collapse. On Marathon Key, twenty miles north, the winds lifted...
Deadlines for Texas Windstorm Insurer Appraisal Demands Extended
Apr 19 2018 // The deadlines for a Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) claimant to demand appraisal of a claim for damages caused by Hurricane Harvey have been extended, the Texas Department of Insurance reports. An extension of...
Dean & Draper Acquires Houston’s Texas Printers Insurance
Apr 19 2018 // Dean & Draper Insurance Agency LP has acquired Houston-based Texas Printers Insurance Agency (TPIA). TPIA specializes in risk management and property/casualty insurance. The agency also offers employee benefits for...
InfoWars Host Jones Faces Defamation Suit by Sandy Hook Victims’ Families
Apr 18 2018 // The parents of two children killed at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012 sued Alex Jones, the host of InfoWars, who had derided the shooting as fake and possibly staged by the government. Leonard Pozner and Veronique De...
Still No Arrest 5 Years After Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion
Apr 17 2018 // April 17 marked the fifth anniversary of the fertilizer plant explosion that claimed 15 lives in the town of West, Texas. Despite a lengthy investigation by state and federal officials, no one has been arrested and charged...
IICF Southeast Division Awards $473K in Grants to Nonprofits in Texas, Region
Apr 17 2018 // The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Southeast Division has awarded $473,000 in community grants to 24 nonprofit organizations that champion the causes of children at risk, education and military...
Dozens of Wildfires Burn Hundreds of Square Miles in Oklahoma, Texas
Apr 16 2018 // Strong winds are fueling more than two dozen wildfires burning across Oklahoma and Texas. Authorities say one blaze in western Oklahoma is estimated to be nearly 40 miles across at its widest point. Oklahoma Forestry...
Texas Landscaper to Pay $400K in Workers’ Comp Fraud Case
Apr 16 2018 // A Pflugerville, Texas, landscape company pleaded guilty March 21 to misrepresenting its payroll so it could pay less for workers’ compensation coverage, according to the Texas Department of Insurance. Jammers...
Texas County to Urge Flood Insurance Purchase via Billboards
Apr 13 2018 // Houston-area officials are planning a campaign to put up two dozen billboards encouraging residents to buy flood insurance after Hurricane Harvey. The Harris County Flood Control District estimates more than 80 percent of...
Houston-Area Officials Say They Didn’t Know About Reservoir Flood Risks Pre-Harvey
Apr 13 2018 // Houston-area officials said during a congressional hearing that they weren’t aware of forecasts by federal authorities regarding flooding risks from local reservoirs that ended up inundating thousands of homes during...
Texas Developers’ Use of Fill for Flood Resilience Scrutinized Post-Harvey
Apr 11 2018 // Texas home developers’ practice of using dirt to raise homes above a flood plain is drawing increased scrutiny as experts question flood resilience measures after Hurricane Harvey. Some experts argued using dirt, or...
Texas Workers’ Comp Commissioner to Leave Post May 1
Apr 9 2018 // The Texas Department of Insurance announced that Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Ryan Brannan will leave his position effective May 1. Brannan was appointed to lead the Texas Department of Insurance’s,...
Texas Surplus Lines Stamping Office Adds 3 New Board Members
Apr 9 2018 // The Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX) has appointed three new members to its board of directors. Rosemarie Marshall serves as executive vice president for AmWINS Group in Dallas, Texas, where she manages the...
Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas Facing Dual Threats: Tornadoes, Wildfires
Apr 9 2018 // Emergency officials in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas are bracing for two types of disasters as spring gets into full swing: The start of what’s historically the most active time of year for tornadoes plus wildfire...
Koncaba Appointed to Texas Mutual Board; Swanson Reappointed
Apr 6 2018 // Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed Kristi Koncaba, president and chief operating officer at Texan Bank, to the board of directors for workers’ compensation insurer, Texas Mutual Insurance Co. Koncaba has 15 years...
City Council Approves Changes to Houston’s Floodplain Regulations
Apr 5 2018 // More than seven months after Hurricane Harvey’s destructive floods damaged hundreds of thousands of homes across a wide swath of southeast Texas, the Houston City Council on April 4 approved the first overhaul to...
Texas Bar to Pay $24K to Settle ‘Hot Pants’ Pregnancy Discrimination Suit
Apr 4 2018 // A sports bar in Rowlett, Texas will pay a $24,000 penalty for not allowing a pregnant bartender to wear capri pants and a long top instead of hot pants and tight shirt, federal officials say. In addition to the fine, Off...
Designer of Deadly Kansas Water Slide Arrested in Texas
Apr 4 2018 // One of the designers of a massive Kansas water park slide that decapitated a 10-year-old boy has been arrested in Texas, federal authorities said. Trent Touchstone, chief deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service in Dallas,...
Georgia-Based Auto Insurer Access Insurance To Be Liquidated
Apr 4 2018 // Insurance regulators in the Southeast are notifying policyholders in their states of a Texas-domiciled/Atlanta, Georgia-headquartered property/casualty insurance company that is to be liquidated after being placed in...
Lawsuits over Arkema Chemical Disaster in Texas Add Up
Apr 3 2018 // Note: This story originally ran in The Texas Tribune. Most of the houses along Crosby Eastgate Road in Southeast Texas and its neighboring streets are one-story outfits on sprawling green lots. In their driveways are spare...
