Insurance Journal

Federal Appeals Panel Upholds Connecticut’s Assault Weapons Ban

A ban on assault weapons that Connecticut put in place after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting is constitutional, a federal appeals court said Friday, as it rejected challenges by gun rights advocates who claim it violates the Second Amendmen...

Posted: Aug 27, 2025

States Say Trump Order Halting Wind Projects Defies Explanation

The Trump administration’s order to halt work on a nearly completed wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island threatens grid reliability and jobs and defies explanation, business and government leaders from New England said on Monday. State leade...

Posted: Aug 27, 2025

New York Central Park Managers Support Eliminating Horse-Drawn Carriages

For more than 150 years, horse-drawn carriages have been trotting through Manhattan’s Central Park, weathering the arrival of the automobile, years of criticism from animal rights activists and even a mayoral administration that vowed to ban th...

Posted: Aug 27, 2025

Philadelphia Airport Reopens a Runway With System to Stop a Runaway Plane

The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday touted the reopening of a runway at Philadelphia International Airport through the installation of a system to stop a runaway airplane. The FAA awarded $8.5 million last year for the airport’s firs...

Posted: Aug 27, 2025

Trump Threatens Trucking Safety Funds for California, New Mexico and Washington

California, New Mexico and Washington are at risk of losing a cumulative $46 million a year in federal trucking safety funds after the Trump administration accused the states of flouting English-language rules for commercial drivers. U.S. Department...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Fire at Louisiana Auto Plant Forces Mandatory Evacuation Order

A fire at an automotive supply plant in Louisiana was 90% contained Sunday, but a mandatory evacuation order remained in place as crews tried to address remaining flames, law enforcement officials said. The fire at Smitty’s Supply just north of...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Texas Bill Would Levy Stricter Penalties on Camps Following Hill Country Flood

A bill that would tighten how youth camps are penalized for safety deficiencies and that would diminish the industry’s influence on a state advisory committee has gained traction in the Legislature. While Senate Bill 1 passed last week created...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Tesla Rejected $60M Settlement Before Losing $243M Autopilot Verdict

Billionaire Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla rejected a $60 million settlement proposal in a lawsuit over the 2019 fatal crash of an Autopilot-equipped Model S before a jury this month awarded a $243 million verdict in the case. Lawye...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

People Moves: Alive Risk Names Carroll Underwriting Director, Entertainment Programs

Alive Risk, the sports, leisure and entertainment managing general underwriter of Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers, the underwriting management division of Ryan Specialty announced that Scott Carroll has joined Alive Risk to serve as underwriting...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

WalkerHughes Acquires Missouri’s S&R Insurance

WalkerHughes Insurance announced acquisition of S&R Insurance, a well-established retail insurance brokerage headquartered in St. Robert, Missouri. This strategic move marks WalkerHughes’ first presence in south-central Missouri and reinfor...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

People Moves: Miller Taps Howden’s Cumberland to Newly Created Role of Chief Broking Officer; HDI Gl...

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at the re/insurance broker Miller and insurer HDI Global. A summary of these new hires follows here. Miller Appoints Howden’s Cumberland to New Role of Chief Broking Officer Miller...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

People Moves: Miller Taps Howden’s Cumberland for Newly Created Role of Chief Broking Officer; HDI G...

This edition of International People Moves details appointments at the re/insurance broker Miller and insurer HDI Global. A summary of these new hires follows here. Miller Appoints Howden’s Cumberland for New Role of Chief Broking Officer Mille...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Federal Appeals Court Decertifies SC Class Action on Undervalued Totaled Vehicles

A federal appeals court has decertified a class of plaintiffs in a South Carolina lawsuit alleging that Progressive Insurance undervalued total-loss vehicles, the latest turn in multiple, similar suits against U.S. auto insurers. The U.S. 4th Circuit...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Containment Increases on California Wine Country Wildfire

Containment has increased on a rural California wine country wildfire that was burning out of control and threatening thousands of properties. The Pickett Fire exploded in the Napa Valley last week, prompting evacuations from area wineries and rural...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Lawmakers, Unions Oppose Railroad Plan to Automate Track Safety Inspections

A U.S. railroad industry plan to rely more heavily on technology instead of humans to conduct routine track safety inspections has drawn a backlash from labor groups and lawmakers who voiced worry that automated inspections will result in more accide...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Maryland Screwworm Patient Recovered; Ranchers Criticize CDC Secrecy

The patient with the first human infestation of travel-associated New World screwworm in the United States has recovered from the flesh-eating parasite, and there was no sign of transmission to other people or animals, the Maryland Department of Heal...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

‘Big Four’ Reinsurers Maintain Property-Cat Appetite, Despite Signs of Rate Softening

Europe’s four largest reinsurers – Swiss Re, Munich Re, Hannover Re and SCOR – are maintaining their appetite for property-catastrophe risks as well as their ambitious profit targets for 2025 – despite signs of rate softening and hefty claims f...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Musk Sues Apple, OpenAI, Saying They Hurt AI Competition

Elon Musk accused Apple Inc. and OpenAI in a lawsuit of unfairly favoring the artificial intelligence company across iPhones and thwarting competition for other chatbot makers. Musk’s X and xAI seek billions of dollars in damages in the suit fi...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Azerbaijan Sounds Alarm Over Shallowing of Caspian Sea

Rapid falls in the level of the Caspian Sea are affecting ports and oil shipments and threatening to inflict catastrophic damage on sturgeon and seal populations, according to Azerbaijani officials. The Caspian, the world’s largest salt lake, h...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Japan FSA Plans New Division to Oversee Asset Managers, Insurers

Japan’s financial regulator plans to set up a division to oversee the asset management and insurance industries, as part of its efforts to drive improvements in the sectors. The new bureau would seek to advance the government’s goal of tu...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Squishmallows Maker, Build-A-Bear Call Truce in Plush Toy Legal Battle

Jazwares, the Berkshire Hathaway-owned maker of Squishmallows, has agreed to end a lawsuit against Build-A-Bear Workshop over its alleged knockoffs of the popular plush toys, according to a filing in Los Angeles federal court. Jazwares and Build-A-Be...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Kraft, Other Companies Beat Test Lawsuit Over Ultra-Processed Foods

Kraft, Mondelez, Coca-Cola and several other major food companies on Monday succeeded in winning the dismissal of a lawsuit that accused them of designing harmful “ultra-processed” foods addictive to children. U.S. District Judge Mia Pere...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

NCDOI Investigating Agency Over Complaints That Policies Weren’t Obtained

Investigators with the North Carolina Department of Insurance searched an insurance agency and a home in Salisbury after reports that insurance premiums had not been used to secure policies. “The N.C. Department of Insurance has received severa...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

California’s Long-Delayed Bullet Train Slated to Run in Central Valley by 2032

California’s long-delayed high-speed rail project could be operating in the Central Valley by 2032, but it is far short of securing the funding it needs to connect up north toward the San Francisco Bay Area and south toward Los Angeles, …

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

California Labor Commissioner Cites LA Developers $2.3M

The California Labor Commissioner’s Office issued citations totaling more than $2.3 million to multiple developers and operators of construction projects at sites in Los Angeles. The citations stem from an investigation that reportedly showed t...

Posted: Aug 26, 2025