Latest California Headlines

All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Emergency Declaration from California Governor for Sempra Gas Leak

Jan 7 2016 // California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency to protect residents from natural gas that has been leaking from Sempra Energy’s underground storage site near Los Angeles for more than two months.Brown said...

Topa in California Promotes Manzitto to Chief Operating Officer

Jan 6 2016 // Calabasas, Calif.-based Topa Insurance Group has promoted Anthony Manzitto to chief operating officer and executive vice president. He was chief underwriting officer. Manzitto will be responsible for underwriting, human...

McNamara in California Expands with Move, Staff Addition

Jan 6 2016 // San Rafael, Calif- based McNamara Insurance Services Inc. has moved into a larger office and brought on a new team member to start the new year. The firm moved from a 650-square-foot office to a 1,500-square-foot office in...

Californians Purchased 28K New Flood Policies in Anticipation of El Nin᷈o

Jan 6 2016 // New data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on National Flood Insurance Program policies shows a big increase in NFIP policies written in California during the month of November 2015, a jump FEMA is crediting to...

Barney & Barney in California Names Dunning President

Jan 6 2016 // San Diego, Calif.-based Barney & Barney has named Hal Dunning, the firm’s chief operating officer, to the additional role of president.This is a new position at the firm, and the move is effective immediately. In...

Gas Leak Forcing Southern California Residents to Flee Neighborhood

Jan 6 2016 // The sulfurous scent of a natural-gas leak hangs in the air as mail carriers wearing gas masks make rounds to mostly deserted homes in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Porter Ranch.Life in the community of 30,000 people...

Builders & Tradesmen’s Insurance Again to Offer Free Fraud Protection in CA

Jan 6 2016 // Rocklin, CA, January 6, 2016- Builders & Tradesmen’s Insurance Services, Inc. (BTIS) will be offering Fraud Protection at no extra charge to all California-based contractors that purchase their Victory...

Stone Creek in California Adds 3 to Workforce

Jan 5 2016 // Lafayette, Calif.-based Stone Creek Insurance Agency has hired three new producers/account managers.Matthew Johnson has been named a commercial lines broker. He specializes in commercial property and liability policies...

Major Natural Gas Leak in Southern California Still Months from Fix

Jan 4 2016 // The escape of tons of natural gas from under a Los Angeles neighborhood is taking months to stop because of pressure from the leak.The leak at Porter Ranch started in October, and likely won’t be fixed for at least...

California Fire Safety Rule Citations Lag During Severe Drought

Jan 4 2016 // Amid the most destructive wildfire season in more than a decade, California’s firefighting agency amped up its warnings to thousands of property owners who weren’t doing enough to protect their homes by...

M.J. Hall in California Names Lewis Assistant Vice President

Jan 4 2016 // M.J. Hall & Company Inc. has named Pamela Lewis assistant vice president. Lewis began her insurance career with Redland Insurance Co. in 1990. Starting in the crop industry, she progressed to the garage department. She...

With Year About to End Quakes Shake Southern California, Washington

Dec 31 2015 // A moderate earthquake shook an inland area of Southern California near San Bernardino on Tuesday night, giving a start to thousands across a heavily populated area with more than one person comparing it to a rumbling big...

NFP Acquires Vanorsdale Insurance Services in California

Dec 30 2015 // NFP Property & Casualty has acquired San Diego, Calif.-based Vanorsdale Insurance Services Inc.Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The firm’s president, Doug Galloway, will assume the role of director of NFP...

Judge Orders PG&E to Face Most Charges in Deadly California Pipeline Blast

Dec 30 2015 // Pacific Gas & Electric Co. must face the most serious charges related to a 2010 explosion that killed eight people in a San Francisco suburb as the utility heads to a jury trial next year over claims it ignored the...

Ridesharing Dominates 2016 Western Region Headlines

Dec 30 2015 // Goodbye to the news year 2015, and while there will be no shortage of headline-making topics to associate with the passing year, there was one subject that dominated Insurance Journal’s Western region news...

California Earthquake Authority’s 2016 Changes Aim to Increase Policy Count

Dec 29 2015 // It’s about the closest thing to DIY earthquake insurance as one can get, though there’s definitely no indication that the newest consumer-friendly features being rolled out by the California Earthquake...

California Wildfire Contained, Now Comes Worries About Landslides

Dec 29 2015 // As firefighters mopped up the remains of a wildfire on the Southern California coast, authorities turned their focus to a new concern: a landslide if rain pounds the charred hills.In a heavy rain, the denuded soil could...

Expert: How Payroll Misclassification Impacts California Workers’ Comp

Dec 29 2015 // Premium misclassification or payroll misclassification is a significant issue for the workers’ compensation industry, according to Bret Shroyer, a solutions architect for Denver, Colo.-based Valen Analytics.Shroyer...

Heffernan Executive Named Chair of California Trucking Association Chapter

Dec 29 2015 // Owen Oakley, vice president at Heffernan Insurance Brokers, has been named chairman for the San Francisco chapter of the California Trucking Association. Owen previously served as a steering and planning committee...

Apple Seeks $180M More in Patent Damages from Samsung

Dec 29 2015 // Just over a week after Samsung paid Apple more than $548 million for infringing the patents and designs of the iPhone, Apple asked a U.S. court to force its biggest smartphone rival to cough up even more.In court papers...