Charges that home repair contractors and attorneys are teaming up to pad claims submitted to insurers will be the focus of debate for a third straight year in Tallahassee.

State lawmakers on the House Insurance Committee are scheduled Monday to discuss possible restrictions on allowing homeowners to sign over to home repair contractors their legal rights to bill insurers for damages, accept payments and file suits in disputes over claims.

Insurers and their allies charge that contractors, public adjustors and attorneys in South Florida have created a cottage industry by submitting inflated claims for repairs, mostly water leaks, then driving up legal fees by suing if insurance companies don't pay the bills.

The practice has become a problem in South Florida, and especially Miami-Dade County, where water damage restoration companies are aggressively targeting homeowners with water damage, insurers argue.

They point to an October 2013 report from Citizens Property Insurance Co. stating that while Miami-Dade property owners make up 19 percent of all Citizens policies, they account for 35 percent of all non-sinkhole-related claims and 67 percent of claims that result in lawsuits. Another 26 percent of litigated claims originated in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Sam Miller, executive vice president of the Florida Insurance Council, which lobbies for the insurance industry, said "inflated claims" by a group of water restoration companies in South Florida are keeping insurance rates high in Florida. "Someone shows up following a fire and knocks on your door, saying, 'We'll take care of it but you have to sign over all your benefits,' " Miller said.

State Rep. David Santiago, R-Deltona, a member of the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee, wrote an essay in January citing warnings by former Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate Robin Wescott that the issue is driving up homeowners' insurance rates by 17 percent a year. "In some parts of the state, claims settled with an assignment of benefits form averaged $32,000, nearly triple the amount of claims settled without one," Santiago wrote.

Some homeowners have discovered that contractors placed liens on their homes after assigning their benefits, and contractors have taken payments from insurance companies and failed to complete repairs, Santiago said in an interview.

But Lee Jacobson, an Orlando-based civil litigation attorney and member of the Florida Justice Association, comprising trial attorneys, says insurance companies are raising the issue because "they don't have anything else to blame higher rates on." The Florida Justice Association was formerly called the Florida Trial Lawyers Association.

Jacobson said contractors ask policyholders to sign over benefits because insurance companies too often fail to pay up or cover the full cost of repairs. Insurers don't like when contractors "expect to be paid for the work they performed," he said.

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Insurers, contractors debate who should be allowed to pursue claims

Business lends helping hand

SUMMERSIDE Employees at Prince County Hospital had home to work transportation provided during Tuesdays snowstorm, courtesy of a local businessman.

Nathan Kember, of Paul Davis Systems Restoration Specialists, used his 4x4 to shuttle hospital staff during the overnight storm that keep most people at home.

I have a friend thats a nurse and she needed a drive to the hospital, Kember said. I was over to her house last night and she wanted a drive to work this morning. So, I called her up this morning and she said sure. I thought it was a good idea to keep doing it.

Kember posted a picture of his truck on Facebook offering free rides to hospital employees and the response was over - whelming.

It s something you can do in a small community and it s the least we could do, he said. Weve got about a dozen or so calls and weve got some more lined up.

Kember said he started shuttling people around 10 a. m.

The back streets were al l pretty well not plowed, he said. Our truck can go through quite a bit of snow so I m glad we had t hat i n our vehicl e f l eet.

Kember has a Ford F- 150 with 38- inch tires and a lift kit that made it ideal for the wintery conditions

It was pretty bad all the way around. Central Street was plowed by 11 a.m. A lot of streets weren't open, he said. Greenwood Drive and Pope Road were pretty bad.

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Prince County Hospital workers given free lift during storm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org Elizabeth Van Cleve, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, evancleve@edf.org Jacques Hebert, National Audubon Society, 504.264.6849, jhebert@audubon.org

Conservation Groups React to Coastal Restoration Cuts in Presidents Budget Proposed budget jeopardizes critical wetlands restoration

(NEW ORLEANS February 4, 2015) On Monday, President Obama unveiled a $4 trillion proposed budget that would tap more than $3 billion in future oil and gas revenues from Gulf Coast states to pay for other national conservation priorities. This shift would divert monies from coastal restoration projects in Louisiana.

