Latest Iowa Headlines

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

With Focus on Iowa, MIAA Hires Wright, Siegfried

Jan 17 2020 // The Midwest Insurance Agency Alliance (MIAA), a regional insurance agency network based in Lincoln, Nebraska, has added support Jamie Wright and Rebekah Siegfried to support the organization’s continued growth in...

Report: Nebraska, Iowa Sustained Billions in Weather Losses Last Year

Jan 16 2020 // Nebraska suffered more than $3.4 billion in losses from disastrous weather last year while the toll was $1.9 billion in neighboring Iowa, according to a federal report.The bomb cyclone in March caused most of the damage,...

Expanding into Iowa, Keystone Insurers Group Signs Kingsgate Insurance

Jan 15 2020 // Keystone Insurers Group (Keystone) has expanded into Iowa with the addition of pioneer partner Kingsgate Insurance of Fort Dodge to the agency partnership organization. Kingsgate Insurance was founded in 1990 in Fort...

11 Dead After Storms Sweep Southern U.S., Midwest

Jan 13 2020 // Severe storms sweeping across southern portions of the U.S. and up into the Midwest were blamed Saturday in the deaths of at least 11 people, including two first responders, as high winds, tornadoes and unrelenting rain...

Iowa’s Holmes Murphy Expands Leadership Team

Jan 10 2020 // Waukee, Iowa-based Holmes Murphy has added three new members to its board of managers, as well as three new members to its executive committee. Each of these leaders brings years of experience and commitment to the...

Iowa Company Awarded $610K in Damages, Plus Interest, in Construction Dispute

Jan 7 2020 // A federal judge in Nebraska has awarded more than $610,000 to an Iowa company that sued after it said it wasn’t fully paid for masonry work at a national veterans’ cemetery in Omaha.Seedorff Masonry, of...

Iowa Risk Pool Criticized for Travel Seeking to Block State Audit

Jan 6 2020 // A group that insures local governments across Iowa is going to court to try to block the state auditor from reviewing its spending, including on board members’ travel to out-of-state vacation destinations.The Iowa...

CAA Expands in Colorado, Iowa with Addition of 5 New Members

Jan 3 2020 // Austin, Texas-based Combined Agents of America LLC (CAA) has kicked off 2020 with the addition of five new member agencies, bringing its total member count to 73.CAA is a privately held agency partner group comprised of...

Document: Iowa School District Settled Discrimination Suit for More Than $170K

Dec 30 2019 // Newly released documents show that Mason City Schools in Iowa settled a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by a former official for more $170,000.The district issued its former human resources director Jodie Anderson...

Iowa’s Collins Community Credit Union, Coverage Direct Partnering on Launch of Collins Insurance

Dec 27 2019 // Collins Community Credit Union is launching Collins Insurance, a partnership with West Des Moines, Iowa-based, independent insurance agency, Coverage Direct.This partnership will provide Collins Community Credit Unions...

Cedar Rapids Proposes $3M Settlement in Suit Over Traffic Camera Ticket Fines

Dec 20 2019 // Thousands of people whose state income tax refunds were withheld to pay Cedar Rapids, Iowa, traffic camera tickets would get refunds under a proposed $3 million lawsuit settlement.The City Council learned on Dec. 17 that...

Business Moves

Dec 16 2019 // MetLife, PetFirstMetLife has agreed to acquire PetFirst Healthcare, a pet insurance program administrator that distributes its products through animal welfare agencies, direct-to-consumer channels and employers....

Ratings of Iowa’s Petroleum Marketers Management Insurance Upgraded

Dec 4 2019 // AM Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “a” from “a-” of Petroleum Marketers Management Insurance Co....

Iowa Court Upholds Woman’s $4.9M Verdict From Icy Sidewalk Fall

Dec 2 2019 // The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld a $4.9 million jury verdict awarded to a Texas woman after she fell outside a hotel on an icy sidewalk.The court in its ruling last week rejected arguments by Marriott International...

Iowa’s Premier Advisors Acquired by Accel Holdings

Nov 21 2019 // Accel Wealth Management LLC, a financial services division of Accel Holdings Inc., has acquired Premier Advisors LLC, an independent financial management consulting firm located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.The Accel Group, an...

Amid Scrutiny, Vice Chair of Iowa Insurance Pool to Depart

Nov 20 2019 // The longtime vice chairman of an insurance pool for Iowa municipalities will not seek re-election, following scrutiny of its travel and his arrest for domestic violence.Gary Mahannah said earlier this year he would seek...

With Focus on Employee Wellbeing, Iowa’s Holmes Murphy Launches ethOs

Nov 14 2019 // Waukee, Iowa-based employee-owned and controlled insurance broker, Holmes Murphy, has launched a new company focused on employee wellbeing — ethOs.Led by Ali Payne, EthOs will focus on improving workplace culture,...

Serious Workplace Safety Violations Found After Attacks at Iowa Psych Hospital

Nov 13 2019 // Regulators have recommended a nearly $73,000 fine against the Iowa Department of Human Services after finding serious workplace safety violations at a state-run psychiatric hospital where several employees have been...

Iowa Insurance Pool Wants $22K for Access to Settlement Information

Nov 7 2019 // An Iowa government insurance program under fire for spending lavishly on out-of-state travel says it would cost $22,000 for the public to see how it’s been using money to settle recent legal cases.The Iowa...

Iowa Board Backs Adding PTSD to Medical Marijuana Program

Nov 4 2019 // An Iowa state board has recommended that medical marijuana should be a prescription option for treating post-traumatic stress disorder and intellectual disability with aggression, but it rejected the drug for two other...