As storm chaser Ashton Lemley picked his way through a tornado-ravaged Mississippi trailer park, he heard the unmistakable meow of a kitten pierce the predawn darkness. The homes were flattened just hours earlier as storms spawned at least three tornadoes …

Safepoint Insurance on May 8 filed its paperwork for a U.S. initial public offering, disclosing a 96.9% revenue jump last year as a strong run of new IPO listings from Florida-based insurers extends into 2026. The company reported a net …

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking the federal government extend disaster assistance programs for thousands of victims of the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires who are still working to rebuild. Newsom is requesting a 12-month extension of the Federal Emergency …

Following the recommendation of the Senate Executive Nominations Committee, the full Maryland Senate has confirmed the appointments of four members to the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund Board of Trustees. Steven D. Linkous was reappointed to serve the remainder of a …

Affordable American Insurance LLC named Eddie Floyd to AAI’s leadership team as president of its retail agency division. Floyd will help lead the organization’s growth while overseeing the performance and expansion of its internal agency platform. Floyd has more than …

A new University of Vermont extreme weather monitoring station opened in Lyndonville on Tuesday, the first in a planned network of monitoring stations to help fill gaps in extreme weather predictions and response. The station will be able to monitor …

Fertilizer makers are seeing a windfall from Iran’s war, highlighting the impact of the conflict’s upheaval on supply chains for the key crop nutrients. CF Industries Holdings Inc. and Nutrien Ltd. each reported nearly 20% jumps in sales for the …

Novatae Risk Group, the wholesale insurance business of World Insurance Associates, announced that Brian Voorhees will be joining the company as its new managing director of personal lines. In this role, Voorhees will lead Novatae’s personal lines with responsibility for …

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday it is opening an investigation in a series of crashes of start-up Avride autonomous vehicles that raised questions about the competency of the vehicles. NHTSA said the vehicles’ performance may indicate inappropriate …

Florida’s governor has signed House Bill 803 into law, dropping building permit requirements for construction work valued at $7,500 or less. The law takes effect July 1. “A local government that issues building permits shall exempt an owner of a …

The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to commercial shipping after the US and Iran clashed overnight near the waterway, attacking each other’s assets in the area. US forces targeted missile and drone launch sites and other military assets in …

Nissan Motor Co. is canceling plans to make a pair of fully electric SUVs at a factory in the US, citing waning demand among American consumers for all-electric vehicles. The decision, which was relayed Thursday to dealers and parts suppliers …

As the Sackler family worked through a plan to pay $6.5 billion to resolve their liability over Purdue Pharma LP’s production of addictive opioids, the epidemic hit even closer to home. Joss Sackler, the wife of former Purdue board member …

Two Orlando contractors have been sentenced to at least two years in federal prison after orchestrating a decade-long scheme to pay workers off the books and avoid taxes and workers’ compensation insurance premium payments. Rene Maricio Escobar, 55, and Juana …

Hackers briefly took down an online portal used by thousands of colleges around the world this month, disrupting services at institutions from Harvard to Princeton. Instructure Inc., which runs the Canvas service used by students to take tests and get …

President Donald Trump’s task force for reforming the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday recommended sweeping changes to how the federal government responds to natural disasters. The recommendations, finalized at a council meeting in Washington, include reassessing FEMA staffing, rethinking …

The United States said it expected an Iranian response as soon as later in the day on Friday to its latest proposal to end the war in the Gulf, even as U.S. and Iranian forces clashed in the Gulf and …

Lloyd’s executives are debating how much information to release about the findings of a probe into former Chief Executive John Neal and his relationship with a woman who was promoted to a senior role during his tenure, according to a …

Don’t pop the champagne yet. That is effectively what New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie advised Gov. Kathy Hochul, who yesterday declared victory in the lengthy negotiations over the 2026-2027 state budget. Hochul claimed her office and lawmakers in …

Rabbi Amy Bernstein says the wind-whipped fire in January 2025 that scorched much of the Pacific Palisades, destroying her home and damaging her synagogue, “blew everything open” for the community’s faith leaders. “If our hearts must break, let them break …