West News

Fire Restrictions Take Effect As Wyoming Dries Out

Wyoming hasn’t had any big wildfires so far this year but several weeks of warm, dry weather have led to the state’s first widespread fire restrictions. Partial fire restrictions will take effect Tuesday for Medicine Bow National Forest in southeast …

Personal Data Of 2.5M People Compromised In California

Data breaches put the personal information of 2.5 million people in the California at risk, according to a report released Monday. State Attorney General Kamala Harris released the report showing 131 breaches of consumer information were reported in 2012. The …

Southern California Painter Awarded $58M For Bar Beating

A 43-year-old house painter so badly brain damaged that he cannot speak has been awarded $58 million for a beating in a bar that left him with half his skull permanently bashed in. Antonio Lopez Chaj (CHAI) appeared at a …

Lien Fees Working Out in California Workers’ Comp

Jason Molnar makes a living deep in the trenches of workers’ compensation battles in California, so you’d think when there was a no show from an opponent at an official lien hearing that he’d be relieved by what should have …

State Fund Begins Distributing $100M Dividend

California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund will begin issuing $100 million worth of dividend payments to eligible policyholders in early July, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer announced on Tuesday. The dividend be paid on the 2012 policy year, and eligible …

SCM Names Melbon Executive Vice President of Employee Benefits

SullivanCurtisMonroe named John E. Melbon executive vice president of the employee benefits division. Melbon has held senior level positions in management and sales, on both the carrier and broker side. Additionally, he founded Benefit Partners, an employee benefits consulting firm …

California’s Low Cost Auto Insurance Program Reduces Rates

The California Department of Insurance (CDI) is reducing rates for the California Low Cost Auto Insurance Program (CLCA) for the second year in a row. With annual premiums starting between $226 and $338, the program helps income-eligible good drivers afford …

System Planned to Warn Montana Motorists Of Dust Storms

State and local officials have developed a plan to warn motorists on Interstate 15 in Montana of blinding dust storms caused by white alkali dust blowing across the highway south of Sunburst. Montana Department of Transportation spokeswoman Lori Ryan says …

Montana State University: Employee Social Security numbers at risk

The Social Security numbers of about 4,500 past and present Montana State University employees may have been accessible to others because of a computer virus, school officials said. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that the school earlier this month mailed …

Corelogic in Southern California Buying Marshall & Swift/Boeckh

Real estate data provider CoreLogic is buying Marshall & Swift/Boeckh and DataQuick Information Solutions for $661 million, helping to broaden its property/casualty insurance services and add to its existing property data and analytics business. The transaction with the Decision Insight …

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