Latest Virginia Headlines

All the headlines from our Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Asbestos Confirmed at West Virginia University

May 4 2016 // A West Virginia University official says test results at the WVU Coliseum confirm the presence of asbestos in materials that were exposed during recent construction activities. WVU Environmental Health and Safety John...

Virginia Reminds Insurers: Rates, Rating Rules Must Be Cost-Based

Apr 29 2016 // Virginia Insurance Commissioner Jacqueline Cunningham has issued an administrative letter this month reminding insurers to review the rate standards outlined in Virginia Code § 38.2-1904 to ensure compliance. The...

Kinsale Insurance Hires Manahan to Lead E&S Property in Virginia

Apr 29 2016 // Stephen Manahan Kinsale Insurance Company, a domestic excess and surplus lines insurance company based in Richmond, Virginia, has hired Stephen Manahan as senior vice president of Excess & Surplus Lines Property. In...

Virginia Sets Up Fund to Cope With Sea-Level Rise

Apr 29 2016 // Virginia has set up a new revolving loan fund designed to help property owners prepare for rising sea levels. But the Virginian-Pilot reports that the fund has no funds and may not have any money for several years. Still,...

West Virginia Doctor Gets 8 Years in Drug, Health Care Fraud Case

Apr 29 2016 // A pain clinic doctor in Beckley, West Virginia, has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for illegally prescribing a controlled substance and submitting false health care claims. Dr. Jose Gordinho was sentenced...

West Virginia to Receive $8M From Wells Fargo in Marketing Practices Dispute

Apr 27 2016 // Wells Fargo will pay $8 million to West Virginia as part of a settlement of a decade-long dispute involving marketing practices. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced Monday that Wells Fargo will pay the money to the...

West Virginia Supreme Court Reverses Dismissal of Age Discrimination Case

Apr 22 2016 // The West Virginia Supreme Court has reversed a previous ruling it made that dismissed a lawsuit alleging age discrimination. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the court on April 14 reversed its decision to uphold a...

West Virginia Agent Pleads Guilty to Burning Down His Own Home

Apr 14 2016 // A West Virginia man has pleaded guilty in federal court to aiding and abetting arson and conspiracy to tamper with a witness. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of West Virginia said in a news...

Federal Court Rules CGL Insurance Covers Data Breach

Apr 12 2016 // A federal appeals court in Virginia has upheld a lower federal court in ruling that a commercial general liability policy (CGL) may cover a data breach. In a case involving the publication of private medical records on the...

Mississippi and West Virginia Governors Both Sign Ridesharing Laws

Apr 7 2016 // Mississippi and West Virginia have become the 30th and 31st states to pass legislation to create a statewide regulatory framework for ridesharing services offered by transportation network companies like Uber and...

Massey Ex-CEO Blankenship Sentenced to 1 Year in Jail for Fatal Mine Explosion

Apr 6 2016 // Former coal baron Donald Blankenship was sentenced to a year in prison for evading mine-safety rules in one of the final chapters of a fatal mine explosion that was the worst U.S. coal industry accident in almost 40...

6 Years After Upper Big Branch Tragedy, Ex-CEO of Mine Faces Sentencing

Apr 6 2016 // Six years after 29 miners were killed in a West Virginia coal dust explosion, the man who ran the mining company like a fiefdom — a coal baron and power broker who earned millions of dollars a year — will learn...

Apartment Fire in West Virginia Displaces 100 Residents

Apr 6 2016 // Fire officials have confirmed that smoke detectors inside a Huntington apartment complex didn’t go off when the building caught fire, causing more than 100 residents to be displaced. News outlets report that...

Ridesharing Gets Green Light in West Virginia

Apr 4 2016 // Companies like Uber and Lyft can soon start offering rides in West Virginia under a new law approved by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. The Democrat signed a bill in March letting ridesharing companies operate in the state. The...

West Virginia Officials Propose $93K Fine Against Natural Gas Company

Mar 31 2016 // West Virginia environmental officials have proposed a $93,000 fine on an Antero Resources natural gas company for polluting waterways. In a consent order, state Department of Environmental Protection and Antero Midstream...

West Virginia Pharmacists Reduce Hydrocodone Dispensing by Nearly 13M

Mar 31 2016 // West Virginia pharmacies are dispensing significantly fewer doses of the state’s most popular prescription painkiller, hydrocodone. The number of prescribed hydrocodone products dropped by nearly 13 million tablets...

West Virginia Coal Boss Should Face Maximum Sentence, U.S. Says

Mar 30 2016 // Former coal baron Donald Blankenship should face the maximum sentence of one year in prison for flouting mine-safety rules, prosecutors said, urging a judge to send a message to the coal industry. The government asked U.S....

Ames & Gough Hires Sinks as Broker in Virginia

Mar 29 2016 // Cady M. Sinks Ames & Gough, a specialty insurance brokerage based in McLean, Virginia, has hired Cady M. Sinks as a broker. Sinks has more than 12 years of experience in risk and insurance services. At Ames &...

West Virginia Governor Approves Stiffer Penalties for Passing School Buses

Mar 28 2016 // West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has approved increased penalties for passing stopped school buses. Tomblin signed the bill March 24. On a first offense, drivers passing a school bus that stopped to pick up or drop off...

OSHA Cites West Virginia Saw Mill for Safety, Health Violations

Mar 25 2016 // Federal regulators have cited a Princeton saw mill for alleged workplace safety and health violations, including a lack of protective equipment worn during the operation of a chainsaw. The Occupational Safety and Health...