Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Friday, May 30
May 30, 2008
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La. Judge: Agents don’t have to counsel clients about coverage
A federal judge says insurance companies don’t have to tell clients who buy the maximum federal flood insurance about additional coverage available from other companies.
4 years after hurricane, some Fla. residents fight insurer
The days of entertaining guests at Deborah and Clinton Wiley’s house ended when Hurricane Charley struck four years ago.
Hurricane disaster teams need volunteers
And there’s no better time for residents to volunteer for disaster teams in the area, said Mark Brennan, a rural sociologist with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
EDITORIAL: Flirting with disaster
A coalition of environmental groups this week called on state leaders to start taking climate change seriously and do more to protect Florida’s coasts.
BARNEY BISHOP: At risk from hidden hurricane tax
Sunday marks the first day of hurricane season, and experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predict that this hurricane season will be above normal, with 12 to 16 named storms.
AL NEUHARTH: Overblowing in the wind
Hurricane forecasts like fishermen’s tales
The hurricane season officially starts Sunday and ends Nov. 30. But the government’s forecasts for that six-month season are like fishermen’s tales — often exaggerated.
Military insurance faulted for red tape
Across America, soldiers, veterans and their families are running into red tape and roadblocks when they try to use their military insurance to get treatment for ailments such as post-traumatic-stress disorder.
Pipeline proposal worries Island
A natural gas pipeline proposed for the Gulf of Mexico could add millions to the cost of future beach renourishment projects for Anna Maria and Manatee County.
A pipeline being proposed by Port Dolphin to bring natural gas into the state could add $55 million to beach renourishment.
Miami Beach studies car-sharing service
Andrew Frey is pushing a new way to reduce the number of cars in South Beach — and it has nothing to do with dreaded towing.
Antismoking Efforts Are Back In Business
After years of scant funding, the state pours $17 million into campaign.
For years, Florida’s stop-smoking hot line limped along with so little publicity that supporters joked it was the only such phone line with an unlisted number.
Gov. Charlie Crist signed a pack of health care reforms last week with great fanfare.
Supreme Court to rule on apportionment amendment for 2010
A proposed state constitutional amendment designed to prevent gerrymandering of legislative districts will be reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court to determine whether it can go on the 2010 ballot.
New residents challenge Save Our Homes tax cap
In a case with potentially huge implications, a Leon County circuit judge heard arguments Thursday about whether Florida’s Save Our Homes property-tax cap is constitutional.
Summary of proposed constitutional amendments Floridians will vote on Nov. 4:
Judge sentences business men to prison
The businessmen will also forfeit $75 million in assets in the insurance fraud case.
Three business owners who cheated millions of U.S. workers out of insurance benefits were sentenced to a total of 55 years in prison by a Jacksonville judge Thursday in what one investigator called Florida’s biggest insurance fraud case.
Feds: Outside experts to review seeping La. levee
Outside experts will review work at a canal where one of the New Orleans area’s worst levee breaks occurred during Hurricane Katrina, and where water is seeping through the mushy ground despite $22 million in repairs, the Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday.
California Report Details How to Reduce Fraudulent Insurance Claims
Following a meeting with his Advisory Task Force on Insurance Fraud, Blue Ribbon Review Committee, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced that he will implement five actions to help reduce fraudulent claims, including creating a fusion center for insurance fraud investigations so law enforcement can share information more efficiently and quickly to identify emerging trends and crime patterns.
NAIC Gets Earful Over Data Collection Proposal
Insurance industry and consumer groups remain bitterly at odds over a controversial proposal to collect market conduct data as part of the annual statement process, and house it in a centralized data bank.
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