Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Thursday, May 31

Click on a headline to read the complete story.

 

Editorial: Residents still fume at insurers.

Remember that old adage about people living in glass houses?

When it comes to hurricanes and insurance, Florida is one big ol’ glass house by the seashore. Those who inhabit it ought not to be casting stones.

 

Moved ‘beyond words’ in Israel

Crist tours holy sites, shapes trade deal

JERUSALEM — — The Jerusalem Post story was about Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, but the headline said: “Christ visits Jerusalem.”

State House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber, who is accompanying Crist on the “trade mission” to Israel this week, joked he had finally figured out the reason for Crist’s high approval ratings.

 

Ceridian Agrees to Be Sold for $5.3B

MINNEAPOLIS — Payroll processor Ceridian Corp. said Wednesday it agreed to a buyout from investment firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and insurance provider Fidelity National Financial Inc. in a cash deal valued at about $5.3 billion.

 

Louisiana Sets Deadline for Storm Damage Claims

The Road Home, the Louisiana grant program for homeowners who lost their houses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, is expected to cost far more than the $7.5 billion provided by the federal government, in part because many more families have applied than officials had anticipated.

 

UF wind machine to blast homes in quest to reduce storm damage

It belches massive diesel clouds and roars with the sound of 100 lawn mowers, but University of Florida researchers hope a new portable wind machine that can produce 130-mph wind gusts will help make homes more hurricane-resistant.

The university unveiled the largest creation of its kind with a test Wednesday that featured winds so strong they broke a window in a model house used for demonstrations.

 

Florida to host key debates in presidential race

TALLAHASSEE — Televised debates between the major contenders for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations are planned for Florida on Jan. 23 and 24, less than a week before the state’s primaries, organizers said Wednesday.

 

Doctors in Southeast Halt Work Over Back Pay

A group of doctors who contend they are owed nearly three months’ wages walked off the job Tuesday at an ambulatory care center run by Greater Southeast Community Hospital for some of the District’s poorest residents.

 

Lake Okeechobee Drops to a Record Low

CANAL POINT, Fla., May 30 — This state seems to seesaw perpetually between crises related to water: either too much or too little.

Wednesday was no exception, as the retreating waters of drought-sapped Lake Okeechobee, a vital reservoir for millions of residents in dry times, sank toward a new low.

 

Crist veto pen skipped a line on tuition hikes

His staffers are scrambling to halt an increase for work force development program tuition.

TALLAHASSEE – When Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed 5 percent college tuition increases last week, he said he was looking out for students and families burdened by property insurance and taxes.

But not everyone was spared. The governor failed to veto 5 percent increases for community college work force development programs.

 

Reinsurers’ Outlook Improves

U.S. reinsurers’ combined ratio improved nearly nine points for the first three months of the year, according to an industry trade group.

 

Martinez Focuses On ‘Entitlement Reform’

TAMPA – Already immersed in one of the most controversial issues on the political scene, immigration reform, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez appeared ready Wednesday to leap into another – Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid revisions.

 

Wachovia to buy A.G. Edwards for $6.8B

A little more than a year after acquiring one of the nation’s top mortgage lenders, Wachovia said Thursday it would buy A.G. Edwards for $6.8 billion in a deal that will create the nation’s second-largest retail brokerage.

 

Many still not ready for storms, poll shows

Despite the pleas, the warnings and the hurricanes, half of all Floridians would wait too long to prepare their homes for storms, one in three does not have a survival kit and many would defy evacuation orders, according to a poll to be released today.

 

Gov. Sanford Issues Statement on Coastal Insurance Bill

GOVERNOR APPLAUDS SENATE’S PROGRESS TOWARD PASSING HOUSE BILL

Columbia, S.C. – May 31, 2007 – Gov. Mark Sanford today issued the following statement on the coastal insurance bill which received second reading by the South Carolina Senate:

“I commend the Senate for taking another significant step toward passing H. 3820, the market-based coastal insurance reform bill advocated by this administration and passed earlier this month by the House of Representatives. Specifically, I’d thank House Labor, Commerce and Industry Chairman Harry Cato and Senator Chip Campsen for introducing this legislation, and Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell and Senator David Thomas for their hard work in pushing this bill toward the finish line, as well as Director Scott Richardson for his hands-on approach at the Department of Insurance.

 

Ready? Storm season now upon us

Global warming’s effects on hurricanes under some debate

If you subscribe to the theory that global warming is injecting hurricanes with the meteorological equivalent of steroids, as a growing body of scientists do, then you especially aren’t looking forward to hurricane season.

 

Oil, gas brace for storms

WASHINGTON · Anxious to protect fuel supplies from potential storm damage, the oil and gas industry is rushing to secure offshore rigs and pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico while bracing for an active hurricane season.

 

Broward sees another double-digit jump in property values, fueling tax worries

The yearly growth of Broward County’s tax base has lost some of its feverish pace but still hit almost 11 percent, adding fuel to demands for property tax reform.

 

Insurance Price Drop Speeding Up, Willis Finds

Purchasing insurance for catastrophe-zone properties is close to undoable, but elsewhere competition for property coverage is increasing rapidly and prices are falling quicker than expected, one major brokerage firm reports.

The full report can be viewed online at http://www.willis.com/news/Publications/MR_Properties_0507.pdf

 

Employer Group Health Benefits Costs Soaring

Employee group health benefit costs for businesses continued a rapid increase over the past six months, and a majority of employers, regardless of size, paid a lot more to renew, a producer group reports.

 

Thompson’s timing could suit Florida

It’s not too late for the actor to make a splash in the state’s wait-and-see GOP fundraising pool. 

Republican presidential candidates have been hitting up Florida donors for months, so you might think actor and former Sen. Fred Thompson is too late getting in the game.

Not necessarily.

 

Claims for unemployment insurance fall

WASHINGTON — Fewer people signed up for unemployment benefits last week, an encouraging sign that the labor market is still in good shape even amid sluggish economic growth.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new claims filed last week for unemployment insurance fell by a seasonally adjusted 4,000, to 310,000.

 

Costly convertibles aren’t always safest

When it comes to buying a new convertible, a hefty price tag doesn’t always buy safety. Test scores being released Thursday by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found several affordable convertibles that offer better crash protection than their more expensive competitors.

 

Nagin: New Orleans Is a City on the Mend

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mayor Ray Nagin, in his first State of the City address since Hurricane Katrina, said Wednesday that New Orleans is a city on the mend, despite broken promises from the state and federal governments.