The Senate Banking Committee is today considering the nomination of a key insurance member to the new federal board that deals with the financial system and matters of systemic risk.

President Barack Obama has nominated a former Kentucky insurance commissioner, S. Roy Woodall, to serve as an insurance voting representative on the new Financial Stability Oversight Council, a 15-member council within U.S. Treasury Department.

Woodall is a former president of the National Association of Life Companies. He has worked at the Treasury Department under the George W.

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London-based Aon, the risk management business of Aon Corp. in the UK, announced that it has “demonstrated its commitment to reducing its green house gas emissions by become the first company in the insurance industry in the world to be awarded Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme certification.”

Aon described CEMARS as a “carbon verification scheme that audits an organization’s carbon footprint and certifies that they are reducing emissions year on year and taking steps to mitigate emissions in the future. It is t

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Texas Highway Patrol troopers arrested 1,406 intoxicated drivers during a special July 4 holiday enforcement program from June 27 through July 6 across the state.

Of the 1406 arrests, 575 were made by troopers whose patrols were funded through a special Texas Department of Transportation grant. Troopers focused on looking for intoxicated drivers in high-risk locations during the times when alcohol-related crashes occur most often.

“With the additional grant funding, our troopers stayed on the roads longer and made more arrests. I’m certain that we prevented some potentially serious crashes by putting intoxicated drivers in jail,” said Chief David G. Baker

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When Caltrans announced that it planned to close the busy 405 freeway July 15 to 18, the local populace immediately went into panic mode. The Interstate, which links the San Fernando Valley with West Los Angeles and points south, is a vital link in L.A’s sprawling highway network.

Local media instantly dubbed the closure – to tear down a 50 year old bridge, so the 405 could be widened – “Carmageddon;” i.e. an event of Biblical proportions. Innumerable flashing signs lined all the freeways warning drivers to expect “Big Delays.” Reports of the looming catastrophe spread across the U.S., and even abroad, as the BBC carried several stories on it.

However, when the big weekend arrived – like a lion – it turned out to be a mouse, and a small one at that. Motorists evinced

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