Figures

$1 million

A Michigan woman has admitted she took nearly $1 million from senior citizens’ life insurance accounts. Bobbi Jo Fritz, 48, of Pigeon, Mich., pleaded guilty to four felony counts of uttering and publishing checks for more than $20,000 and one count of embezzlement of more than $20,000. She was originally charged with 11 counts of embezzlement. AP

$16 million

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee said it has agreed to pay more than $16 million to settle sexual abuse claims involving 10 victims in California and two priests, one transferred there by the archdiocese. Half the settlement will come from insurance, the archdiocese said. The deal was reached after two days of court-ordered mediation in Los Angeles Superior Court. The Milwaukee Archdiocese had transferred Siegfried Widera to California in 1981, knowing the priest had a history of abuse. Nine claims were against Widera while one was against Franklyn Becker, who has since left the priesthood, the archdiocese said. AP

2,988

The rippling of flags and passing traffic were the only sounds heard as people milled about 2,988 American flags, each one representing a person killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Healing Field of Central Iowa is one of 14 such fields created across the country to commemorate the fifth anni-versary of the attacks. The flags, put up by volunteers, create a sea of red, white and blue on the 17-acre campus of Homesteaders Life, a company that sells insurance to funeral homes and one of the field’s sponsors. AP

50 percent

Nearly six in ten large and mid-sized U.S. businesses obtained insurance to cover property terrorism risks during 2005, a dramatic increase from the 2003 average of 27 percent and up from 50 percent in 2004. Meanwhile, the cost of property terrorism insurance in 2005 was 25 percent lower on average than the 2004 rate. A new report from Marsh Inc. finds the purchase of property terrorism insurance in 2005 varied considerably, depending on a company’s total insured values, location, and industry sector. The report is based on data compiled from 1,623 businesses and government entities that purchased or renewed property insurance policies in 2005. Smaller companies (those with total insured values less than $100 million) were far less likely in the past to purchase this coverage, nearly half of them did so in 2005. Marsh Inc.