Latest Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
NTSB Says Impaired Truck Driver Likely Cause of GOP Train Crash in Virginia
Mar 25 2019 // A trash truck driver who had marijuana in his system likely caused a fatal collision last year with an Amtrak train that was carrying Republican lawmakers, federal investigators concluded. The National Transportation...
W. Virginia Electric Company Worker Killed in Accident at Customer Home
Mar 22 2019 // Police in West Virginia say an electric company employee has died in an accident at a customer’s home. News outlets report the accident happened Wednesday morning in the Harts community of Lincoln County. State...
Harmful Dry Cleaning Chemical Detected in W. Virginia Town’s Drinking Water
Mar 19 2019 // Officials say the drinking water in a West Virginia community along the Ohio River contains a harmful chemical widely used by dry cleaners. State Bureau for Public Health spokeswoman Allison Adler said in an email...
Blankenship Files $12B Suit Against Media Over Failed W. Virginia Senate Bid
Mar 18 2019 // Former coal baron Don Blankenship is suing several news outlets and media personalities, claiming he was defamed during his failed bid for a U.S. senate seat in West Virginia. Blankenship’s suit was filed Thursday in...
West Virginia Pipeline Firm Ordered to Pay $3.7M in Overtime Violations
Mar 18 2019 // A natural gas pipeline construction management company has been ordered to pay $3.7 million in back wages and damages to safety inspectors for failing to pay overtime wages. The U.S. Labor Department says in a news release...
Consumer Advocacy in an Age of Consumer, Insurer Options
Mar 18 2019 // Today’s Insurance Consumer Advocates Are Tackling Some New and Old Issues Years ago, insurance consumer advocates in the states were most often focused on getting consumers access to insurance at fair prices. They...
Business Moves
Mar 18 2019 // National Aon, Willis Towers Watson Aon Plc said it’s no longer pursuing a combination with rival insurance brokerage Willis Towers Watson Plc, a day after confirming that it was considering a merger. The company...
AM Best Revises Outlooks for Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company
Mar 14 2019 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of A- (excellent) and the long-term issuer credit rating of “a-” for the members of the Virginia Farm Bureau...
Louisiana VA OKs Insurance License Exam Fee Reimbursement for Veterans
Mar 13 2019 // Veterans applying for insurance licenses with the Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) are now eligible for reimbursement of the required exam fees. The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs recently approved the...
Virginia’s Genworth Financial to Layoff About 80 Employees
Mar 13 2019 // A company has announced the layoff of about 80 employees, including 35 in a Virginia city. The News & Advance reported Monday that Genworth Financial announced the layoffs of 35 people in Lynchburg, Va., and 21 people...
Towne Insurance Acquires Virginia’s Straus, Itzkowitz & LeCompte Insurance
Mar 12 2019 // Towne Insurance, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TowneBank, has acquired Straus, Itzkowitz & LeCompte Insurance, a full-service, independent agency located in Richmond, Va. Straus, Itzkowitz & LeCompte is led by...
Woman Injured at West Virginia Walmart Awarded Nearly $17M
Mar 7 2019 // A jury in West Virginia has returned a nearly $17 million verdict after a woman was injured when staffers tried to detain a shoplifter in Walmart. Jurors in Wood County, West Virginia, issued the verdict Monday. A lawyer...
Virginia Honors Independent Agents for Efforts to Fill Flood Insurance Gaps
Mar 4 2019 // The Virginia House of Delegates passed a joint resolution that would designate the first full week in March each year as Trusted Choice Independent Insurance Agents Week beginning in 2019. HJ 703, introduced by Del. Buddy...
Dodrill Appointed as West Virginia Insurance Commissioner to Succeed McVey
Feb 20 2019 // West Virginia Governor Jim Justice has appointed James A. Dodrill as insurance commissioner, effective March 4, 2019. Dodrill succeeds Allen McVey, who was appointed earlier this year as secretary of the West Virginia...
State Farm Announces 4.9% Auto Insurance Rate Decrease in Virginia
Feb 15 2019 // State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company will cut its rates in Virginia for the second time in two years. As a result, its overall personal auto rate will drop by 4.9 percent. The total state-wide expected impact for...
Natural Gas Company to Pay $3.15M Fine for Polluting West Virginia Waterways
Feb 15 2019 // A Colorado-based natural gas producer has agreed to pay a $3.15 million civil penalty to resolve pollution violations at 32 drilling sites in West Virginia. The U.S. Department of Justice says in a news release the agency...
Virginia Honors Independent Agents for Efforts to Fill Flood Insurance Gaps
Feb 12 2019 // The Virginia House of Delegates passed a joint resolution that would designate the first full week in March each year as Trusted Choice Independent Insurance Agents Week beginning in 2019. HJ 703, introduced by Del. Buddy...
Lawmaker: West Virginia Paying Insurance for 4K Vehicles It Doesn’t Own
Feb 11 2019 // A West Virginia lawmaker says the state has been paying insurance on thousands of vehicles than it doesn’t actually own. House of Delegates committee on government organization chairman Gary Howell announced last...
West Virginia City Investigating More Suspicious Blazes
Feb 11 2019 // Firefighters in West Virginia are investigating two more suspicious blazes in Huntington, for a total of 13 since the beginning of the year. The Herald-Dispatch reports one fire reported on Thursday occurred at a home...
Using Hands-Free Devices While Driving Not So Risky: Research
Feb 11 2019 // New research suggests that drivers who use hands-free electronic devices, as opposed to handheld ones, are not increasing their risk of getting into a crash. According to the research from Virginia Tech Transportation...
