Latest Texas Headlines
All the headlines from our Texas Topic Page, ordered by recency.
In Texas’s Black-Swan Blackout, Everything Went Wrong at Once
Feb 17 2021 // The finger-pointing began immediately: It was the frozen wind turbines that foolishly replaced traditional sources. No, fossil fuels were at fault. No, Texas’s deregulated power market, unique in the country, had...
Texas Ag Industry, Food Supply at Risk from Severe Weather, Official Says
Feb 17 2021 // Farmers and ranchers across Texas are seeing devastating effects from the cold weather on livestock, feed and agriculture products, Texas’ top agriculture official says. In a media release, Texas Agriculture...
Citrus Crop Losses Expected in Texas After Deep Freeze
Feb 16 2021 // The historic cold snap that has frozen Texas this week with brutal winter weather and brought snow all the way to beaches along the Gulf of Mexico is also bringing headaches for citrus growers at the southern tip of the...
Freeze Slams Texas; Power Could Be Out for Days
Feb 16 2021 // The deep freeze that has forced the shutdown of U.S. refineries, oil wells and meat plants, disrupted shipments of soybeans and corn, and is still leaving more than 3 million customers without electricity could continue to...
Brown Reappointed as Texas Workers’ Compensation Commissioner
Feb 16 2021 // Cassie Brown has been reappointed by Gov. Greg Abbott as Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) for a term set to expire on Feb. 1, 2023. Brown has led the Division of...
At Least 6 Killed in Massive Crash on Icy North Texas Interstate
Feb 12 2021 // At least six people were killed Feb. 11 in a massive crash involving at least 133 vehicles on an icy Texas interstate, police said, as a winter storm dropped freezing rain, sleet and snow on parts of the U.S. The number of...
Robles Joins XPT Partners in Texas as VP, Senior Transportation Broker
Feb 12 2021 // XPT Partners, a national specialty insurance distribution company, has added excess transportation expert Alex Robles as vice president and senior broker in its Plano, Texas, office. Robles will concentrate on excess...
Texas Woman Faces Charges After Dog Attacks 3-Year-Old Girl
Feb 10 2021 // The owner of a dog that attacked a 3-year-old girl at a suburban Houston restaurant in January has been charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence. Jennifer Romano, 46, has been charged in the Jan. 9 attack...
Arsonist Charged in Texas Courthouse Fire Suspected in Additional Blaze
Feb 10 2021 // The suspect in a fire that destroyed all but the outer rock walls of a 111-year-old Texas courthouse is being held on arson charges, authorities say. Nicholas Miller, who remained jailed on Feb. 9, was arrested on Feb. 5...
Barta Reappointed as Texas Injured Employee Public Counsel
Feb 10 2021 // Jessica Barta has been reappointed as Texas’ Injured Employee Public Counsel, a role in which she has served since October 2014. Her current term would expire on Feb. 1 2023. The Public Counsel helps injured...
Texas Bill Would Mandate Business Interruption Cover for Pandemic Losses
Feb 10 2021 // A bill filed in Texas would require business interruption insurance policies to cover losses from a pandemic. Under SB 249, filed by Sen. Charles Schwertner, business interruption insurance would be required to...
Texas Rail Services Firm Faces $419K Fine After Oklahoma Workers’ Deaths
Feb 10 2021 // A Texas-based rail products and services company has been cited by federal workplace safety officials for violations that resulted in the deaths of two workers at a site in Hugo, Oklahoma. An investigation by the U.S....
Massive Fire Destroys County Courthouse in Texas; Arson Suspected
Feb 7 2021 // A suspect has been arrested been taken into custody following a massive fire that destroyed all but the rock outer walls of an 111-year-old Texas courthouse, an official says. The fire at the Mason County Courthouse in...
Texas Approves Redpoint/Tesla Auto Insurance Policy Form
Feb 5 2021 // It looks like Tesla has gone all-in on Texas. Not only is the electric car company moving some manufacturing operations to Austin, its founder, Elon Musk, is said to be relocating there, and it will soon be offering its...
Study: 40 Out of 120 Texas Workers’ Comp Insurers Are ‘High Performers’
Feb 5 2021 // Forty workers’ compensation insurance carriers out of 120 assessed in Texas scored high enough to be placed in the “high performer” tier in a study recently released by state workers’ comp...
Texas Hotel Management Firms to Settle Pay Discrimination Suit for $400K
Feb 5 2021 // Two Texas-based hotel management firms have agreed to pay $400,000 to settle a federal lawsuit alleging gender pay discrimination at a hotel they operated in Louisiana. In its lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...
Texas Governor Calls for COVID-19 Liability Protections for Businesses
Feb 4 2021 // In his State of the State address on Feb. 2, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott advocated liability protections for businesses faced with lawsuits related to the coronavirus pandemic. In his prepared remarks, Abbott said business...
Drought, Wildfire Threat Lead to Disaster Declaration in Texas
Feb 3 2021 // Saying exceptional drought conditions pose a wildfire threat in a large swath of West and Southwest Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for counties in those areas of the state. Abbott said drought...
Texas’ Cudd Well Control Providing Energy Expertise to Worldwide Facilities
Feb 2 2021 // Worldwide Facilities LLC, a national wholesale insurance broker, managing general agent and program underwriter, is partnering with The Woodlands, Texas-based Cudd Pressure Control Inc., through its Cudd Well Control...
Texas Governor Vows to Fight President Biden’s Energy, Climate Agenda
Jan 29 2021 // Gov. Greg Abbott, looking to show an early contrast with President Joe Biden, visited the Permian Basin on Jan. 28 and announced a series of steps the state would be taking to push back against the new Democratic...
