An October 7 construction site accident in Montgomery, Ohio triggered a gas line explosion that sent flames and smoke into the sky for hours and forced the evacuation of nearby buildings. A John R. Jurgensen Company construction truck reportedly backed over the gas line and struck a utility pole, igniting the blast and shaking the…
The Glass Fire, one of 23 major wildfires burning across California, has destroyed or damaged at least 17 wineries in Napa Valley. More than 215 other wineries are under mandatory evacuation orders. As of October 5, the wildfire had also destroyed 550 homes and more than 66,800 acres. The small vineyard at Behrens Family Winery…
Last week, the personal data of employees and students in a Las Vegas public school district with about 320,000 students was made public after the district refused to pay a hacker’s ransom. The released documents contained Clark County Public School District personnel and student records, Social Security numbers, addresses, grades and other private information stolen…
Colorado, Illinois and Ohio set new records for monthly marijuana sales in July and August, underscoring the resilience of the cannabis industry amid the COVID-19 recession. In July, recreational and medical marijuana stores in Colorado generated a combined $226.4 million in revenue, up 13.8 percent from June, and Ohio saw a record $21 million in…
In a span of just 20 minutes on September 8, wind gusts of nearly 100 miles per hour flipped 45 semi-trucks on some Northern Utah highways. Four drivers were hospitalized with injuries and one semi-truck driver suffered a fatal head injury when the wind blew open his cargo door during a delivery and knocked him…
In a lawsuit filed on August 11, the Barefoot Resort Residential Owners Association claimed experts found 13 construction defects in its $1.5 million beach cabana project. The North Myrtle Beach community’s homeowners association subsequently terminated contracts with the architect and general contractor, citing defects in design and construction that included the use of materials unsuitable…
Oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico was slowed significantly beginning on August 23, as a pair of tropical storms approached U.S. shores and forced the shutdown and evacuation of nearly 300 offshore platforms. Hurricane Laura, one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the U.S., made landfall on August 27, devastating…
As parents across the U.S. and Canada grapple with their children’s return to school amid a pandemic, “learning pods” have emerged as a potential solution to meeting kids’ academic and social needs while minimizing contact with large groups. Two mothers in Delaware County, Ohio recently launched Web Student Services, LLC, a learning pod startup that…
This year has brought unprecedented challenges as the world copes with the COVID-19 pandemic; however, 2020 has also been a record-breaking year for extreme weather events: devastating wildfires, an especially active hurricane season, blackout-inducing heatwaves, a historic spate of tornadoes, a “firenado” and a 500-year flood. The U.S. recently hit its 10th billion-dollar weather disaster…
A Georgia high school that made headlines for its packed hallways and unmasked students announced Aug. 9 that it would close for at least two days after it identified nine cases of COVID-19. Six students and three staff members tested positive for the virus after the first week of in-person instruction at the school, one…
BY PAUL SMITH, CORPORATE VICE PRESIDENT, CARRIER RELATIONS, H.W. KAUFMAN GROUP The Property & Casualty (P&C) Insurance marketplace in Q2 2020 will find its way into the history books as having been the most rapid changing in a generation. Leading up to April 1, 2020 was an unprecedented global event that was unravelling by the…
Michigan’s largest healthcare system recently announced a data breach that may have compromised 6,000 patients’ protected health information. The breach reportedly occurred after six employee email accounts were exposed in a phishing scam in January. The eight-hospital network with 167 outpatient locations, notified patients on July 28 of a “data security incident” that could have…
By: John McGlynn, Director of Transportation, Burns & Wilcox
The former owner and manager of two apartment complexes in Washington, D.C. will pay $3.5 million to settle a tenant lawsuit alleging rat and bed bug infestations, sewage leaks, mold contamination and other hazards. The lawsuit, brought by the district’s attorney general in October 2018, also claimed the buildings’ hundreds of tenants were subjected to…
Dozens of hand sanitizer products have been recalled or recommended for recall for potentially containing methanol, which can be toxic when ingested or absorbed through the skin. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first alerted consumers in June about the presence of methanol, also known as wood alcohol, in nine products. Since then, the…
A bill that would allow home delivery of alcoholic beverages in Georgia is moving forward after it won approval in the Georgia House of Representatives on June 25. House Bill 879, headed to Governor Brian Kemp for consideration within 45 days, would permit stores and some restaurants to provide home delivery of beer, wine and…
On June 20 an Orange County, Florida Walmart employee was assaulted by a customer who refused to wear a mask despite a county-wide executive order to help slow the spread of COVID-19. It is one of many disputes that have erupted in recent weeks over mask mandates from various state and local governments as well…
Two patients are pursuing class-action status for their lawsuits against a Colonie, New York health care company and its accounting firm over a 2019 data breach that reportedly exposed the sensitive information of 170,000 patients. The lawsuits allege BST & Co. CPAs, the accounting firm for Community Care Physicians, experienced a ransomware attack in December…
Farmington Hills, Mich. – Burns & Wilcox, North America’s leading insurance wholesale broker and underwriting manager, congratulates Webb Simpson, one of its brand ambassadors, on winning the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links this weekend in Hilton Head, South Carolina. This was Simpson’s second victory this season following the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February,…
Sales of pools, trampolines and other backyard recreational items have surged in recent weeks as families try to salvage a summer marred by camp closures, community pool shutdowns, travel restrictions and continued anxiety over the COVID-19 crisis. Vendors in the U.S. and Canada have sold out of above-ground pools while pool shop owners continue to…
