Heffernan Benefits Names Alarcon in Northern California

March 27, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Heffernan Benefits Advisory Services, a division of Heffernan Insurance Brokers, named Andrea Alarcon to the position of benefits compliance/legislative counsel, focusing on Employee Retirement Income Security Act law and health care reform implementation and compliance.

Alarcon will be working out of Heffernan’s Northern California Walnut Creek and San Francisco branch offices.

Alarcon has more than 10 years of experience as a contract attorney, corporate counsel and researcher, specializing in public policy, contracts, and online health insurance program implementation.  She has focused on Health Care Reform and related issues, as well as performed extensive nonprofit work establishing access to affordable coverage for low-income constituents of Santa Clara County.

Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Heffernan has California offices in San Francisco, Petaluma, Palo Alto, Los Angeles and Orange County, as well as in Portland, Ore., St. Louis, M. and New York, NY.

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Fired Coach Sues Northern California Diocese

February 22, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A former Catholic high school coach is suing the Diocese of Sacramento in Northern California claiming he was fired in retaliation for reporting sexual hazing by his players.

Officials at Vallejo’s St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School said earlier this month that 50-year-old head football coach Chris Cerbone was fired because varsity players exposed their genitals to harass six younger teammates.

Cerbone filed a wrongful termination suit on Wednesday in Sacramento County Superior Court saying he was trying to protect students by reporting the incidents to school administrators.

But the lawsuit says principal Mary Ellen Ryan fired Cerbone, saying he was to blame for failing to supervise his players.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: West NewsTopics: Chris Cerbone, lawsuit, St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School, wrongful terminationHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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CPC Forecasts Weak El Niño for Northern Hemisphere Winter

October 5, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsThe U.S. national weather forecaster still expects the much-feared El Niño phenomenon, which can wreak havoc on global weather, to remain weak into the Northern Hemisphere winter, even after its development slowed last month.

In its monthly assessment, the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) said on Thursday it is still not clear whether a fully fledged El Niño would emerge, although there is a “possibility” it will strengthen over the next few months.

The report further reduces the risk of a major drought in Asia, which produces some of the world’s major food staples, such as sugar cane and grains. The CPC first raised its El Niño alert four months ago.

A strong El Niño, essentially a warming of waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, can cause widespread drought in Australia, parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and India, but also bring rains to other parts of the globe.

Based on the CPC’s outlook, this year could be on par with previous less-disruptive episodes in 2004-05 and 2006-07 and far off a repeat of 2009 when drought damaged crops across Asia.

“During September, the trend towards El Niño slowed in several key oceanic and atmospheric indicators…. The atmosphere and ocean indicate borderline … neutral/weak El Niño conditions,” it said.

Last month, the CPC forecast the phenomenon would develop weakly in September and persist through February of next year. In Thursday’s update, it did not give an estimate for how long the conditions may last.

Copyright 2012 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: International NewsTopics: CPC, droughts, El Nino, impact, Northern Hemisphere, rain, weatherHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Tanker Hits Bay Bridge in Northern California

January 7, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A tanker struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Monday, the Sacramento Bee newspaper is reporting.

There were no immediate reports of leaks and the bridge was open to traffic, according to the story, which reported that tanker struck the bridge around 11:20 a.m. while headed out to sea.

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DEP Sets Aside Funds for Northern New Jersey Flood Buyouts

September 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

Plans to provide nearly $500,000 in state funds that would help a northern New Jersey town buy eight flood-prone homes have cleared another hurdle.

The state Department of Environmental Protection tells The Record that the funding for Saddle Brook is part of more than $123 million in Green Acres open-space acquisition and recreational development projects that were recently approved by the Garden State Preservation Trust.

But before the town can get the $487,500 it’s due to receive, the state Legislature must include the funding in an appropriations bill and Gov. Chris Christie would have to sign the measure.

If the money is eventually allocated, it would be provided to Saddle Brook as a matching grant. That means the town also would have to come up with $487,500.

Saddle Brook would use the money to help buy the properties where the homes now stand and demolish the residences, leaving the sites as open space that would likely reduce the impact of flooding. But officials say it will cost about $3.5 million overall to make the purchases.

Saddle Brook Mayor Karen Chamberlain, told the newspaper that she was grateful for the grant, but said the state has not done enough to help area communities address the flooding issues.

“I think the state should put in more money,” Chamberlain said. “And if they don’t have it, they should put pressure on the federal government.”

DEP spokesman Bob Considine said the Saddle Brook project got as much funding as it could under the program.

“Applying for grants for Green Acres is a competitive process based on the amount of needs throughout the state, and we try to spread it around as equitably as possible,” Considine told the newspaper.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: East NewsTopics: flood, New JerseyHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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South Dakota’s Northern Plains Insurance Declared Insolvent

September 24, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A Watertown, S.D., insurance company has been placed into liquidation by state insurance regulators.

A liquidation order issued by the South Dakota Division of Insurance for Northern Plains Insurance Co. was approved on Sept. 18 by Sixth Circuit Court Judge Mark Bennett.

Northern Plains, a high risk auto insurer, is insolvent, according to the liquidation order.

Northern Plains admitted the insolvency and waived service and process notice, the judge noted.

Financial statements submitted by Northern Plains to South Dakota Insurance Director Merle Scheiber showed the company’s

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Drought Area Expands in Northern U.S., Eases in South

September 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsThe worst drought to hit the United States in a half century expanded in the upper Midwest and northern Plains states in the past week due to warmer- and drier-than-normal weather, but loosened its grip on some central and southern areas of the country.

Nearly 65 percent of the contiguous United States were under at least

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