Latest Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
West Virginia Bill Would Yank License of Drivers Refusing Blood Test
Mar 15 2013 // Under legislation debated this week, West Virginia drivers could have their licenses revoked for refusing to take a blood test after they’re arrested. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin proposed the bill to try to crack down on...
West Virginia Debates Property Insurance Nonrenewal Rules
Mar 13 2013 // In West Virginia and most other states, an insurer can choose not to renew people’s property insurance policy if a claim is filed over weather damage. A West Virginia Senate bill that would ban that practice was...
Texting While Driving Injuries to Rise Despite Bans, Warnings: Study
Mar 8 2013 // As states take measures to keep drivers from texting and talking while driving, a new report from researchers at the West Virginia University School of Public Health asserts the laws probably aren’t having much...
West Virginia Senate Bill Limits Nursing Home Liability
Mar 8 2013 // A limit would be placed on the amount nursing homes would be forced to pay if sued under a bill passed by the West Virginia Senate this week. The measure explicitly includes nursing homes under the protections of a 2003...
West Virginia Senate Votes to Limit Landowner Liability
Mar 7 2013 // The West Virginia Senate unanimously passed a bill that would ensure that property owners face very limited liability from trespassers on their land. In general, common law states that property owners cannot be sued by...
West Virginia Considers Landowner Liability Bill
Mar 6 2013 // The West Virginia Senate is weighing a bill that would ensure that property owners face very limited liability from trespassers on their land. In general, common law states that property owners cannot be sued by...
West Virginia House Leaders Seek Review of Appeals Process
Mar 1 2013 // Speaker Rick Thompson and other West Virginia House leaders have proposed a study of whether the recently revised process for handling civil appeals ensures a full and fair review, amid calls for expanding the...
Virginia Police: 383 Arrests Made for Insurance Fraud, Related Offenses in 2012
Feb 28 2013 // The Virginia State Police Insurance Fraud Program announced it is continuing to make inroads in the fight against the crime of insurance fraud as indicated by the statistics in the just released 2012 annual report. In...
BrickStreet Insurance Gives West Virginia University Record $4M Gift
Feb 28 2013 // West Virginia University’s College of Business and Economics has received the largest gift in its history. The university said that the BrickStreet Insurance Foundation donated $3 million to the college’s...
West Virginia Cites 45 Violations After 2 Deaths at Mine
Feb 28 2013 // State inspectors have issued 45 violations at a West Virginia coal mine since two men died there earlier this month, including one for negligently rigging the switch on a hoist with a piece of wood and a rusty bolt,...
In Virginia, Rural Motorists Lag in Seat Belt Usage
Feb 26 2013 // Motorists and passengers in rural Virginia are less likely to wear seat belts than those in other parts of the state, statewide surveys show. They also are more at risk of dying in traffic accidents, according to analysis...
West Virginia Coal Mines Shut Down to Review Safety Following Deaths
Feb 22 2013 // West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on Wednesday asked coal companies to halt production for an hour to review safety procedures following the state’s fourth mining fatality in two weeks and the sixth since...
Missouri Insurance Department Settles with Company over Travel Insurance
Feb 19 2013 // The Missouri Department of Insurance announced that Missouri consumers who bought travel insurance from Virginia Surety Co. or through Cheap Caribbean, one of its contracted agencies, may be entitled to a refund. A joint...
West Virginia Still Weighing Health Exchange, Medicaid Options
Feb 13 2013 // West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has yet to decide whether to open the Medicaid program to more lower-income residents, or how individuals and small businesses will seek coverage through the federal health care...
Virginia’s Hilb Group Acquires Pennoyer Group in Maryland
Feb 11 2013 // The Hilb Group, a Richmond, Va.-based insurance broker, announced the acquisition of The Pennoyer Group from its shareholders. The transaction was effective Jan. 31, 2013. Pennoyer was founded in 1978 by Paul Pennoyer and...
West Virginia Revises Penalties for Mine Safety Violations
Feb 8 2013 // West Virginia regulators have revised a proposed rule that would increase fines for mine safety and health violations. The original proposal would have raised the civil penalties across the board. The revised rule filed...
West Virginia Court Rules Negligent Mine Inspectors Can Be Sued
Feb 7 2013 // Private and federal mine safety inspectors can be held liable and sued when a negligent inspection results in the wrongful death of a coal miner, the state Supreme Court ruled in handing a victory to the widows of two men...
West Virginia Not Enforcing Mine Coal Dust Standards: Report
Feb 5 2013 // State standards aimed at reducing buildups of explosive coal dust in underground mines but regulators haven’t been enforced in West Virginia. More than a fifth of the more than 5,500 dust samples taken from mines by...
Safety Rule on Methane in West Virginia Mines Stalled
Feb 4 2013 // A rule that could toughen the limits on methane gas levels in West Virginia coal mines remains stalled as state officials debate both definitions and a timetable for implementation. The State Journal said last week’s...
Hearing Reviews West Virginia Gas Pipeline Explosion
Jan 30 2013 // To Sue Bonham, it was as if the world were coming to an end: A wall of flame had suddenly engulfed her West Virginia neighborhood. Amid a deafening roar, objects began crashing through her ceiling. Her home began melting...
