Monthly Archives: <span>April 2016</span>

NASCAR Driver Stewart Won’t Back Down From Safety Concerns

NASCAR driver and car owner Tony Stewart says he’s not going to keep quiet when he has safety concerns. The three-time Sprint Cup Series champion was fined $35,000 on Thursday by NASCAR after suggesting that the series needs to do …

People Moves

QBE North America Appoints Skrynecki Senior Vice President, Standard Lines Programs QBE North America, an operating division of QBE Insurance Group, appointed Glenn Skrynecki Standard Lines Property & Casualty Program senior vice president. Based in New York, Skrynecki will report …

Volkswagen Owners Can Choose a Buyback or Repairs

The owners of nearly half a million polluting Volkswagens in the U.S. will have the option of selling them back to the company or getting them repaired at VW’s expense, under a deal announced Thursday by a federal judge. The …

Multiple Parties Argue Blame Over Flooded Homes in Nebraska City

The city of Bellevue, Neb., the Metropolitan Utilities District, a plumbing contractor and its insurance company disagree about who’s to blame for a ruptured water line that flooded about 12 homes in February. The Omaha World-Herald reports that Gearhart Plumbing, …

Florida Officials Can’t Agree on Insurance Commissioner Pick

Thanks to an arcane state law, Florida could enter hurricane season with no one firmly in charge of the state agency responsible for regulating the state’s at-times fragile insurance industry. The reason? The two Republican elected officials responsible for picking …

Washington Workplace Deaths Fall to Near Historic Low in 2015

Workplace deaths in Washington declined to a near-historic low in 2015, according to a new Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) report. Last year there were 58 work-related deaths in the state — 18 fewer than in 2014. L&I data …

Nebraska Researchers Test Drones as New Firefighting Tool

Researchers in Nebraska tested a new tool on Friday that could eventually help in fighting grass fires – drones. A team from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln flew an unmanned aircraft over the prairie at the Homestead National Monument of America …

California Families Remain in Limbo 2 Months After Gas Blowout

It’s been two months since a blown-out natural gas well was capped and officials spoke of thousands of uprooted families returning to their normal lives. But nearly half of the 8,000 families who left home at some point have yet …

German Automakers Face Huge Costs, New Probe

It was a bad week for German automakers. Volkswagen said Friday that a diesel emissions-cheating scandal would cost it an astounding $18.2 billion just for 2015, while Daimler revealed that U.S. authorities are sniffing around its tailpipes. Both companies saw …

Minnesota Law Enforcement Issue Marijuana Wax Warning

Law enforcement agencies in Minnesota are warning of a rise in seizures of a potent marijuana concentrate. Authorities say marijuana wax has a stronger concentration of THC, marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient. The substance comes in the form of powders, oils and …