Latest Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
West Virginia Fiesta Dinnerware Maker Sues Over Knockoffs
May 10 2013 // West Virginia’s Homer Laughlin China Co. is suing two companies for selling what it claims are cheap Chinese imitations of its popular and collectible Fiesta dinnerware to an unsuspecting public. The Weirton Daily...
Virginia Website Tracks Farm Accident Reports
May 8 2013 // The Virginia Farm Bureau has launched a website for reporting farm accidents. The site, FarmAccidentReport.com, allows anyone to report accidents they witness on Virginia farms. Jimmy Maass is the Farm Bureau’s...
West Virginia Enforcing Texting While Driving Ban: 125 Convictions
May 7 2013 // In the first 10 months since a West Virginia law banned driving while texting or talking on a hand-held cell phone, 125 offenders have been convicted of doing just that. The Charleston Gazette said the number of...
Miners’ Union Takes Unusual Legal Turn to Save Benefits in Bankruptcy
May 1 2013 // As mineworkers and retirees battle to salvage their pensions and benefits from the bankruptcy of Patriot Coal Corp., lawyers for their union are trying an unusual gambit – and one that may be a test case for...
Hilb Group Buys Virginia-Based Brokerage Engle, Paxson & Hawthorne
Apr 24 2013 // The Hilb Group announced last week the acquisition of Engle, Paxson & Hawthorne Insurance Services (EPH) of Leesburg, Va. The transaction was effective April 1, 2013. Founded over a century ago, EPH serves residents...
Massive Overhaul of West Virginia Health System Urged
Apr 22 2013 // Few states spend as much on health care as West Virginia, but you wouldn’t know it from the results. That has a new study urging major changes, both for health services generally and the government agency that helps...
State Farm: 4,400 Wind-Hail Damage Claims in West Virginia in 2012
Apr 22 2013 // State Farm says the most common homeowner insurance claims in West Virginia are from wind and hail damage. The insurance company says there were nearly 4,400 such claims in the state last year. State Farm says the average...
West Virginia Supreme Court Fills Business Court Vacancy
Apr 16 2013 // Circuit Court Judge Thomas Evans III has been appointed to the West Virginia court system’s Business Court Division. The West Virginia Supreme Court said Chief Justice Brent Benjamin named Evans to replace former...
Driver Fatigue Causes 20% of Auto Crashes: Study
Apr 15 2013 // A 100-car “naturalistic” driving study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute says that fatigue is a cause of 20 percent of car crashes, rather than the two or three percent previously...
West Virginia Advances Limit on Nursing Home Liability
Apr 15 2013 // The West Virginia legislature has moved to limit the liability that nursing homes can face in potential lawsuits. The bill passed unanimously Saturday by the House explicitly applies the state’s Medical Professional...
Virginia Farm Bureau Ratings Downgraded by A.M. Best
Apr 11 2013 // A.M. Best Co. said Wednesday it has downgraded the financial strength rating of Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. in Richmond, Va., and its subsidiaries to B++ (Good) from A- (Excellent). Additionally, Oldwick,...
Strickland Acquires Va.-Based MGA Tower Transportation Underwriters
Apr 8 2013 // Strickland Insurance Brokers Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldsboro, N.C.-based Strickland Insurance Group Inc., announced it has acquired the assets of Palmyra, Va.-based Tower Transportation Underwriters Inc. Tower...
North Carolina’s Strickland Insurance Acquires Virginia Transportation Underwriter
Apr 8 2013 // Strickland Insurance Brokers of Goldsboro, North Carolina has acquired the assets of Palmyra, Virginia-based Tower Transportation Underwriters Inc. Tower Underwriters, owned by Fred Black, is a managing general agency in...
Remembering 29 Miners Lost in West Virginia Blast 3 Years Ago
Apr 8 2013 // As West Virginians marked the third anniversary of an explosion that killed 29 coal miners Friday, congressional Democrats called the lack of action on tougher mine safety legislation “shameful.” Gov. Earl Ray...
BrickStreet Auditor, 4 Coal Contractors Plead Guilty to Workers’ Comp Fraud
Apr 1 2013 // A workers’ compensation auditor and four coal company contractors in West Virginia have pleaded guilty to federal charges in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme. Federal prosecutors said that Arville Sargent pleaded...
West Virginia Unlikely to Remove Local Guns Laws: Senate President
Mar 28 2013 // West Virginia Senate President Jeffrey Kessler says a bill that would eliminate municipal gun restrictions in four cities is unlikely to proceed. The bill passed the House with overwhelming support and recent rallies have...
West Virginia Vote on Seat Belt Law Due Today
Mar 28 2013 // West Virginia’s House of Delegates is back on track to vote on whether to allow traffic stops for failure to wear a seat belt. Legislation making that violation a primary offense has idled since the House Judiciary...
Markel Appoints Chief Information Officer in Virginia
Mar 27 2013 // Richmond, Va.-headquartered Markel Corporation announced that Mike Scyphers has been promoted to chief information officer. Scyphers is an information technology industry veteran with 23 years of experience who has been...
PCI Slams Oregon Bad Faith Proposals
Mar 22 2013 // A handful of bills proposed in Oregon could hit consumers with nearly $200 million in cost increases and yield a rash of lawsuits, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, which is urging Oregon...
West Virginia Senate Committee Backs Higher Auto Minimum Limits
Mar 20 2013 // A West Virginia Senate committee advanced a bill this week that would likely increase car insurance premiums for drivers who can least afford it, but also expand liability coverage for the highest-risk drivers. The bill...
