Latest Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Oh, Deer! West Virginia Herd Costing Insurers $44 Million a Year
Jan 13 2011 // West Virginia deer are causing excessive damage across the state and the Division of Natural Resources’ plan to manage the herd is deficient in addressing the problem, says a legislative audit released this...
Countryway Acquired by Virginia Farm Bureau
Jan 10 2011 // Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co., is acquiring New York-based Countryway Insurance. Countryway, with headquarters in Syracuse, sells farm and personal lines coverage in 10 states through 380 agencies —...
West Virginia Judge Approves DuPont $70 Million Pollution Settlement
Jan 7 2011 // A pollution case involving a former zinc-smelter site in West Virginia has been resolved with DuPont agreeing to pay $70 million plus fund a medical monitoring program for area residents. DuPont and lawyers representing...
2010 Was U.S. Coal Industry’s Deadliest Since 1992
Jan 4 2011 // The U.S. coal industry had its deadliest year in nearly two decades in 2010, with much of the death toll stemming from a single explosion. As of last week, 48 miners had died in the nation’s 1,500 coal mines over the...
Inspections Reducing Mine Safety Violations: U.S. Official
Dec 28 2010 // Conducting special inspections to crack down on mines with poor safety records appears to be working, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said last week. The agency said it issued 250 citations and orders...
Virginia School Expects $4.4M Insurance Payment for Roof Collapse
Dec 21 2010 // Montgomery County, Virginia says it expects to get $4.4 million from its insurance carrier for the collapse of the Blacksburg High School gym roof last February. The Roanoke Times reports that the anticipated insurance...
Suspect Arrested After String of Fires in Virginia
Dec 20 2010 // Police say a suspect is in custody after a third fire in one week damaged a Super 8 motel in Virginia. Hanover fire Battalion Chief William Jones tells the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the third fire was reported just...
State Says Massey CEO Won’t Testify in Mine Explosion Probe
Dec 14 2010 // Outgoing Massey Energy executive Don Blankenship is refusing to testify as planned next week about the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine, state mine safety officials said. Deputy Director Eugene White said the Office...
Justice Department to Appeal Virginia Healthcare Ruling
Dec 14 2010 // The Justice Department said Tuesday it intends to appeal to a U.S. appeals court a ruling by a judge in Virginia declaring a key part of President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law unconstitutional. Department...
Obamacare Individual Mandate Found Unconstitutional by Federal Judge in Virginia
Dec 13 2010 // A U.S. judge in Virginia Monday declared a key part of President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law unconstitutional in the first major setback on an issue that will likely end up at the Supreme Court. U.S....
Insurer, Agent Help Rebuild West Virginia Fire Station
Dec 13 2010 // Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department is getting $10,000 from State Farm Insurance to help replace a fire station and three fire trucks destroyed in a blaze. The insurance company announced Friday it would donate the money...
West Virginia Jury Finds Official Defamed Employee Over Internet
Dec 3 2010 // A former Jefferson County employee has won a lawsuit that accused a county commissioner of defaming him with an Internet posting. Media outlets report that the jury ordered County Commissioner Patsy Noland to pay George...
Massey Shuts Kentucky Mine; Cites Danger in West Virginia
Dec 3 2010 // Massey Energy Co. has shut down a Kentucky coal mine that federal regulators had cited for safety violations and said another of its mines in West Virginia was in danger of collapse following heavy rains. The mining...
Massey CEO to Testify About Deadly West Virginia Mine Blast
Dec 2 2010 // Massey Energy chief Don Blankenship is expected to testify Dec. 14 in the probe of an April explosion that killed 29 men in West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch mine. The state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and...
Virginia Names New Insurance Commissioner
Dec 2 2010 // Virginia has named Jacqueline K. Cunningham as the state’s next commissioner of insurance. Cunningham has been deputy commissioner of the life and health division of the state’s Bureau of Insurance for nearly...
DuPont Offers $70 Million to Settle West Virginia Pollution Case
Nov 29 2010 // Chemical company DuPont last week offered to pay $70 million and spend millions more on medical monitoring for the next 30 years to end a legal battle over a toxic exposure case it lost in West Virginia. The proposal drew...
Judge Upholds West Virginia Mine Accident Reporting Rule
Nov 29 2010 // A Kanawha County Circuit Court judge has upheld a state law giving coal mine operators 15 minutes to tell regulators about fires and other serious accidents. Judge Tod Kaufman’s ruling came in a case involving...
Reports on 2 West Virginia Chemical Plant Incidents Delayed
Nov 29 2010 // Reports on a federal board’s investigations of fatal incidents at two West Virginia chemical plants won’t be released until next year. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is investigating a 2008 explosion at Bayer...
Drivers Beware When Deer Search for Mates
Nov 24 2010 // Paula Reid was cruising at the speed limit on U.S. 460 in Virginia, near Montvale, her big BMW sedan slicing through the dark highway’s miles. Then, thwack. “Out of nowhere she hit me,” Reid, 49, of...
Is Gas Drilling Causing West Virginia Earthquakes?
Nov 24 2010 // Officials say there’s no clear explanation for what may have prompted several earthquakes near Frametown earlier this year. Some have speculated that the cluster of small earthquakes was linked to local gas...
