Archive for December 2018

A hole in a valve was the source of an April explosion at a Husky Energy refinery in northwestern Wisconsin that injured 36 people and required the evacuation of a large part of the city of Superior, according to findings … Source: Claims Journal

More than 100 homes and buildings in the Anchorage, Alaska, area have been found unsafe to enter because of damage caused by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake, according to city data. At least another 182 buildings received some kind of damage … Source: Claims Journal

California’s increasingly deadly and destructive wildfires have become so unpredictable that government officials should consider banning home construction in vulnerable areas, the state’s top firefighter says. Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Director Ken Pimlott will leave his job Friday … Source: Claims Journal

American diplomats affected by mysterious health incidents in Cuba showed damage in the inner ear shortly after they complained of weird noises and sensations, according to their earliest medical exams, publicized Wednesday. The detailed findings were published in a medical … Source: Claims Journal

Mobile devices continue to distract drivers in the greater Philadelphia area. Travelers recently commissioned a survey of 435 of them and found that 75 percent use a mobile device while driving, with 91 percent of millennials, 79 percent of Gen … Source: Claims Journal

Three of last month’s California wildfires will cost insurers about $9.05 billion, according to preliminary information from state regulators. That figure is based on initial claims that insurers have received from the Camp, Woolsey and Hill fires, California Insurance Commissioner … Source: Claims Journal

Johnson & Johnson has begun settling consumers’ claims that it sold artificial hips knowing they were defective, marking the first settlements in the seven-year-old litigation. A federal judge in Texas overseeing the cases said about 3,300 of 10,000 “have settled … Source: Claims Journal

Scientists are seeing surprising melting in Earth’s polar regions at times they don’t expect, like winter, and in places they don’t expect, like eastern Antarctica. New studies and reports issued this week at a major Earth sciences conference paint one … Source: Claims Journal

Natural gas companies in Massachusetts are compromising safety by increasingly turning to outside contractors for pipeline work while cutting back on staff that would oversee these projects, state lawmakers said Tuesday at a hearing following September’s natural gas explosions in … Source: Claims Journal

The conflict between the need for more housing in California and the danger of building in fire-prone mountains was decided in favor of homes Tuesday as Los Angeles County supervisors approved a massive rural housing development. The supervisors voted 4-1 … Source: Claims Journal