Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, June 17

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Senator Bill Posey: Letter to the Editor

Posey takes stand for accountability

I am very appreciative of a recent letter to the editor highlighting my priority issue as a public servant — government accountability.

 

Millions missing at title company

Before his disappearance plunged employees and customers of one of Florida’s largest independent title companies into chaos last week, Flagler Title founder Roger Gamblin dipped into millions of dollars his company held in escrow for clients, according to testimony Monday.

 

2008 Ellis Island Medal of Honor awarded to Golden Beach resident

Golden Beach resident Richard Parrillo Sr. was one of 100 people to receive the 2008 Ellis Island Medal of Honor during a May 15 ceremony in New York.

 

New Florida leader for State Farm

As State Farm continues to shrink in Florida, the insurance company is changing leadership in the state. Florida subsidiary president Joe Formusa was replaced last week by Jim Thompson, vice president of State Farm’s midwest zone.

 

Big storm = big debt

State CFO Alex Sink outlines insurance dilemma at St. Augustine Rotary Club
A Category 3 hurricane to Florida could mean a financial blow to the state’s residents, who would find themselves footing a large portion of the insurance bill, says the state’s chief financial officer.

 

Business briefs: Local agent on state insurance group’s board

Robert S. Ludwig, vice president of Sarasota’s Ludwig-Walpole Insurance, has joined the board of directors of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents.

 

History Channel profiles Hurricane Charley on Friday

Punta Gorda’s efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Charley is scheduled to be on national television at 10 p.m. Friday.

 

Pembroke Pines: City approves new code on generator placement

Just in time for the hurricane season, city officials have changed the law so homeowners can put generators close to their houses.

 

Crist, Rubio clash over veto

Gov. Charlie Crist, contending that state lawmakers wrongly used their power to aid a private company, vetoed a transportation bill that could have helped a friend of House Speaker Marco Rubio bid on a major contract for Florida’s Turnpike.

 

Crist says he now supports oil drilling off Florida’s coast

Gov. Charlie Crist backed away from his long-held opposition to offshore drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and applauded Sen. John McCain’s call to lift a federal moratorium on coastal state oil drilling, saying the Republican presidential candidate’s proposal “is certainly appropriate.”

 

Battle for elected office begins

The next speaker of the House and the brother of the current speaker were among opening-day qualifiers Monday as the opening gun sounded in Florida’s state political races.

 

AFSCME claims a few victories for state workers

The state budget that Gov. Charlie Crist signed last week doesn’t contain a pay raise for state employees and, in all probability, there will be fewer of them as agencies implement serious spending cuts mandated in the 2008 legislative session.

 

Judge Denies CSX Bid To Stop Proxy Battle

CSX this week begins the countdown to its annual meeting that will serve as a stage for the finale of an ugly proxy battle.

 

Stricter Roof Crush Rule Hits a Roadblock

After 35 years, a new federal standard to strengthen vehicle roofs to protect occupants in rollover crashes is supposed to be published July 1.

 

Feds: 27 levees could overflow if sandbags fail

The federal government predicts that 27 levees could potentially overflow along the Mississippi River if the weather forecast is on the mark and a massive sandbagging effort fails to raise the level of the levees, according to a map obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

 

Red Cross Disaster Fund Is Depleted

The American Red Cross said yesterday that it has depleted its national disaster relief fund and is taking out loans to pay for shelters, food and other relief services across seven Midwestern states battered by floods.

 

Mississippi Couple’s Katrina Suit against USAA Goes to Trial

Jackson County, Mississippi’s first Hurricane Katrina insurance lawsuit headed to the courtroom Monday.

 

NOAA: New Orleans at risk from Cat. 2 hurricane

Despite a massive effort to repair and upgrade flood defenses since Hurricane Katrina, storm surge could pour over levees in New Orleans if a strong Category 2 or higher hurricane strikes the city, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday.

 

Texas Weather Portends Record Agriculture Losses

In more than four decades of farming, Texas cotton producer Rickey Bearden says he’s never seen an early growing season like this one.

 

AIR: Total Insured Value of Properties in Hurricane Prone States on Pace to Double in Ten Years

A report recently completed by catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide Corporation estimated that over the past three years the insured value of properties in coastal areas of the United States continued to grow at a compound annual growth rate of just over 7 percent.

 

 

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