Latest Virginia Headlines

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

W. Va. lawmakers may reassert workers’ comp oversight

Oct 27 2007 // West Virginia legislators learned recently that they have no one to blame but themselves for the loss of power over the rules that govern workers’ compensation claims and benefits. Lawmakers first ceded the...

W. Va. Under State-wide Burn Ban

Oct 23 2007 // To reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires due to drought, Gov. Joe Manchin issued a proclamation that bans all outdoor burning throughout West Virginia effective Oct. 18. The ban, prompted by drought conditions and...

DuPont Ordered to Pay Nearly $200m in W. Va. Class-action Lawsuit

Oct 22 2007 // A West Virginia court convicted DuPont of wanton, willful and reckless conduct, and ordered the company to pay $196.2 million in punitive damages for its actions at a former zinc-smelting plant, where residents claimed the...

Virginia Weekend Safety Blitz Nabs Thousands of Drivers

Oct 18 2007 // An operation by Virginia State Police last weekend to promote traffic safety yielded more than 6,000 summonses and arrests statewide on Interstates 95 and 81. Officials say there were no traffic fatalities during Operation...

Jury Orders DuPont to Pay $55.5 Million to Cleanup West Virginia

Oct 17 2007 // DuPont Co. should pay about $55.5 million for property cleanup claims arising from a West Virginia industrial waste site, a Harrison County jury decided Monday. The decision came in the third phase of a trial in a...

W. Va. Jury Orders DuPont to Provide Medical Monitoring for 40 Years

Oct 12 2007 // DuPont Co. must provide medical monitoring for about 7,000 West Virginia residents who were exposed to arsenic, cadmium and lead contamination from a waste site at a former Harrison County smelter, a jury said...

W. Va. Workers Comp Writer BrickStreet Consolidates Operations

Oct 11 2007 // West Virginia’s private workers’ compensation insurance carrier, BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co., is moving to a new corporate headquarters in downtown Charleston. BrickStreet began the process of...

W. Va. Lawmakers Ponder Power Shift in Workers’ Compensation

Oct 10 2007 // West Virginia legislators learned Sunday that they have no one to blame but themselves for the loss of power over the rules that govern workers’ compensation claims and benefits. Lawmakers first ceded the rule-making...

W. Va. registrations jump during tax amnesty

Oct 8 2007 // West Virginia registration of out-of-state vehicles jumped 10 percent during a recent tax amnesty period, but officials don’t know for certain whether the increase was spurred by the opportunity to avoid paying a...

W. Va. registrations jump during tax amnesty

Oct 8 2007 // West Virginia registration of out-of-state vehicles jumped 10 percent during a recent tax amnesty period, but officials don’t know for certain whether the increase was spurred by the opportunity to avoid paying a...

W.Va. Man Indicted on Arson and Insurance Fraud Charges

Oct 3 2007 // West Virginia enforcement officials formally indicted a Raleigh County man this week on a charge of first degree arson and insurance fraud after allegedly setting fire to his former residence. Officials arrested Andrew B....

W. Va. Forestry Officials Fear Fire Danger from Drought

Oct 3 2007 // If conditions remain unchanged, West Virginia faces the worst fire season in 20 years and could lose as much as 4 percent of its forests to flames. The hottest, driest summer in recent memory has left a big chunk of West...

W. Va. Jury Issues Verdict in DuPont Lawsuit

Oct 3 2007 // A Harrison County, W. Va., jury says DuPont was negligent in creating a 112-acre waste site tainted with arsenic, cadmium and lead. The jury started deliberations Monday to determine whether chemical maker DuPont was...

Maine-based Workers’ Comp Writer MEMIC on the March– Now in 42 States

Oct 3 2007 // MEMIC Indemnity Co., a member of The MEMIC Group, has recently earned authorization to write workers’ compensation insurance in Rhode Island, North Carolina, Virginia and Colorado. The MEMIC Group can now offer...

Trustee of Bankrupt West Virginia Steelmaker Sues Zurich

Oct 2 2007 // The trustee of the former Weirton Steel Corp. is suing Zurich Specialties London Ltd., claiming the insurance company refused to pay a legitimate claim and now owes the bankrupt steelmaker’s creditors $39...

Loss of State Workers Comp. Contract Prompts Layoffs in W. Va.

Oct 2 2007 // A company that manages old workers’ compensation claims for West Virginia is laying off 62 employees after it lost the contract to another company. Cambridge Integrated Services Group Inc. announced the layoffs...

W. Va. Commissioner Tells Drivers to Watch for Wildlife, Avoid Crashes

Sep 28 2007 // The Insurance Commissioner of West Virginia said an annual study estimates that just over 21,000 deer-vehicle claims were presented last year to insurers of West Virginia drivers. Commissioner Jane L. Cline said along with...

Virginia Workplace Deaths Down 12%

Sep 26 2007 // The state’s labor department says job-related fatalities decreased 12 percent in Virginia last year after rising for three straight years. The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry says there were 164...

Ohio Casualty officially joins the Liberty Mutual agency family

Sep 24 2007 // With $7.3 billion in premium, Liberty Mutual Agency Markets becomes the largest regional independent agency force Boston-based insurance giant Liberty Mutual Group is now the largest regional provider of property and...

Brickstreet Mutual could soon face competition in W.Va.

Sep 24 2007 // BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. may have the lock on West Virginia’s workers’ compensation insurance business now but that doesn’t mean others aren’t interested. State Insurance Commissioner Jane...