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California Governor Jerry Brown Signs Surplus Lines Association Backed Bill

Assembly Bill 1641, legislation offered and lobbied by the Surplus Line Association of California that is designed to give the California Department of Insurance more flexibility in deciding which coverages to add to the Export List, was signed into law …

Texas Insurance Broker RHSB Restructures Senior Leadership

Dallas-based independent insurance brokerage RHSB has named Julia Miller Spracklen J.D. as chief operating officer and Courtney Woodruff as senior vice president in its Commercial Lines Division. Additionally, John Losurdo will transition from the role of chief operating office to …

Oklahoma Mulls Rule Change for Ex-State Employees, Officials Turned Lobbyists

The Oklahoma Ethics Commission is considering a rule change that would ban all state employees and officials from lobbying for two years after their tenure ends. The proposed rule change would create what Oklahoma officials are calling a cooling-off period, …

Texas Congressional Delegation Seeks Additional $19B in Federal Harvey Aid

The Texas congressional delegation has requested $19 billion to help the Lone Star State recover from Harvey, with both Republicans and Democrats teaming up behind a request to repair water projects and help homeowners and communities rebuild from the storm. …

Kansas Residents Fighting Against Saltwater Injection Wells

Kansas residents are broadening the fight over an oil-related waste disposal well in the Flint Hills into a protest of similar wells across several counties. Residents of Chase, Morris and other counties known for open pastures and tallgrass ecology lost …

Delay in Reporting Defect Leads to $1.9M in Penalties for Spectrum Brands

A Wisconsin-based consumer products company has been ordered to pay $1.9 million in civil penalties for waiting to report a defect in coffee carafes, which resulted in injuries to nearly 70 people, and for continuing to sell them after they …

Iowa Officials Seek Federal Approval of Levee Repair Plan

Officials in western Iowa are worried that $50 million in levee repairs won’t be completed quickly enough to avoid having an area deemed a flood zone, which would require costly insurance coverage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to …

Judge Awards $120M in Damages Against Missouri Ex-Doctor, Scoutmaster

A former physician and Boy Scout leader from Missouri has been ordered to pay $120 million to a boy who he sexually abused for years. The Kansas City Star reports a Jackson County judge awarded the damages in a civil …

Northern California Wildfires Burn Wine Country Homes, Force Evacuations

Firefighters battled roughly 10 wind-whipped fires across Northern California’s wine country early Monday, triggering a rush by residents to flee the area. Mandatory evacuations were ordered after blazes broke out late Sunday across four counties as strong winds buffeted the …

City in Oregon Suing Over Restrictive Flood Map Recommendations

The city of Coos Bay, Ore. has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the National Marine Fisheries Service over its recommendation for more restrictive floodplain regulations, which would restrict development in most of downtown. The World reported the suit …

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