Latest Texas Headlines

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

OSHA Sues Texas Company for Wrongfully Firing an Employee

Aug 10 2015 // Federal officials have sued a Texas-based company for violating the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The lawsuit against Continental Alloys and Services Inc. in Spring, Texas, maintains...

Attorney: Hail Claims ‘Cottage Industry’ Bad News for Texas

Aug 10 2015 // The rise of rampant claims litigation against property insurers following hailstorms in Texas has created a “cottage industry” that not only threatens the financial health of the state’s property...

Texas-Based Blue Bell Gets OK to Make Ice Cream at Alabama Plant

Aug 7 2015 // Brenham, Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries can resume production and sale of ice cream manufactured at its Alabama plant, the Alabama Department of Public Health announced. A state inspection found that Blue Bell’s...

Environmental Groups Concerned Over Renewed Oil Hunt in Florida

Aug 7 2015 // Renewed hunts for oil in sensitive Florida ecosystems have environmental groups raising questions about the state’s regulation of the oil and gas industry. A Miami company, Kanter Real Estate LLC, has submitted a...

Family of Woman Who Died in Texas Jail Sues Trooper, DPS

Aug 6 2015 // The family of a black woman found dead in a Texas jail three days after a confrontation with a white state trooper filed a wrongful-death lawsuit on Aug. 4 against the officer and other officials, saying it was a last...

Pipeline Explosion in South Texas Injures 2; Spurs Evacuations

Aug 6 2015 // Authorities say the explosion of a natural gas pipeline near the small South Texas town of Falfurrias injured two people and prompted the evacuation about 150 homes. An official with the Brooks County sheriff’s...

Texas Seeks Comment on Rules for Changes to Windstorm Insurer

Aug 4 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance is seeking public comment on drafts of rules for implementing legislation that alters funding mechanisms for the state’s property insurer of last resort for wind and hail along the...

Texas Professional Insurance Agents Partners with EFG Cos.

Aug 4 2015 // With the aim of helping member agents boost their revenues, Texas Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) is partnering with EFG Cos. to offer ancillary consumer protection products. Texas PIA selected the Simplicity Division...

Former Texas Surgeon Charged with Assault in Malpractice Cases

Aug 3 2015 // A former Dallas neurosurgeon has been described by state regulators as so derelict during operations that his actions led to the deaths of two patients and left others with disabling injuries in what’s seen as one of...

People – South Central

Aug 3 2015 // Craig Sparks, non-executive chairman of Union Standard, has been presented with the Raymond Mauk Leadership Award by the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT). Sparks is the 18th recipient of the award. The ICT presents the...

After Listeria Outbreak, Blue Bell Testing New Production Processes

Aug 3 2015 // Blue Bell Creameries has started ice cream production trial runs in Alabama three months after a listeria scare halted all sales. The Brenham, Texas-based company said it is evaluating enhanced production processes at its...

Texas Company Fined $112K for Safety Violations at Energy Facility

Jul 31 2015 // The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Southcross Energy Partners GP LLC for seven safety violations at its cryogenic natural gas processing facility in Gregory, Texas. Safety officials have...

Texas DPS Takes 1.7K Commercial Vehicles Out of Service

Jul 31 2015 // The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) said during its inspection of 7,865 commercial motor vehicles in June it pulled approximately 21.7 percent, or 1,710, of the 18-wheelers, buses and other commercial vehicles...

Texas Approves 12 Companies to Self-Insure for Workers’ Comp

Jul 30 2015 // The Texas Department of Insurance’s Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) renewed approval for 12 employers to self-insure workers’ compensation claims. Together, the companies employ about 45,000...

Louisiana-Based Workers’ Comp Insurer Expands Into Texas

Jul 30 2015 // LUBA Workers’ Comp, based in Baton Rouge, La., is now offering workers’ compensation insurance coverage to businesses in Texas. LUBA Workers’ Comp covers businesses in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi...

Texas Company Fined $424K for Trench Collapse

Jul 29 2015 // One minute he was working in the 8-foot trench below ground. The next, he was being buried in it. His co-workers came to his rescue, digging him out with their bare hands. Moments after they pulled the injured man to...

Comprehensive Rating Platform Leads to MGA Successes

Jul 28 2015 // Dallas, TX, July 28 2015-Texas All Risk General Agency, Inc. is celebrating single digit mid year loss ratio trends with all 5 of their commercial binding carriers. The company attributes its continued success to their...

Texas Flood Responders Being Trained in Drone Technology

Jul 27 2015 // Drone technology training is part of a Texas A&M University seminar for emergency responders dealing with deadly flooding like the disastrous May storms. The 2015 Summer Institute on Flooding takes place at...

Texas Had Costliest U.S. Cat Losses in First Half of 2015: PCS

Jul 22 2015 // Texas had the most catastrophe losses in the United States during the first half of 2015, according to a new report on North American cat losses during the first six months of the year. Seventeen second-quarter catastrophe...

1/4 of Texas Listeria Cases not Tracked or Recorded: Report

Jul 20 2015 // State health records reviewed following the Blue Bell ice cream listeria outbreak show that a quarter of Texas cases involving the foodborne illness are not recorded or tracked. The Houston Chronicle reported that Texas...