Latest Washington Headlines

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

Report: 4.5 Million Homes in 13 States at Extreme Wildfire Risk

Jun 10 2015 // A report issued today shows 4.5 million U.S. homes at high or extreme risk of wildfire as the multi-year drought continues.The report’s author said the worsening drought means 2015 has the potential to be one of the...

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects NRA Challenge to San Francisco Gun Law

Jun 9 2015 // The U.S. Supreme Court turned away a National Rifle Association challenge to a San Francisco law that requires people who store handguns at home to either put them in a lockbox or disable them with a trigger lock.Over two...

Hub Acquires Assets of Lovsted-Worthington in Washington

Jun 3 2015 // Hub International Ltd. has acquired the assets of Lovsted-Worthington Insurance, which serves Seattle and Western Washington.Terms of the deal were not disclosed. LW will become part of the Hub International Northwest...

ITC Acquires Rater Multico-Online in Washington

Jun 3 2015 // Insurance Technologies Corp., a provider of marketing, rating and management software and services, has acquired Multico-Online from Multico Rating Systems Inc., a large Seattle, Wash.-based comparative rating vendor.The...

Washington Hospital Joins ‘Superbug’ Suit Against Scope Maker

Jun 1 2015 // A Seattle, Wash., hospital has joined a lawsuit against the manufacturer of endoscopy medical scopes linked to a “superbug” outbreak at the medical center, claiming the company, Olympus America Inc., put...

Insurance Center for Building Materials Expands into Washington, Oregon, Nevada

May 29 2015 // The Insurance Centre for Building Materials (ICBM), a specialist managing general agent focused on building materials dealers, wood risks and secondary forest products, is now available in the primary wood growing and...

Dozens of Washington Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to Be Shuttered

May 28 2015 // With Washington state overhauling its medical marijuana law, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray says the city is planning to shutter dozens of dispensaries.Murray this week announced plans to require a new special business license...

Safety Chief Rosekind Shifts Defective Car Oversight into Overdrive

May 25 2015 // The U.S. auto safety watchdog, long criticized as toothless and slow, is showing both bark and bite under its new boss – a testimony to his credentials as a safety expert and a hardening of the administration’s...

Washington City to Get Tsunami Warning System

May 19 2015 // Birch Bay, Wash. will soon be equipped with a tsunami warning system.The Bellingham Herald reported that the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office is working with the state to set up an emergency warning system for Birch...

NTSB: Amtrak Train Was Going Double the Speed Limit Before Crash

May 14 2015 // The New York-bound Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia, killing seven and injuring more than 200, was traveling 106 miles per hour just before the accident, more than double the speed limit, according to U.S....

Washington Hospital Joins “Superbug” Suit Against Scope Maker

May 13 2015 // A Seattle, Wash. hospital has joined a lawsuit against the manufacturer of endoscopy medical scopes linked to a “superbug” outbreak at the medical center, claiming the company, Olympus America Inc., put...

6 Killed, Scores Injured as Amtrak Train Derails in Philadelphia

May 13 2015 // Investigators are trying to find out what caused a New York-bound Amtrak train to derail in Philadelphia, killing six, injuring scores and closing part of the busiest passenger rail corridor in the U.S.Northeast Regional...

Brown & Brown Acquires Assets from Bellingham Underwriters in Washington

May 11 2015 // A subsidiary within Brown & Brown Inc.’s national programs division has acquired certain assets of Bellingham Underwriters Inc. in Washington. Bellingham Underwriters is a managing general underwriter that...

Northern Washington Rattled By Small Quake

May 8 2015 // A relatively small magnitude 3.7 earthquake shook the ground north of Seattle on Thursday. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake at 1:42 a.m. was about 8 miles northeast of Bryant, in Snohomish County. About 50 people...

Bannon Carlson & Kessel in Washington Joins Leavitt Group

May 7 2015 // Bannon Carlson & Kessel Inc. in Tacoma, Wash. has joined Leavitt Group’s Northwest office. Brad Bannon and Mark Hanks, the agency co-owners, along with Dan Delorenzo, vice president, will continue to service...

Washington Commissioner Says Hole-in-One Insurance Scammer at it Again

May 4 2015 // It appears hole-in-one insurance scammer Kevin Kolenda has been at it again, according to detectives in Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s office.Kolenda was arrested in mid-April in Norwalk, Conn.,...

Oil Train Safety Bill Passes Washington Legislature

Apr 27 2015 // The Washington Legislature has passed a measure to improve the safety of oil transportation due to a sharp increase in the number of oil-carrying freight trains in the state. Lawmakers reached a compromise Friday afternoon...

Greenberg May Have Advantage with Judge Deciding AIG Bailout Challenge

Apr 22 2015 // Former American International Group Inc. Chairman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg claims the U.S. bailout of the company cheated shareholders out of at least $25 billion.On Wednesday, the judge presiding over his...

Washington Commissioner Says Hole-in-One Insurance Scammer at It Again

Apr 21 2015 // It appears hole-in-one insurance scammer Kevin Kolenda has been at it again, according to detectives in Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s office.Kolenda was arrested on Monday in Norwalk, Conn.,...

Washington Contractor Hit for $1M in Workers’ Comp Premiums and Penalties

Apr 15 2015 // A former drywall contractor in Walla Walla, Wash. must pay more than $1 million in delinquent workers’ compensation premiums and penalties.The Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals recently held...