Newswires

The new CEO of Maryland’s largest health insurer wants to explore means of lowering health care costs for all state residents, as well as expanding its own reach through the Medicare and Medicaid government health programs. Brian D. Pieninck, named president and CEO of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShied as of July, discussed what he aims to achieve heading the…

The latest edition of a report on predicted climate change impacts, released by the Trump administration, says Maryland is already seeing some effects of rising global temperatures. Many of them are well documented: more coastal floods, heavier downpours and shorter winters. Here is what the fourth such assessment predicts for Maryland:.

The House’s top tax writer said Tuesday he is looking to pass a massive new package of tax law changes this year, hoping to strike a deal with Democrats to overhaul the IRS and preserve popular but temporary tax breaks. “We’re hopeful that working with the Senate constructively we can find a path for moving this bill to the president’s desk by the time Congress…

It’s estimated that the number will drop to 18 million for 2018 returns– or about a bit more than 10 percent of individual returns, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. So do you need to really make a donation by Dec. 31? The standard deduction on 2018 returns is $12,000 for individuals, $18,000 for heads of household and $24,000 for married couples filing…

While General Motors offered a buyout and now faces layoffs to trim its white-collar ranks, Ford quietly presented salaried employees with an early retirement package through the first half of 2018.. Ford’s offer was open to most salaried employees in North America 55 or older with at least 10 years with Ford, those 65 or older with at least five years with the…

Nov. 27– Health insurance event set. BLOOMINGTON– Illinois Department of Insurance will have a Get Covered Illinois informational meeting from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at Chestnut Health Systems, 1003 Martin Luther King Drive, Bloomington. Information will be provided and questions will be answered regarding the health insurance marketplace open enrollment…

Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman today announced The Life Insurance Policy Locator, launched by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, has matched consumers with policies totaling $4,778,419 in the past 12 months. Since NAIC launched the free national locator service to make it easier…

Charlie Brown, D- Gary, this year may have traded his Indiana House seat for a spot on the Lake County Council, but he certainly is not forgotten at the Statehouse. The Arc of Indiana, a disabilities advocacy organization, recently recognized Brown’s 36 years of legislative service, including his chairmanship of the House Public Health Committee, by presenting…

The University of California Los Angeles campus issued the following news release:. A new study by UCLA and UC Berkeley researchers projects that hundreds of thousands more Californians could become uninsured because of forthcoming changes in federal health insurance law. The authors suggest policies that could help California protect the progress the…

Clark Hill PLC today announced the addition of John G. Fogarty, Jr. to the firm as Senior Counsel in its Chicago office, where he is a member of the Government and Public Affairs Practice Group. “John brings our group significant Illinois campaign finance and ethics law experience as well as strong connections to elected officials, candidates and the political…

Duty on striking fixture– Dispatch received a call Nov. 12 in reference to a hit and run accident in the 1900 block of West Shields. Possession– Officers were dispatched Nov. 10 to the 4100 block of North U.S. Highway 75 for a major crash. Possession– A traffic stop was conducted Nov. 10 in the 1900 block of Texoma Parkway.

Nov. 27– San Diego Gas& Electric is taking its fight to have ratepayers shoulder $379 million in costs related to 2007′ s deadly wildfires to the California Supreme Court, and the utility says a local appeals court judge who recently ruled against the utility should have recused herself from the case. Writing for California’s 4th District Court of Appeal in San…

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the following news release:. Federal Emergency Management Agency rebuilding specialists can provide tips and advice on making homes stronger and safer and answer questions about protecting homes from future damage. Advisers will be available Mon., Dec. 3 through Sat., Dec. 8,…

Nov. 27– It’s a strategy that everyone on either side of the news business knows. *Losses from climate change events will cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars annually by the end of the century. “We are seeing the things we said would be happening, happen now in real life,” said report co-author Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University. “

Nov. 27– When Christine Poje’s children woke her up the morning of Nov. 8 to see the sunrise, she thought the red sky might portend rain. Much of northern California– including the town of Paradise in Butte County where Poje and her four children had moved to from La Crosse about three months ago– was in the middle of a long dry season. The Camp Fire, which tore through…

Nov. 27– PENDER COUNTY– More than $145,000 worth of Pender County Schools classroom supplies are damaged or missing after Hurricane Florence, according to a list published by the district. Pender County Schools officials published a document on the district’s Facebook page Monday night, listing classroom supplies and personal items that school staff…

But whenever bestselling writer Sara Paretsky began to speak, his eyes would brighten and his smile would appear. His name was Courtenay Wright and he was Paretsky’s husband, had been for more than 40 years, meeting long before Paretsky wrote her first book and became famous. Suffering a variety of ailments, he was in hospice care at Rush Medical Center.

“We are coming back from the Thanksgiving break with no bill, no plan and four days left until the end of the National Flood Insurance Program,” Joe Rossi, chairman of the Massachusetts Coastal Coalition, said Tuesday. Congress granted the program a saving-grace extension just hours before the program was set to expire this July. Rossi said there are two things that…