Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Wednesday, August 11
Aug 11, 2010
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Florida Insurance Commissioner McCarty: Insurance rates expected to climb
Don’t expect masses of insurance companies to race to jack up rates come January when the provision requiring them to seek state approval first expires, the state’s insurance commissioner said Tuesday.
Blog: Q&A — Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty
Although it has been four years since Florida was directly hit with a hurricane, many Florida homeowners are still facing rising property insurance rates and finding few options when they shop around.
Reinsurance cuts into Homeowners Choice business
Clearwater-based Homeowners Choice Inc. reported net income for the second quarter of 2010 of $1.3 million, or 19 cents a share, compared with net income of $3 million, or 42 cents a share, for the second quarter of 2009.
Sinkhole forces Polk County man from home
Richard Carpenter could only shake his head. Weeks after learning there were four sinkholes beneath his home, he was still stupefied.
Lee County Chinese drywall short sale denied because of paperwork mistake
WINK News investigation uncovers a problem with short sales of homes with Chinese drywall
Lights out on I-95? Blame thieves, not bulbs
Are you driving in the dark on Interstate 95 at night?
Citing dictatorial leadership, Fasano resigns from Pasco GOP committee post
State Sen. Mike Fasano has resigned from the Pasco GOP executive committee, eight days after local Republicans filed a second grievance against him with the state party over his support of independent Gov. Charlie Crist in the U.S. Senate race.
$1.3B from federal stimulus will give Florida a boost
Obama signs law to save school jobs, bolster recovery
Florida’s fragile economic recovery will get a $1.3 billion boost from a state aid bill that cleared Congress on Tuesday.
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA: Crist Stumping for Schools Money in D.C.
Gov. Charlie Crist’s pitch was simple: Florida is united this time, from school boards to unions, in its bid for up to $700 million in federal education stimulus funds.
Feds to send $239M to help prevent foreclosures
Florida is set to receive an additional $239 million in federal aid to help homeowners at risk of losing their homes because of unemployment.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum says a draft bill requiring police officers to check a person’s immigrant status during a lawful stop gets around concerns raised by a federal judge over a similar provision in an Arizona law.
Florida Attorney General investigating foreclosure law firms
The Florida Attorney General’s office is investigating three of the state’s largest law firms that represent lenders in foreclosure cases.
Leaders call on Crist to get Raytheon to act on groundwater cleanup
Angry that legislation they proposed on the issue was killed, two state representatives on Saturday called on Gov. Charlie Crist to become personally involved in the proposed cleanup of contaminated groundwater under a now-closed Raytheon plant and surrounding neighborhoods.
Regional meetings on Everglades land buy could air out controversy: restoration or politics
The proposed purchase of 28,000 acres to help restore the Everglades is as much about appeasing a federal judge as it is about clean water.
Meek, Greene blast each other in debate, complain of negative tactics
Jeff Greene and Kendrick Meek used their only statewide televised debate Tuesday to blast each other’s character and credentials while complaining about negative attacks.
Florida Gov. Crist to attend fundraiser held by Democrats
He hugged President Barack Obama at his peril, or so it seemed at the time.
Rick Scott health care company accused of overbilling Medicare
Two weeks before Florida’s primary, new allegations of improper Medicare billing by Solantic, a health care company co-founded by Rick Scott, have surfaced, in addition to charges made by former Solantic doctors that their names and licenses were used without their consent.
Billionaire Florida Senate candidate paid out $115,000 after allegedly making threatening and abusive statements about an employee of a property management firm
Documents from a libel case paint an unflattering picture of Florida Democratic Senate hopeful Jeff Greene, with employees of a property management firm he used making declarations describing him as cruel and abusive.
After agreeing to not air television ads in the Democratic attorney general primary because of its potentially misleading name, a fund-raising committee known as Florida Mainstream Democrats has shifted much of its money to a predominately Republican group, which has paid for a TV spot scheduled to air today in West Palm Beach.
Hudgens Wins Georgia Insurance Commissioner Runoff
The runoff election for the Republican candidate for the state Insurance Commissioner of Georgia has been won by State Sen. Ralph T. Hudgens.
Mississippi Gets Hurricane-Resistant Development
Officials say a community of hurricane-resistant homes is being built in Gulfport.
Louisiana High Court Asked to Look at Insurer Duties in Road Home Case
Are some 151,000 homeowners insurance claim assignments made to the state of Louisiana as part of its Road Home program legal under Louisiana law? That’s the question the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has certified to the Louisiana Supreme Court in a consolidated case stemming from the destruction caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
Texas Warns Insurers on Auto Claims
Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin has released a bulletin reminding auto insurance providers that it is against state law to “directly or indirectly limit the insurer’s coverage under a policy covering damage to a motor vehicle.”
Regulators take first step toward eliminating use of credit ratings in rules for banks
Federal regulators have taken a first step toward eliminating the use of credit ratings in rules for banks, under a mandate of the new financial overhaul law.
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