Latest Illinois Headlines

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

Evacuations Ordered After Fire Sweeps SW Illinois Recycling Center

Mar 12 2020 // A fire swept through a recycling business in southwestern Illinois early Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of nearby homes, officials said.The fire began about 2 a.m. Wednesday at a Madison, Illinois, industrial park in...

Ratings of Illinois’ Echelon Property & Casualty and Parent, Guardian, Downgraded

Mar 10 2020 // AM Best has downgraded the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) to B- (Fair) from B (Fair) and the Long-Term ICR to “bb-” from “bb” of Echelon Property & Casualty Insurance Co., based in Chicago.AM...

Business Moves

Mar 9 2020 // ProAssurance, NORCALHealthcare liability insurer ProAssurance Corp. has agreed to acquire medical professional liability insurer NORCAL Mutual Insurance Co. following NORCAL’s demutualization in a $450 million...

Illinois Limousine Service to Pay $30K to Settle EEOC Disability Lawsuit

Feb 28 2020 // M&M Limousine Service in Des Plaines, Ill., will pay a deaf job applicant $30,000 to settle a federal disability discrimination lawsuit.The lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)...

Illinois Parents Allege Daughter, 6, Was Sexually Assaulted At Recess

Feb 24 2020 // The parents of a 6-year-old southern Illinois girl are suing local school officials, alleging that their daughter was sexually assaulted by another kindergartner during recess.The lawsuit names the Edwardsville School...

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires Illinois’ Affiliated Benefit Consultants

Feb 12 2020 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Oakbrook, Illinois-based Affiliated Benefit Consultants Inc.Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1986, Affiliated Benefit Consultants offers a full suite of...

Illinois’ Alera Group Names Santelli VP, Carrier Partner Management

Feb 7 2020 // Deerfield, Illinois-based Alera Group appointed Tina Santelli as vice president, Carrier Partner Management for Alera Group Employee Benefits nationally.Santelli will be responsible for leading key top-tier partnerships at...

Selective Insurance Launches Agency Management Collegiate Competition

Feb 3 2020 // Teams of students from seven universities throughout the U.S. today begin a month-long collegiate competition in which they will run virtual insurance agencies in a computer-simulated environment.The competition, called...

Distinguished Programs Taps Requejo as Sales Leader for Illinois, Wisconsin

Jan 31 2020 // Distinguished Programs, a national insurance program manager, has named Kirkland Requejo regional sales executive for Illinois and Wisconsin. He is based in Chicago.Requejo brings 12 years of military leadership and a...

Lindley Named VP, Chief Information Security Officer at Trustmark in Illinois

Jan 30 2020 // Trustmark Mutual Holding Co., a national employee benefits provider headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, has selected Britt Lindley as its new chief information security officer (CISO).Lindley has more than three...

Facebook to Pay $550M to Settle Biometric Privacy Violation Claims

Jan 30 2020 // In what the plaintiffs’ lawyers are calling the largest cash settlement ever resolving a privacy related lawsuit, Facebook has agreed to establish a fund of $550 million to pay Facebook users in Illinois claiming the...

AssuredPartners Acquires Lundstrom Insurance Agency in Illinois

Jan 27 2020 // AssuredPartners Inc. has acquired Lundstrom Insurance Agency Inc. located in Elgin, Illinois. Led by Brett Lundstrom, the agency currently reports $7.3 million in annualized revenues. Founded in 1953 by E. John Lundstrom,...

AssuredPartners Acquires Illinois’ Corkill Insurance Agency

Jan 23 2020 // AssuredPartners Inc. has acquired Corkill Insurance Agency Inc. of Elk Grove Village, Illinois.AssuredPartners said the Corkill acquisition is its first in 2020. The Corkill staff of 104 will remain under the operational...

Tort Reformers Proclaim Top 10 ‘Judicial Hellholes’ for 2020

Jan 21 2020 // It’s out: the annual report by tort reform advocates of what they say are the nation’s worst local courts and states that are abusing the civil justice system.The report also warns of state courts that did not...

Hub International Acquires Assets of Illinois’ Briargate Insurance

Jan 8 2020 // Hub International Limited (Hub), based in Chicago, has acquired the assets of Briargate Insurance Services Inc. (Briargate Insurance).Based in Chicago Heights, Illinois, Briargate Insurance is an independent agency...

Illinois’ Pinnacle Actuarial Resources Names Mosler Principal, Consulting Actuary

Jan 8 2020 // Pinnacle Actuarial Resources Inc. (Pinnacle) in Bloomington, Illinois, has named Tim Mosler a principal and consulting actuary.Mosler joined Pinnacle in 2014 and has been in the property/casualty insurance industry since...

Legal Sales of Recreational Marijuana Begin in Illinois

Jan 3 2020 // The sale of marijuana for recreational purposes became legal Wednesday in Illinois to the delight of pot fans — many of whom began lining up hours early at dispensaries.About 500 people were outside Dispensary 33 in...

Investigators Cite Leadership Failures at Fire Scene in Illinois Firefighter’s Death

Jan 2 2020 // Failures in leadership at the scene of a March house fire in southern Illinois contributed to the death of a firefighter, state investigators concluded.Godfrey Fire Capt. Jake Ringering was killed and three other...

Insurance Journal’s Top 10 Midwest Region Stories of 2019

Jan 2 2020 // The expanding legalization of marijuana in Midwest states captured the attention of Insurance Journal readers last year. Illinois became the 11th state to legalize recreational cannabis when Gov. J.B. Pritzker in June 2019...

In Midwest, Legal Marijuana Sales May Spark Interstate Tension

Dec 31 2019 // Retailers legally selling marijuana for the past month in Michigan say they have drawn customers from surrounding Midwestern states where the drug remains illegal and, as Illinois prepares to joins the recreational market...