Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Friday, Aug. 10

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State Farm public hearing put off
 
TALLAHASSEE — Tuesday’s scheduled public hearing on State Farm’s home insurance practices in Florida is now postponed, stymied by regulators’ own zeal.

 

Use of credit scores in insurance debated

TALLAHASSEE — Worried about discrimination against minorities and poor people, state regulators are considering proposals that could place new restrictions on insurance companies that use credit scores to help set rates.

 

PCI’s Stander Featured on National Public Radio

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – William Stander, assistant vice president and regional manager for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), was featured in a recent interview by National Public Radio (NPR) discussing the property insurance market in Florida. The audio and text of the story are included.

 

Fed acts to stem credit turmoil

The Federal Reserve, trying to calm turmoil on Wall Street, announced Friday that it will pump as much money as needed into the U.S. financial system to help overcome the ill effects of a spreading credit crunch.

 

The ‘compassionate’ debate on SCHIP

One of the less pleasant debates in Washington has been over SCHIP. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program covers children whose families make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford their own coverage. In other words, it’s for the working stiffs.

 

Our view: Betrayal of trust

Tallahassee should enforce insurance-rate cuts or set up state coverage.  They can’t be trusted and the Legislature knows it.  Insurance companies that have been crying about losses and using high re-insurance rates to justify rate increases on Space Coast residents and other Floridians are full of hot air.

 

$100 Million Now Available to Help Florida Communities with Hurricane Wilma Disaster Recovery

TALLAHASSEE–Following instructions from Governor Charlie Crist to better meet the continued needs of local governments and Florida hurricane victims, the Department of Community Affairs has invited cities and counties affected by Hurricane Wilma in 2005 to apply for a share of $100 million in long-term recovery funding.

 

Director of KidCare program to resign

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The director of the state’s subsidized health insurance program for children since its creation said Thursday she’ll leave the program next year as she battles cancer.

 

The insurance debacle demands action, and a bill now in Congress could help

While the GOP-controlled Legislature dithers on true insurance reform, at least some Florida politicians are taking action.

 

FEMA Moves to Get People Out of Trailers

Federal disaster officials plan to move thousands of hurricane victims out of travel trailers as worries grow that people might have been living for months in government-issued campers contaminated with a carcinogen.

 

Petition-drive clock is reset

Opponents to ballot measures get more time.

TALLAHASSEE – A new law that allows voters to remove their signatures from initiative petitions is on the books with a provision that gives opponents more time to fight measures aiming for the 2008 ballot.

 

South Carolina Confirms Earlier Date for GOP Primary

South Carolina’s Republican Party confirmed yesterday that it is moving its 2008 presidential primary forward to Jan. 19, a decision that party Chairman Katon Dawson announced in a joint appearance in Concord, N.H., with New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner.

 

Nowhere safe

Pick your disaster: Forest fires. Earthquakes. Floods. Tornadoes. Blizzards. Droughts. Hurricanes.

Is there anyplace in the country that doesn’t face a potential threat from one or more of these natural disasters? Indeed, a more relevant question might be, is there anyplace in the country that hasn’t faced an actual disaster from one of these forces this year?

 

Gore: Polluters Finance Research to Cast Doubt on Global Warming

Former Vice President Al Gore said this week that some of the world’s largest energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., are funding research aimed at disputing the scientific consensus on global warming as part of a campaign to mislead the public.

 

Energy Futures Rebound on News of Storm

Energy futures rebounded from earlier lows on Friday as traders bought on news that a tropical storm is forming in the Atlantic Ocean and a report of a refinery problem.

 

Analysts See ‘Simply Incredible’ Shrinking of Floating Ice in the Arctic

The area of floating ice in the Arctic has shrunk more this summer than in any other summer since satellite tracking began in 1979, and it has reached that record point a month before the annual ice pullback typically peaks, experts said yesterday.

 

U.S. says hurricane season will be easier than expected

While still predicting a busy 2007 hurricane season, government forecasters on Thursday slightly brightened their outlook, calling for 13 to 16 named storms, including seven to nine hurricanes, with three to five of those intense.

 

Scientist makes dire earthquake prediction

A major earthquake in the Coachella Valley is long overdue, she says, and her research foresees ‘a whole new level of disaster.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Sandwiched between the powerful San Andreas and San Jacinto faults, the Coachella Valley could be the epicenter of the most devastating earthquake in the country, one that is already 300 years overdue, a government scientist warned Thursday.

 

Broward judge says prominent lawyer entitled to nearly $1.6 million in fees

A Fort Lauderdale law firm is entitled to a larger chunk of money than the state Legislature approved it to receive for representing a paralyzed woman and her family, a Broward judge ordered Thursday.

 

Taylor keeping Daytona post, planning ’08 run for state House

DAYTONA BEACH — Mayor Glenn Ritchey’s announcement that he will run for a four-year term and Commissioner Dwayne Taylor’s decision to get out of the mayoral race have put a new spin on this year’s city elections.

 

Insured families often are stuck with paying for student vaccinations

Amanda Wells, 12, center, holds on to her mother, Brandy Hunter, 33, left, as Amanda reacts to a Hepatitis A immunization shot given to her by nurse Heather Pepper at the Indian River County Health Department on Wednesday.

 

4 Out of 10 Kids Use Car Booster Seats

More parents are beginning to buckle up their young children in car booster seats, the government reported Friday.

 

Report shows someone edited federal transportation bill

Study: Phrase ‘Coconut Road interchange’ slipped into $10M earmark after congressional vote.

The words “Coconut Road interchange” were not in the federal transportation bill approved by Congress in 2005.

 

A New Kind of Bank Run Tests Old Safeguards

A few generations ago, savers responded to financial panics with runs on banks, and even healthy institutions could fail if they could not raise enough cash quickly enough.