National and local conservation organizations committed to coastal Louisiana restoration Environmental Defense Fund, National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation issued the following statement in response:

We are encouraged by and committed to the elements of the Presidents budget that take on climate change, support the development of clean energy, and fully fund the woefully underfunded Land and Water Conservation Fund and other crucial conservation initiatives. But we are disappointed by the budgets proposed diversion of critically needed and currently dedicated funding for coastal Louisiana and the Mississippi River Delta.

This proposed budget undercuts the Administrations previous commitments to restore critical economic infrastructure and ecosystems in the Mississippi River Delta, where we are losing 16 square miles of critical wetlands every year a preventable coastal erosion crisis.Those wetlands, and the culture and economic infrastructure they protect from hurricanes, will be lost without complete and ongoing intervention.And that intervention currently underway through implementation of the 2012 Coastal Master Plan cannot be successful without sufficient funding.

We urge Congress tofund the Presidents commitments to coastal restoration and conservation by maintainingGOMESA fundingthat is vital to the Gulf Coast and by identifying additional funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and other priorities. The Mississippi River Delta is a national treasure that is home to millions of Americans, provides vital wildlife habitat, and supports billions of dollars in seafood production, navigation interests and energy production. This landscape deserves our full attention and comprehensive restoration.

The budget proposal would shift hundreds of millions of dollars of offshore oil and gas GOMESA revenue from Louisiana to other spending needs. Louisiana already constitutionally dedicated these future monies to the critical efforts now underway to restore coastal Louisiana and the Mississippi River Delta.

Additionally, the groups expressed strong disappointment that the Administrations proposal walks away from an essential longstanding commitment to Army Corps of Engineers funding for construction of critical restoration projects.For four years, the Administration has proposed investing in the Corps budget to restore the delta through the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) program.In fiscal year 2013, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) Jo Ellen Darcy explained the investment to Congress that restoring coastal Louisiana is a nationally significant and urgent effort to both restore habitat and protect the important Louisiana Gulf region from the destructive forces of storm driven waves and tides.

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Conservation Groups React to Coastal Restoration Cuts in Presidents Budget

President Lyndon B. Johnson's boyhood home reopened last week after it was closed for almost a month for restoration.

Even at over 100 years old, the house just needed minor wallpaper replacements and is not due for any major renovations soon, curator Baird Todd said.

The iconic house is just one of several historical buildings in the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Central Texas which is split up into the Johnson City District and the LBJ Ranch District.

The 36th president of the United States home is located in the Johnson City District, alongside his childhood school building, a general store, a post office and the Johnson Settlement, an event and exhibit center.

About 14 miles west of the Johnson City District stands the LBJ Ranch near Stonewall, which was the beginning and ending place for Johnson.

He was born on Aug. 27, 1908 in a small house on the ranch, and although it was torn down, he rebuilt it during his presidency in 1964.

Just west of the house is the massive Texas White House, which served as Johnsons refuge during his presidency.

During his five years in office, he made 74 trips from Washington, D.C. to his ranch. Just in front of the house under the large oak trees, some staff meetings and press conferences took place.

The Johnsons continued to live in the house even after they donated it to the National Park Service. And after Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson died in 2007, the NPS began preparing the home for public tours.

The two were buried in the ranchs family cemetery, just a few steps from Johnsons birthplace.

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LBJ's century-old boyhood home restored, still standing strong after long history

Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu Contact: David Graf, 940-716-8610, cdgraf@ag.tamu.edu

WICHITA FALLS The Arts Alive 2015 Home and Garden Festival on Feb. 21-22 will be hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in Wichita County and the Wichita County Master Gardeners Association.

The annual home and garden show will be in the Ray Clymer Exhibit Hall, 1000 5th St. Admission is $7 per person or $5 in advance from local business supporters or Master Gardeners.

Vendor exhibits, seminars and demonstrations are scheduled from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Feb. 21 and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Feb. 22. The program will benefit the Arts Council of Wichita Falls through the Kemp Center for the Arts.

The primary segment of the educational sessions will occur in the auditorium starting at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 21 with the following topics and speakers: Healthy Trees, Charlie Carr, Texas Tree Care certified arborist, Wichita Falls. Rainfall Alone, Paul Dowlearn, Wichita Valley Nursery, Wichita Falls. Rainwater for Life, Billy Kniffen, retired AgriLife Extension state water resource specialist in rainwater harvesting, Menard. Peytons Project, a non-profit organization for rattlesnake awareness, Tammy Reece, Wichita Falls.

Also, a special educational lineup, known as Challenge Sessions, will be held throughout the two-day event. These hour-long sessions will feature a variety of topics in an informal setting, where attendees may interact with speakers, said David Graf, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent for Wichita County.

Challenge Sessions on Feb. 21 will be from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Morning sessions will include: Our Ecology; Backyard Hens, Chicks and Eggs; Farmyard Dairy Goats; Homemade Cheese and Soap; Converting to Native Landscape; Gardening with Rainwater; Gardening with Grandma; Home-Style Canning and More; and Lawn Restoration.

Educational sessions on Feb. 22 begin at 11:30 a.m. and end at 3:45 p.m.

Topics and speakers include: Peytons Project, Reece. Amazing Hummingbirds, Penny Miller, amateur birder, Wichita Falls. Spiders and Insects: The Good and the Bad, Dr. Roy Vogtsberger, Midwestern State University associate biology professor, Wichita Falls.

Challenge Sessions on Feb. 22 will run from 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and the topics will be: Texas Quail Index, Feathered Friends, Peytons Project, Restoring Your Yard and Converting to Native Landscape.

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Home and garden show set for Feb. 21-22 in Wichita Falls

North Haverhill Upper Valley nursing home administrators said they are wary of Gov. Maggie Hassans decision to pull back $7 million designated for New Hampshire nursing homes as part of a plan to balance the budget, because they fear the cut may herald further funding reductions in the future.

If this proposal succeeds, they said, whats to stop it from happening again in the future.

If the governor can go ahead and take this money, going against the legislature, whats to stop her or the commissioner (for the Department of Health and Human Services) down the road to say we need another $10 million? said Craig Labore, administrator of the Grafton County Nursing Home in North Haverhill.

The plan to reallocate the $7 million is part of a proposal to address a $58 million shortfall in the Health and Human Services budget.

William Hinkle, a spokesman for Hassan, said budget change is not a reduction in reimbursement rates; rather, the move would mean forgoing a planned increase in the Medicaid rate of reimbursement to the nursing homes.

While the nursing home rate increase might be worthwhile, it would be hard to justify cutting other critical health services in order to pay for a rate increase , Hinkle wrote in an email.

Hinkle said the executive branch was forced to make reductions to comply with budget cuts initiated by the legislature.

Those unspecified reductions mean that the Executive Branch has to cut funding for services that the legislature approved, Hinkle wrote. We have to make difficult but necessary choices to ensure a balanced budget.

State Sen. Jeanie Forrester, R-Meredith, chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee, said she opposes using the nursing home reimbursement rate to help paper over the departments budget shortfall.

Its just very, very frustrating, she said. (We) made a promise to the nursing homes. They planned their budgets around it.

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Nursing Homes Fear Future Cutbacks

The Umbrella House, described as "one of the five most remarkable houses of the mid twentieth century" by Architectural Digest, was built in 1953 as a model home for developer Phil Hiss' Lido Shores

SARASOTA - The Umbrella House, a centerpiece of the Sarasota School of midcentury modern architecture, has changed hands for $1.6 million.

The Paul Rudolph-designed house, at 1300 Westway Drive, was sold by Vincent and Julie Ciulla to their neighbors across the street, retired Wyeth pharmaceutical company CEO Bob Essner and his wife, Anne.

The Ciullas, museum exhibit designers, bought the house for $1.2 million in 2005 from Carol and Gary Stover, who had restored the interior. The Stovers owned the home from 1997 to 2005.

The Ciullas then replaced the air-conditioning system and the roof, and also rebuilt a portion of the shading structure that gave the iconic house its name when it was completed in 1953.

The Essners, in turn, plan to reconstruct the remainder of the so-called "umbrella" -- a post-and-beam structure with slats that provided shade for both the house and the pool, said Elliott Himelfarb of the Sarasota Architectural Foundation, who has spoken with the new owners.

