Latest Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge Combines West Virginia Slurry Pollution Cases
Mar 12 2012 // The claims of hundreds of Boone County residents who blame coal companies for contaminating their water supplies will be heard in a single trial, a judge ruled last week. Circuit Judge William Thompson issued an order...
Lawmaker Halts Effort to Ease West Virginia Motorcycle Helmet Law
Mar 8 2012 // Efforts to ease West Virginia’s motorcycle helmet law have been stopped short by the bill’s advocate, who pledged to fight for legislation making helmets optional next year. The Senate Transportation committee...
West Virginia Lawmakers Pass Mine Safety Measure
Mar 8 2012 // West Virginia will update its mine safety laws in the wake of the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in four decades. The House of Delegates sent the measure to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. Delegates approved several changes made...
Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Faking Death for $750K Insurance Payment
Mar 7 2012 // A Lunenberg man has pleaded guilty to trying to fake his death to receive a $750,000 life insurance payment. U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride says 38-year-old Jamie Dwayne Long pleaded guilty Monday to mail fraud. Long bought...
More in West Virginia Accept Flood Property Buyouts
Mar 6 2012 // Another 33 property owners in a flood-prone Berkeley County, West Virginia community have agreed to government buyouts. The buyouts will give the county title to a total 116 parcels in Sportsman’s Paradise along the...
West Virginia Safety Bill Responds to Upper Big Branch Tragedy
Mar 1 2012 // A father crushed in a roof fall. A former schoolmate suffocated by poisoned air. Sharing stories of loved ones and friends killed in West Virginia’s coal mines, a unanimous House of Delegates passed safety...
Ex-Security Chief at West Virginia Mine Gets 3 Years in Jail
Mar 1 2012 // A U.S. judge sentenced the former security chief at a West Virginia mine to three years in prison after being convicted of two felonies related to a federal probe into the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in 40 years, in...
West Virginia Bill Requires Insurance Disclosure
Feb 29 2012 // West Virginia’s House of Delegates has approved a bill requiring insurance companies to provide policy information in advance of claims. The bipartisan bill that passed 64-33 would allow people filing a file claim to...
March 5 Deadline to Register for Virginia Quake Aid
Feb 28 2012 // A deadline is approaching for victims of the Aug. 23 earthquake to register for federal disaster aid. March 5 is the last day for homeowners, business owners and renters in Virginia who have earthquake damage to register...
FEMA Gives $19M to Help Rebuild Virginia High School
Feb 27 2012 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded $19 million to help rebuild Louisa County High School, which was damaged during the Aug. 23 earthquake. A news release from Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office last...
West Virginia Judge OKs Settlement in Agent Orange Suit
Feb 27 2012 // A West Virginia judge has approved a settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by residents who say that chemical manufacturer Monsanto burned dioxin wastes, polluting the area with unsafe levels of the chemical. The...
Virginia Residents File $2B Lawsuit Over Toxic Fly Ash
Feb 23 2012 // A group of Chesapeake residents has filed a $2 billion lawsuit against the owners of Battlefield Golf Club at Centreville and Dominion Virginia Power, claiming that the toxic fly ash on which the course was built...
Massey Mine Superintendent Charged with Conspiracy in West Virginia Blast
Feb 23 2012 // The former superintendent of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 workers died in a 2010 explosion was charged on Wednesday with felony conspiracy by tipping off mine operators to safety inspections, allowing them to...
2 Virginia Localities Declared Primary Disaster Areas
Feb 22 2012 // Isle of Wight County and the city of Suffolk in Virginia have been declared as primary disaster areas because of damage caused by excessive heat, storms and excessive rainfall in 2011. The Virginia Department of...
West Virginia Seeks Input on Proposed Business Court
Feb 22 2012 // The West Virginia Supreme Court is seeking comment on proposed rules for a new court system for business-related lawsuits. The court is reviewing draft rules presented by a committee led by Wayne County Circuit Judge...
Va. Medical Cost Per Workers’ Comp Claim Higher Than Most States
Feb 20 2012 // Broad metrics of worker’ compensation costs show that Virginia is a lower cost state, largely due to a lower frequency of claims, according to a new report from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI). But...
Virginia High Court to Rehear Global Warming Coverage Case
Feb 20 2012 // The Virginia Supreme Court has granted rehearing of a closely followed legal case involving climate change coverage, The AES Corp. vs. Steadfast Insurance Company. The court said on Jan. 17 that its previous decision on...
Virginia Bill to Ban Unauthorized GPS Tracking Advances
Feb 10 2012 // The problem encountered by Del. Joe May’s constituent seemed simple enough to solve. The citizen had taken his car in for service and was shocked when the mechanic found a GPS device attached to the undercarriage....
West Virginia Lawmakers Urged to Hold Mine Operators Accountable
Feb 9 2012 // West Virginia must hold coal operators accountable for any negligence or misconduct to prevent another Upper Big Branch, the worst U.S. coal mine disaster in four decades, the state’s special investigator of that...
W.Va. Governor Issues Flood Disaster in Jackson County
Feb 8 2012 // Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has declared an agriculture flood disaster in Jackson County stemming from heavy rains in late November. The declaration, made on Tuesday, means the state Department of Agriculture can apply for...
