Southeast News

B&B Adds Georgia-based Public Entities Team in Latest Acquisition

A part of Brown & Brown’s wholesale insurance group has acquired Public Entities of America LLC, a brokerage based in Alpharetta, Georgia, that has catered to the public sector and risk management marketplace. PEA will now be part of Apex …

Florida’s 125% Surge in Property-Insurance Bills Sows Havoc

For Filicia Porter, the insurance bills were the final straw. They’d been climbing steeply for her assisted-living business as Florida was battered with ever more-powerful storms, and eventually, the numbers stopped adding up. So in March, she finally decided to …

After Loss at Alabama Mercedes Plants, UAW Vows to Regroup and Try Again

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — A decisive vote against the United Auto Workers union at two Mercedes factories in Alabama on Friday sidetracked the UAW’s grand plan to sign up workers at nonunion plants mainly in the South. But newly elected …

After Two Years in the Eye of the Storm, Neal Steps Down From FIGA. Brown Up Next

Corey Neal took over as executive director of the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association in early 2022, at the height of what many would say were some of the darkest days for the Florida property/casualty market. Two carriers had just been …

Security First Touts 5% Rate Decrease for HO-3, Renters Policies in Florida

Citing the stabilizing impact that legislative reforms have had on the Florida market, Security First Insurance Co. executives this week announced two residential property rate reductions of more than 5%. “For the first time in nine years, we’re going to …

Driver Says He Smoked Pot Oil, Took Meds Before Florida Crash That Killed 8 Workers

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A man with a long record of dangerous driving told investigators he smoked marijuana oil and took prescription drugs hours before he sideswiped a bus, killing eight Mexican farmworkers and injuring dozens more, according to an …

DeSantis, Amid Criticism, Signs Bill Making Climate Change Less of a Priority

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Climate change will be a lesser priority in Florida and largely disappear from state statutes under legislation signed Wednesday by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that also bans power-generating wind turbines offshore or near the state’s lengthy …

Greater Chance of Major Hurricane on East Coast This Year, Less in Gulf, Scientist Says

Multiple computer models from forecasting organizations across the globe have predicted a very active hurricane season starting next month, spelling trouble for Florida and much of the Eastern United States. The models aren’t wrong, said Phil Klotzbach, a senior research …

Driver of Pickup Charged with DUI After Crash with Bus that Killed 8 Farmworkers

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Highway Patrol has arrested the driver of a pickup truck that crashed into a farmworker bus early Tuesday, killing eight, on charges of driving under the influence-manslaughter. Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, faces eight counts …

Georgia County Must Pay for Transgender Deputy’s Surgery, Appeals Court Says

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that a Georgia county illegally discriminated against a sheriff’s deputy by failing to pay for her gender-affirming surgery. In its ruling Monday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court …

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