The St. Paul Announces Intent to Purchase PENCO's Municipality Book of Business.
ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The St. Paul Companies (NYSE: SPC) announced today that it intends to purchase the municipality book of business of PENCO, a program administrator based in Nashville, Tenn., and owned by Willis North America Inc. Under the proposed transaction...

The Western way: Rocky Armfield survives the halls of power in Los Angeles County with a cool demeanor and straight talk.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's a long way from Casper, Wyo., to Los Angeles. Sure, it's more than a thousand miles as the western raven flies, but the two places are even further apart in terms of their demographics. Natrona County, where Casper is, has a population...

Head of his class: whoever said men can't multitask never met Stephen A. Hill. With myriad responsibilities as a public risk manager, he has made the juggling act of running a major urban school system look easy.
Stephen A. Hill has always appreciated a good challenge. That's how the Texas native wound up in the Motor City, running the risk management department of the 10th largest urban school district in the nation and the largest in the state of Michigan. As the executive director of risk...

PRIMA 2001: Hardening Rates Amid Summer's Heat.
Market conditions, technology risks, and employment practices all took center stage of the annual meeting of the Public Risk Management Association in Chicago. Expect no relief from the heat of rising commercial insurance costs this summer. Commercial insurance premiums have been increasing from 10 percent to 200...

Everybody into the pool: supporters of pooling mechanisms to buy insurance say they've been one of the insurance industry's big success stories.
Summary * Pools come in different shapes, sizes and concepts, but all offer a method for spreading the members' risk. * In New York, a risk-sharing pool made up of public colleges and universities is closely following new workers' comp laws favored by the new...

City explores bids to tend new library.
Byline: City Beat / Eugene by Joe Mosley The Register-Guard A BIT OF A MESS is accumulating over at the not-yet-completed Eugene Public Library, and the pickle is this: Just who will be cleaning up messes - and doing other custodial work - when the $34 million...

Working it out; Municipalities' health insurer puts emphasis on free wellness programs.
Byline: Lynne Klaft Crunching numbers in the Lunenburg town accountant's office by day, Peggy A. Stewart crunches her obliques Thursday nights at a body strengthening and conditioning class provided by the town's health insurance company. She's one of more than 100 Lunenburg employees and among...

Quaboag may drop Blue Cross; Teachers union, town are pivotal.
Byline: J.P. Ellery WEST BROOKFIELD - Town employees may balk if the Quaboag Regional School District switches from Blue Cross health insurance to Harvard Pilgrim. West Brookfield Town Treasurer Keith R. Arsenault acknowledged that he has not taken a survey of town employees, but "I'm...

Upcoming events.
JUNE 10-13 PRIMA Conference The Public Risk Management Association will hold its 28th Annual Conference with educational sessions covering OSHA, enterprise risk management, employee benefits and leadership. This event will be held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. For more...

Upcoming events.
MAY 22-24 ACORD-LOMA Insurance Systems Forum The 2005 ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum, titled "Achieve," will deliver strategies for business growth. The conference will be held at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel, Lake Buena Vista, FL. ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems...