1994 Year

Affording police more protection from civil lawsuits, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that an officer protecting the vice president acted reasonably when he pushed a demonstrator into a van. Sued by the uninjured demonstrator, the officer should have been granted immunity and the case dismissed because the policeman suspected a threat, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote. Seven justices concurred with Kennedy's conclusion, while Justice David H. Souter concurred in part and dissented in part.

Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush signed a confidential agreement absolving Farmers Insurance of any wrongdoing in its handling of Northridge earthquake claims without ever completing an investigation of the company's settlement actions. In the agreement, obtained by The Times, Quackenbush pledged to stop a Department of Insurance examination of the company's Northridge claims actions and not to levy fines or penalties for its performance after the earthquake.

A Superior Court judge on Friday froze the assets of a foundation created by Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush after hearing it described as a "sham" operation whose monies were improperly diverted by one of the commissioner's key deputies. Sacramento Superior Court Judge John R. Lewis ruled that funds deposited with the foundation for Northridge earthquake victims will be frozen until he can conduct a hearing May 22. On that date, the court will consider state Atty. Gen.

It's such a simple word, a modest, wholesome-sounding little thing. "Outreach." As in reach out. As in help. Picture armies of heroic souls in the trenches, outreaching away. Hospital workers comforting lonely cancer victims. Churches tending the needy. Cops getting kids off drugs. But in Sacramento these days, the word "outreach" is a tad besmirched, given the juicy role it plays in the unfolding drama starring Chuck Quackenbush.

The most puzzling piece of the Chuck Quackenbush scandal--Quackquake--is simply this: What was the insurance commissioner thinking when he blew off his natural political base in the earthquake-devastated L.A. suburbs? The San Fernando and Simi valleys. Canyon Country . . . Republican country. And toward downtown, huge pockets of swing voters. Much of this region voted overwhelmingly for Republican Quackenbush's reelection two years ago.

Former Simi Valley Councilwoman Sandi Webb has launched a campaign to recall state Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, saying his handling of disputed insurance claims has made him unfit for office. "He has misused his office for personal gain," Webb said. "Money has disappeared down so many different holes, and none of it is going to the victims."

Who says history doesn't repeat? The Federal Reserve today is expected to raise the target for its benchmark short-term interest rate by half a percentage point--six years to the day of the first half-point hike in the Fed's last major credit-tightening round. But whether financial markets' reaction to the Fed's more aggressive stance in 1994 can tell us anything about what might occur this time around is questionable.

Former Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush acted without legal authority when he made settlements after the Northridge earthquake that required insurers to contribute to foundations whose activities were not related to the disaster, an opinion by state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer said Wednesday.

Thousands of homeowners who suffered property damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake will be able to file revised claims with their insurance companies under legislation signed by Gov. Gray Davis, attorneys and insurance industry officials said Monday. SB 1899, signed late Saturday, allows most earthquake insurance policyholders to submit claims by Jan. 1, 2002, even if they had previously missed their filing deadline.