Latest Maine Headlines

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

Maine Wreath-Making Firm Awarded $1M in Lawsuit Against L.L. Bean

Feb 27 2012 // A Maine wreath-making company has won a nearly $1 million judgment in a legal dispute with L.L. Bean over the production of wreaths and other products for the 2008 holiday season. A Maine Business and Consumer Court judge...

Maine AG Stands Behind Opposition to Fed Mandate

Feb 27 2012 // A group of 32 Democratic women legislators is urging Maine Attorney General William Schneider to remove his name from a letter to the Obama administration opposing a federal mandate that employers cover contraception in...

Six Northeastern States Saw Average Auto Premium Rates Fall, NAIC Says

Feb 6 2012 // Six Northeastern states saw their annual average auto premium fall, according to the latest data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. They are: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,...

Maine Gov., Secretary, Push Youth Driver Safety

Jan 12 2012 // In the wake of a deadly weekend on Maine’s highways for young motorists, Gov. Paul LePage and Secretary of State Charles Summers Jr. are stressing the importance of safety for young drivers. LePage has recently...

Maine-based Workers’ Comp Insurer MEMIC Group Announces Promotion

Jan 4 2012 // The MEMIC Group, a workers’ compensation insurer headquartered in Portland, Maine, promoted Jeff Funk to the position of assistant vice president.MEMIC said Funk played an integral role in MEMIC’s expansion in...

Maine-based Workers’ Comp Insurer MEMIC Announces Acquisition

Dec 20 2011 // Workers’ compensation insurer The MEMIC Group acquired a Vermont-based insurer. The insurer also said it plans to expand its operations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in 2012.MEMIC purchased Granite Manufacturers...

Maine Drops Workers’ Comp Rate Again

Dec 12 2011 // Maine insurance regulators have approved another drop in the state’s workers’ compensation rates — the second in less than a month. A 3.2 percent decrease announced on Nov. 18 was expected to reduce...

Maine Workers’ Compensation Rates to Go Down Next Year

Dec 5 2011 // Maine Insurance Superintendent Eric Cioppa said the Bureau of Insurance has approved the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s request to decrease workers’ comp loss costs in the state by an average of...

Maine Workers’ Comp Rates to Go Down Next Year

Nov 18 2011 // Maine Insurance Superintendent Eric Cioppa said the Bureau of Insurance has approved the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s request to decrease workers’ comp loss costs in the state by an average of...

Maine Ski Area Not Responsible for Man’s Injuries

Nov 3 2011 // A jury has ruled that a Maine ski resort was not responsible for injuries suffered by a Bethel man who fell off a chairlift on a windy day.The Oxford County Superior Court jury ruled on Monday, Oct. 31, that injuries...

3M Powerless as October Snow Surprises Northeast

Oct 31 2011 // A freak October snowstorm knocked out power Sunday to more than 3.1 million homes and businesses across the U.S. Northeast, with close to two feet (60 centimeters) of snow falling in some areas over the weekend.The storm...

Workers’ Comp Results Deteriorated for Northeastern States Last Year

Oct 20 2011 // Most states in the northeastern region reported deteriorating workers’ compensation underwriting results last year, according to latest data from A.M. Best.Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maine and Rhode Island...

TD Insurance Appoints Nash in Maine Office

Oct 6 2011 // TD Insurance has appointed Karen Nash as assistant vice president and account administration manager in employee benefits in Portland, Maine. Nash will manage a staff of customer service agents who service employer group...

Business Moves

Sep 19 2011 // OneBeacon, InterboroOneBeacon Insurance Group said it is selling its high risk personal auto insurance business, AutoOne, to Interboro Holdings Inc. of New York. AutoOne, formed in 2001, serves the automobile assigned risk...

Cioppa Nominated to Be Next Maine Insurance Commissioner

Sep 13 2011 // Maine Governor Paul LePage has chosen Eric Cioppa to be the next superintendent of the Maine Bureau of Insurance.Cioppa has been serving as acting superintendent since June when former Superintendent Mila Kofman resigned...

Maine’s Northeast Bancorp Sells Its Insurance Group to 2 Local Agencies

Aug 31 2011 // Lewiston, Maine-based Northeast Bank Insurance Group has been acquired by local agencies in two separate transactions effective Sept. 1.The Varney Agency, of Bangor, Maine, will purchase the assets of nine Northeast Bank...

Highway Deaths in Maine Down for 4th Straight Year

Aug 10 2011 // Highway deaths in Maine are down for the fourth year in a row. The Bureau of Public Safety said 61 people have died on Maine roads so far this year. That’s down from 88 deaths at this time last year. Thirteen...

People

Aug 1 2011 // Wholesaler Swett & Crawford has added Ricky Dawson to its casualty staff in New York. Dawson, who has a background in both insurance wholesale brokerage and underwriting, previously served as a wholesale broker with...

Maine Jury Awards Nursing Student $300K

Jul 19 2011 // A jury has awarded a Maine student $300,000 in a lawsuit she filed against a nursing school that expelled her after she complained of sexual harassment by a male instructor.The InterCoast Career Institute, a...

Maine City Debates Home Fire Sprinkler Mandate

Jul 18 2011 // The debate over whether to mandate fire sprinklers in new homes is heating up in Maine.South Portland City Council is expected to take up the issue later this summer. If it passes, South Portland would join Portland,...