State and Regional News

Report: New Jersey Motorcycle Deaths Drop

A new report shows a drop in deaths from motorcycle accidents in New Jersey — a change that’s good news for both riders and safety advocates. “I think it’s great,” Barbara Borowiec, a South Jersey motorcycle dealer, said of the …

Lawsuit Challenges UMiami Use of Credit History in Job Screenings

A federal lawsuit contends that University of Miami credit history checks of job candidates discriminate unfairly against minorities. The potential class-action lawsuit filed Monday claims that use of credit histories in hiring decisions violates the Civil Rights Act. The suit …

Is Gas Drilling Causing West Virginia Earthquakes?

Officials say there’s no clear explanation for what may have prompted several earthquakes near Frametown earlier this year. Some have speculated that the cluster of small earthquakes was linked to local gas drilling. Delegate Brent Boggs, D-Braxton, was sitting at …

Gov.-Elect Kasich Names Sen. Buehrer to Head Ohio Workers’ Comp Bureau

Ohio Governor-elect John Kasich named Senator Steve Buehrer as administrator of the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Buehrer, a Republican from Delta, becomes the fourth agency director of the Kasich Administration. Buehrer has been in the Senate since 2007. He previously …

2 Louisiana Insurance Producers and Employee Served with Fine Notices

Two Slidell, La., producers were served with fine notices by Louisiana Department of Insurance Fraud Section Investigators on Nov. 19 for allegedly allowing and compensating an unlicensed employee to act as an insurance producer on behalf of their business. The …

IIAH Young Agents Begins 2nd Annual Be An Angel Drive

The IIAH Young Agents of Houston kicked off their second Annual Be An Angel Drive with a silent auction that was held at the IIAH 2010-2011 Officer Installation Dinner in September. By the end of the night, the Young Agents’ …

DuPont Worried About Publicity in West Virginia Zinc-Smelting Case

DuPont will likely seek to sequester jurors in a 2011 trial that could determine whether it must pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to some 8,500 West Virginians who won a toxic-exposure case three years ago. At a …

Florida Retail Workers’ Comp Fund Becomes Stock Company, RetailFirst

The Florida Retail Federation Self Insurers Fund reported that a majority of its members has voted in favor of converting to RetailFirst Insurance Co., a stock insurance company within a mutual holding company system. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation …

Kentucky Jury Awards $42 Million in Nursing Home Death

The family of a man who died after nine days in a Madisonville nursing home has won a $42.75 million verdict. Attorney Lisa Circeo argued in court that 92-year-old Joseph Clint Offutt died because Harborside of Madisonville staff neglected him. …

New York Agents Lose Court Battle over Compensation Disclosure

New York agents failed to make their case that insurance regulators cannot require agents and brokers to disclose their commissions, a Supreme Court judge has ruled. That just-released decision by Supreme Court Justice Richard M. Platkin appears to end for …