Latest Texas Headlines

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

Officials: Why Was Man Killed by Jet on Texas Runway There?

May 14 2020 // Investigators are trying to determine how a man with apparently no security clearance ended up on a runway at a Texas airport where he was struck and killed by a landing commercial jet.Junin Ko, 22, died on May 7 after a...

Texas to Test Everyone in Nursing Homes as COVID-19 Deaths Rise

May 13 2020 // Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered coronavirus testing for all Texas nursing home residents and staff after the White House urged the nation’s governors to do so as deaths mount nationwide.The directive by Abbott, a...

Texas: Sponsors Have Responsibilities for Temporary Agent, Adjuster Licenses

May 12 2020 // The Texas Department of Insurance in Commissioner’s Bulletin No. B-0026-20 reminds insurers, agents, agencies, and adjusters of their responsibilities for temporary agent and emergency adjuster applicants and...

Texas’ Paramount GA Launches Online Platform for Transportation Risks

May 12 2020 // Tyler, Texas-based Paramount General Agency, a licensed program administrator with a focus on the long-haul trucking industry, has launched an online platform offering a multi-line suite of insurance products for its...

REUTERS SPECIAL REPORT on Police Immunity: For Cops Who Kill, Special Supreme Court Protection

May 12 2020 // MADILL, Oklahoma — Sick with pneumonia, agitated and confused, Johnny Leija refused to return to his hospital room.Moments later, with three police officers pinning him on the floor, Leija was dead at age 34. Staff at...

Texas Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule Prohibiting Named Driver Policies

May 8 2020 // The Texas Department of Insurance is accepting comments on a newly posted rule proposal that repeals and amends requirements for the delivery or renewal of named driver automobile policies. This rule implements HB 259,...

Houston Confronts One-Two Punch of Coronavirus and Oil Bust

May 8 2020 // When you’re known as the energy capital of the world, oil busts are nothing new. But Houston now finds itself in uncharted territory — grappling with an oil downturn in the middle of a pandemic.Like in other...

Texas Seeks Applications for State Insurance Boards, Committees

May 7 2020 // The Texas Department of Insurance reports multiple opportunities for participation on insurance-related boards and committees. TDI is now accepting applications for the following boards and committees: Fair Access to...

Texas Regulatory Commission Says it Won’t Cut Oil Production

May 6 2020 // After overseeing the state’s energy sector through one of Texas’ largest oil booms in recent years, the Texas Railroad Commission has suddenly found itself in the middle of two global crises that have delivered...

At Least 116 Oklahoma Meat Plant Workers, 240 in Texas Test Positive for Virus

May 6 2020 // At least 116 employees at an Oklahoma pork processing plant have tested positive for coronavirus, Seaboard Foods spokesman David Eahart said in a statement on May 4. Meanwhile, a surge of coronavirus cases in the Texas...

What to Expect in Workers’ Compensation Costs From COVID-19: NCCI

May 6 2020 // If only 10 percent of health care workers contract COVID-19 and all of their claims are deemed compensable, workers’ compensation loss costs for that sector could double or even triple in some states, according to an...

Texas’ Goosehead Insurance Reports $156K Loss for Q1 2020

May 5 2020 // Publicly traded independent personal lines insurance agency, Goosehead Insurance Inc., headquartered in Westlake, Texas, has reported a loss of $156,000 for the first quarter of 2020, with revenues of $20.4 million. The...

Texas Creamery Blue Bell to Plead Guilty, Pay $19M over Listeria Outbreak

May 4 2020 // Texas-based ice cream manufacturer Blue Bell Creameries has agreed to pay $19.35 million and plead guilty to charges that it shipped contaminated products linked to a 2015 listeriosis outbreak, the U.S. Justice Department...

Business Moves

May 4 2020 // World Insurance Associates, Lewis-Chester AssociatesWorld Insurance Associates LLC acquired Lewis-Chester Associates Inc. of Summit, N.J., on Feb. 1, 2020. Founded in 1947, Lewis-Chester Associates is a full service,...

Texas Insurance Commissioner: Modernization Efforts Paying Off During Pandemic

May 4 2020 // The employees of the state agency in charge of regulating the insurance industry in Texas might not put it this way, but in a sense, operationally at least, they have been preparing for the current health crisis brought on...

In a Reversal, Texas Supreme Court Allows Prompt Payment Claim Against State Farm Lloyds

May 4 2020 // Texas’ high court recently reversed the ruling of an appeals court in a case involving whether an insurer’s payment of an appraisal award negates an insured’s claim against the carrier under the Texas...

Burns & Wilcox Adds McCormick as Professional Liability Leader in Texas

May 1 2020 // Wholesale insurance broker and underwriting manager, Burns & Wilcox, has added Laura McCormick to its leadership team. McCormick joins Burns & Wilcox as regional practice group leader, Professional Liability for...

Insurtech Branch Now Offering Auto, Homeowners Insurance in Texas

May 1 2020 // Columbus, Ohio-based insurtech, Branch, has opened operations in Texas, the company’s fifth statewide expansion since launching in Ohio in August 2019.Branch says it is shaking up the insurance industry providing a...

States Under Pressure to Lift Coronavirus Restrictions as Unemployment Grows

May 1 2020 // As White House economic reopening guidance expired on Thursday after two weeks in place, half of all U.S. states forged ahead with easing restrictions on restaurants, retail and other businesses in hopes of reviving...

Company Settles Texas Disability Accommodation Suit for $66K

Apr 29 2020 // Assisted Living Concepts LLC, doing business as Enlivant, a national owner and operator of senior living facilities, has settled a federal disability discrimination lawsuit related to a facility in Dallas, Texas.The...