Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, July 27
Jul 27, 2009
To view a complete story, click on a headline below:
Above: Florida mourns the loss of Senator Jim King this week (hyperlinks to media coverage and a photograph slide show below)
State Farm seeks to curb home insurance discounts in Florida
State Farm wants to eliminate or trim virtually all of its discounts for homeowners insurance in Florida in what it calls an urgent effort to remain solvent as the company gradually withdraws from the state’s property insurance market.
Cleanup begins for 3 Volusia neighborhoods hit hard by tornado
Family, friends and workers today began cleaning up debris and repairing the damage to dozens of mobile homes — some uninhabitable — damaged in Port Orange by a tornado the night before.
Roofer overbilled city, auditors find
A roofing company, helped by a staggering void in oversight by city management, overbilled the city by more than $350,000 in a program to replace hurricane-damaged roofs for low-income residents last year, city auditors wrote in a report released Friday.
Monroe County Ban on downstairs at stilt homes may get watered down
Monroe County is hoping a limited amnesty program will save downstairs enclosures from demolition and keep its federal flood insurance.
Florida’s St. Johns Enters South Carolina Homeowners Insurance Market
St. Johns Insurance Co., a Florida domiciled property and casualty insurer, has expanded its presence into the South Carolina homeowner insurance market.
Can Fay happen again? Cities, counties ramp up flood control
Almost a year ago, Tropical Storm Fay took a slow, wet spin through Central Florida, causing widespread flooding and exposing weaknesses in flood control.
Corps releasing water from Lake O to prevent flooding
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday began a two-phase release from Lake Okeechobee that will continue for 12 days.
Competitive Enterprise Institute: Protection is a team effort
Floridians, don’t let the current lack of hurricane activity lull you into a false sense of security. As a low-lying peninsula jutting out into the Caribbean Sea, Florida attracts hurricanes just as surely as a magnet attracts iron filings
Editorial: Approve National Hurricane Research Initiative
Hurricanes are one of the mysteries of nature that humankind is still trying to understand. The better we understand hurricanes, the more effectively we can prepare for and protect ourselves from them.
Jury in favor of Florida hospital that deported immigrant
A South Florida hospital that quietly chartered a plane and sent a seriously brain injured illegal immigrant back to Guatemala over the objections of his family and legal guardian did not act unreasonably, a jury found Monday.
Olympus Managed Health Care Receives Third Party Administrative License in State of Florida
Olympus Managed Health Care Inc., a leading provider of health care claims administration and cost containment services, announced today that it has been awarded a license from the Florida Department of Insurance to perform third party administrative (TPA) services to health plans, providers and other payor organizations in the state
Fitch outlook negative on Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, five others
Fitch Ratings on Friday revised its rating outlook for six U.S. health insurers to “negative,” citing concerns about potential effects that national health care reform might have on the companies’ business.
Find out how health-care reform could affect Florida
Congress is debating how to rein in costs while providing insurance coverage for the approximately 46 million Americans who don’t have it.
Florida drugstores fight out-of-state trafficking
Ever since P.S. Drugs posted notice it will no longer fill certain prescriptions for out-of-state visitors, the staff has seen a daily procession of would-be customers arrive at the door, then turn around and leave.
Jim King’s passion for people, politics, FSU remembered
Former Senate President Jim King, a jovial Jacksonville Republican whose political career spanned the rise of the GOP in Florida’s Capitol, died of pancreatic cancer Sunday.
- To view St. Petersburg Times media coverage, including a slide show of Jim King photographs, click here.
Losing Senate candidate sues over attack ads
The last-minute attack ads were damning. They accused the state Senate candidate of a “shady” land deal that had taxpayers shelling out $12 million for a $1-million piece of property his family owned in Davie.
Gerrymandering issue divides black caucus
Florida’s legislative black caucus could be heading toward an internal feud over a ballot initiative aimed at stopping lawmakers from gerrymandering districts
Westchester Council members to run for Florida House
After a 17-year hiatus from the Florida Legislature, Westchester Councilman Carlos Manrique is planning a return to the House of Representatives in 2010.
