Latest Minnesota Headlines

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

Ratings of Minnesota’s Austin Mutual Insurance Downgraded

Mar 28 2012 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to B (Fair) from B++ (Good) and issuer credit rating to “bb” from “bbb” of Austin Mutual Insurance Co. (Austin Mutual) of Maple Grove,...

Commerce Department: 23 Cars Stolen Every Day in Minnesota

Mar 16 2012 // On average, 23 cars are stolen — or almost one car per hour — every day in Minnesota, state officials say.Nearly 8,400 vehicles were stolen in Minnesota in 2010 alone, totaling more than $21.3 million in stolen value,...

Minnesota Gov. Dayton Vetoes Deadly Force Bill

Mar 8 2012 // Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has vetoed a bill that would have expanded the cases in which people could use deadly force, siding with objections from law enforcement who said it could legalize murder in some cases.In his...

Minnesota Receives $26M to Continue Design of Insurance Exchange

Feb 23 2012 // Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton announced that the state has received a $26 million grant to continue the design and development of a Minnesota-made health insurance exchange. An exchange is a marketplace where Minnesota...

Midwest Farmers Urged to Buy Crop Insurance Due to Dry Weather

Feb 22 2012 // A relatively snow-free winter in the Upper Midwest has some officials worried about damage to agriculture if the dry weather persists into spring planting.Minnesota’s agriculture and commerce commissioners, Dave...

Minnesota Gov. Dayton Vetoes Lawsuit Reform Bills

Feb 20 2012 // Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has vetoed four Republican-sponsored lawsuit reform bills, and is again criticizing the GOP as “too extreme to lead.” Dayton said at a news conference that the bills ignored court...

Minnesota Company Seeks Law Change on Asbestos Claims

Feb 16 2012 // A company with three manufacturing plants in southern Minnesota wants a change in state law in order to shield itself from future asbestos claims.Crown Holdings Inc. says its 1963 merger with a rival company left it with...

Report: Minnesota Board Refrains from Disciplining Doctors

Feb 7 2012 // A Minnesota state board that’s responsible for protecting the public from physician errors often shies away from punishing doctors whose mistakes harm patients or who demonstrate a pattern of substandard care,...

Minnesota Food Company Recalls Eggs in 34 States

Feb 6 2012 // Minnesota food company said it is recalling more than a million hard-cooked eggs distributed to 34 states after testing revealed some may be contaminated with listeria.Some 15,000 pails of eggs in brine, sold for...

Red River Valley Flood Risk Keeps Receding

Jan 30 2012 // The risk of significant flooding in the Red River Valley is down from recent years and even lower than last month’s forecast due to the lack of snow, forecasters said on Jan. 26 — bolstering hopes the region may be...

Minnesota Medical Mistakes Up, But Fewer Cases of Harm

Jan 20 2012 // Serious mistakes in Minnesota hospitals rose slightly in 2011, but they led to fewer serious injuries and deaths than the year before, according to an annual report.Hospitals reported 316 so-called “adverse health...

Illa to Lead Ag States Group in Minnesota

Jan 9 2012 // Ag States Group, an insurance and risk management subsidiary of CHS Inc., announced Keith Illa has been named president of Ag States Group, effective Feb. 1, 2012.Illa will lead the full-service insurance organization...

Members Added to Minnesota FAIR Plan, Workers’ Comp Association

Dec 29 2011 // Two members have been added to the board of Minnesota’s FAIR plan and one new member has been added to the state’s workers’ comp insurance association.The FAIR Plan is Minnesota’s statutorily...

Minnesota Supreme Court to Hear University’s Appeal of $1M Award

Dec 26 2011 // The Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to hear the University of Minnesota’s appeal of a $1 million civil verdict against the school and men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith over the hiring of an assistant...

Liquidation of Minnesota-Based Insurance and Trust Company Underway

Dec 14 2011 // Minnesota is in the process of liquidating an Austin, Minn.-based insurance and trust company that regulators say has a long history of financial problems, administrative incompetence, coercive and dishonest business...

Experts: Little Oversight of Science Class Labs in Minnesota

Dec 14 2011 // A recent science demonstration that went bad in a Maple Grove, Minn., middle school has drawn attention to the fact that there’s little official oversight of experiments in classroom labs.Four students were burned,...

Minnesota Workers’ Comp Insurer Joins Big ‘I’ Trusted Choice Program

Dec 6 2011 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) announced that Minnesota-based workers’ compensation insurer, SFM, is the newest member of the Trusted Choice consumer...

AIPSO Central Region Closing East Wacker Drive Office in Chicago

Dec 5 2011 // AIPSO, a management organization and service provider for various insurance industry groups responsible for administering the residual market, announced that the central region is closing its East Wacker Drive office in...

Business Moves

Dec 5 2011 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Trissel Graham & TooleItasca, Ill.-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Trissel Graham & Toole Inc., headquartered in Davenport, Iowa. With roots dating back to 1896,...

80% of Claims from May Tornado in Minneapolis Have Been Resolved

Nov 28 2011 // The Minnesota Department of Commerce has reported that insurance companies have resolved about 80 percent of the claims generated after a tornado swept through north Minneapolis in May.The agency said that policyholders...