The Ciullas rebuilt the umbrella, which was lost to a tropical storm in the late 1960s, only over the house itself.

The Umbrella House isn't the Essners first foray into buying a Rudolph-designed residence. The couple also own the Rudolph-designed Harkavy House on Morningside Drive, in Lido Shores.

They intend to make the Umbrella House available to the foundation for dinners and other events, Himelfarb said.

A MODEL HOME

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Umbrella House sold for $1.6 million and will be preserved

Click photo to enlarge

The new tower at Orlando Regional Medical Center was designed to be hospitable and to make those inside feel as if they were at home, rather than in an institution. The lobby area features lots of natural light, live orchids, richly colored damask seating, art of water lilies and a whimsical light fixture made of blown-glass balls.

As homes go, the place was large -- 245 bedrooms and 345,000 square feet. And though it looked and felt like a home in many ways, the new 10-story building I toured recently was really a hospital in disguise -- a feat of decorating ingenuity, to be sure.

The architects' objective was "to create a home for 245 patients," said the news material handed to those of us previewing America's newest hospital tower, a $300 million structure at Orlando Regional Medical Center in Florida, which on Monday admitted its first "overnight guests."

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then we who care about making homes beautiful, comfortable and nurturing just got a Dallas-size compliment. The designers get this universal truth: There's no place like home, especially when you're sick. Much of what they've done to make the large institutional space feel homey they learned from home designers.

"Our biggest design challenge was to make the hospital feel hospitable," said Karen Guindi, the interior designer at the helm of the project, who designed high-end hotels before hospitals.

It was with great curiosity that I checked out what sleight of hand was used to take the edge off the facts that your bed is a gurney with side rails, that people talk in the hall at all hours and leave the lights on, that everyone who visits you needs to wash their hands and that just when you fall asleep somebody sticks you with needles.

Seems to me it would take more than pretty art, high-definition television and a comfy sofa to gloss over such facts.

"Our mantra was: This is not an institution," said Guindi, who chatted with me in the art-filled lobby after the tour. "It's a healing environment, designed with home, hospitality and nature in mind."

But Guindi also had to adjust her designs to stand up to heavy traffic and heavy use -- the kinds our homes endure (spilled coffee, dirty shoes on nice furniture, facedown pizza), only more so.

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Marni Jameson: Borrow hospital's wellness-inspired decor ideas

Published: Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 4:35 p.m. Last Modified: Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 4:35 p.m.

A construction project on Bayou Lafourche will be postponed this year as the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority faces budget cuts.

A plan to build a saltwater control structure on Bayou Lafourche in Larose, a $4.5 million project, will be shelved until the state can come up with money for it, said Kyle Graham, Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority director.

We are committed to getting the permitting done and well seek construction dollars through one of our programs and or future dollars as funding is available, Graham said. I wouldnt anticipate it being more than a year. Were committed to finding it a home either in the future with trust fund dollars or through one of these programs like Restore or others that are coming online.

The project, in engineering and design phases, is planned to halt salt water from making its way up the bayou in low water years, which can mix with freshwater used as a drinking source.

We are deeply disappointed to hear the news from CPRA about the saltwater control structure being cut due to state budget constraints, Archie Chaisson, Lafourche Parish administrator, said in an email. This is a project we have worked on for several years. We have been assured by CPRA executives that as funding becomes available this project will be a top priority since its shovel ready.

The restoration authority is prepping for a potential $2.2 million cut in the 2016 fiscal budget, though those numbers are subject to change as the numbers are finalized.

Graham said his agencys operations are paid for through mineral revenues, and added hes anticipating $2 million to $3 million less than has been historically available due to low oil prices. Meaning there could be potentially more than $5 million less from the agencys budget.

Ancillary programs such as the restoration partnership program and the coastal innovation program, which can work to help private land owners, will be on hold, Graham said.

Also to be put on the back burner is money for levee districts, though Graham said those dollars mostly go to new ones. The cuts wouldnt affect the districts in Terrebonne or Lafourche parishes, Graham said.

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State budget cuts halting Lafourche project

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