Powerful sides face off over Florida’s power-saving plan
An energy conservation plan affecting millions of Floridians’ electric bills is sparking a fight between big power companies and environmental activists.
Senate hopeful Marco Rubio shoves rival Florida Gov. Charlie Crist right on judicial nominees
Maybe Marco Rubio is getting into Charlie Crist’s head. Gov. Crist may be the overwhelming favorite to win the Republican Senate nomination, but his announcement last week that he opposed Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court smacked of a guy wary of Rubio’s efforts to cast him as too liberal for the GOP faithful.
With no bid, Florida purchasing system stays with Accenture
The state has renegotiated its contract for the MyFloridaMarketPlace purchasing system, with some big improvements.
Bidder cries foul after agency rejects deal to run Florida’s air service
The head of the agency that manages the state’s controversial air service for politicians has decided against privatizing the operation even though a low bidder pledged to save taxpayers up to $600,000 yearly.
Florida keeping up with filings despite surge in food stamps
Despite large increases in people on food stamps, the state has the highest accuracy rate in the nation when it comes to its files and processing for the benefit.
Florida Public records challenge could reshape athletics
As Florida State University begins its fall football practice next month, lawyers a few miles away at the Leon County courthouse will argue a case inextricably linked to football coach Bobby Bowden’s legendary career and potentially representing an unprecedented challenge to the powerful governing body that oversees all collegiate athletics.
Congress Urged to Raise Liability Standard for Credit Rating Firms
Congress must consider radical reforms to improve the accountability and reliability of credit rating agencies like Moody’s Corp. and McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc.’s Standard & Poor’s, a top U.S. lawmaker said Friday.
Guy Carpenter: Catastrophe Bond Market Continues to Advance In Second Quarter of 2009
Number of Issuances Decline Year Over Year, But Market is Rebounding
Aided by continued stabilization in the global financial markets, the catastrophe bond market continued to advance in the second quarter of 2009, according to a report issued today by Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, and GC Securities, a division of MMC Securities Corp.*
Texas Consumer advocate questions State Farm’s rate jump
A state-funded consumer advocate says State Farm Lloyd’s latest home insurance rate hike in Texas is unjustified.
Chinese Drywall: Builders and Subs Face Huge Uninsured Losses
General liability carriers specializing in contractor insurance for builders and drywall subs are “sweating it out” over the potentially massive claims dollars that could be paid out in litigation, settlement, and adverse jury verdicts arising from Chinese drywall.
Incentives abound for homeowners who go green
State governments would be required to ensure that homeowners whose energy technologies allowed them to get ‘off the grid’ no longer fully dependent on utility companies to provide them power are not denied property hazard coverage by insurance companies.
IPC won storm-proof pact in sale to Validus
IPC Holdings (IPCR.O), a Bermuda catastrophe reinsurer that attracted interest from more than a dozen bidders, held out for a storm-proof agreement before agreeing to a sale to rival Validus Holdings (VR.N).
Benefits of Goldman Sachs chiefs cited in push for tax on insurers
Goldman Sachs is one of the nations richest banks, and hundreds of top Goldman employees have a healthcare package to match – one of the gold-plated Cadillac plans cited by those involved in the healthcare debate in Washington. Goldmans 400 or so managing directors and the banks top executive officers participate in the banks executive medical and dental program as part of their benefits, according to disclosure documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Shipping Containers: Cheap, strong and cool housing material
The home building industry is becomes greener and greener, but it’s still overlooking an obvious source of reusable material — international shipping containers. ‘There are lots of them, and they’re widely available across the entire country. At any one time in the U.S., about 125,000 shipping containers are available for conversion to houses.
Insure.com Reveals 5 Words Never to Say to Your Insurance Company
When making an insurance claim, what you say can mean the difference between a fast payment check and a nightmarish process. Insurance companies are sensitive to certain words and using them incorrectly could result in a claim delay or even denial.
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