Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
West Virginia Judge OKs Settlement in Agent Orange Suit
Feb 27 2012 // A West Virginia judge has approved a settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by residents who say that chemical manufacturer Monsanto burned dioxin wastes, polluting the area with unsafe levels of the chemical. The...
Massey Mine Superintendent Charged with Conspiracy in West Virginia Blast
Feb 23 2012 // The former superintendent of the West Virginia coal mine where 29 workers died in a 2010 explosion was charged on Wednesday with felony conspiracy by tipping off mine operators to safety inspections, allowing them to...
West Virginia Seeks Input on Proposed Business Court
Feb 22 2012 // The West Virginia Supreme Court is seeking comment on proposed rules for a new court system for business-related lawsuits. The court is reviewing draft rules presented by a committee led by Wayne County Circuit Judge...
West Virginia Lawmakers Urged to Hold Mine Operators Accountable
Feb 9 2012 // West Virginia must hold coal operators accountable for any negligence or misconduct to prevent another Upper Big Branch, the worst U.S. coal mine disaster in four decades, the state’s special investigator of that...
West Virginia Firm Develops ‘Guardian Angel’ for Miners
Feb 7 2012 // A West Virginia company is working on a piece of equipment designed to keep miners safer. Trinity Resources, headquartered in Putnam County, demonstrated its a mobile mine safety chamber this week at the West Virginia...
West Virginia Candidate Maloney Denies Profit Over Safety Charge
Feb 3 2012 // West Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Maloney said Democrats’ accusations that he values profits over safety are untrue. The founder of North American Drillers was among those who helped rescue 33...
West Virginia Mutual Names Wallace President, CEO
Feb 2 2012 // Physician insurer West Virginia Mutual Insurance Co. is under new leadership after naming R. Austin Wallace to serve as president and chief financial officer. Wallace served on the Charleston-based insurer’s board of...
West Virginia Lawmakers’ Personal Tragedies Spur Mine Safety Bill
Jan 18 2012 // For two West Virginia lawmakers who lost fathers in coal mining accidents, preventing disasters like the 2010 Upper Big Branch explosion has taken a personal turn with Monday’s introduction of a bipartisan safety...
Report Calls for More Fire Safety Education in West Virginia
Jan 12 2012 // West Virginia suffers from one of the nation’s worst fire-related death rates. That has officials calling for greater public education efforts. But the state Fire Commission has become too short-staffed to provide...
Drunk Driving Arrests Increased in West Virginia in 2011
Jan 12 2012 // The director of the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program says arrests for driving under the influence increased in the past year, contradicting earlier reports. The Charleston Gazette reported that Highway...
Settlements Reported in West Virginia Mine Blast That Killed 29
Jan 11 2012 // Coal company Alpha Natural Resources has reached settlements with all the families of the miners killed in the worst U.S. mining disaster in four decades, a lawyer for two of the families said on Wednesday. Mark Moreland...
West Virginia to Study Ways to Reduce $50M in Deer Collisions
Jan 6 2012 // Every year in West Virginia, motorists and insurance companies pay more than $50 million to fix damage caused when vehicles collide with deer. State wildlife and highway officials hope to reduce that total by finding out...
Attempt to Mediate West Virginia Monsanto Suit Fails
Dec 30 2011 // Another attempt to resolve a West Virginia class-action pollution lawsuit against Monsanto Co. has failed. Media outlets report that several hundred plaintiffs attended a court-ordered mediation Tuesday at a Charleston...
West Virginia AG Sues Insurer, Auto Repair Shop
Dec 20 2011 // West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw said last week that his office has sued Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and an auto repair shop. The attorney general says the defendants allegedly repaired vehicles with what...
City of Brotherly Love Keeps Its Title of Worst ‘Judicial Hellhole’
Dec 15 2011 // The City of Brotherly Love isn’t so lovely when it comes to the civil justice system, at least according to a national tort reform advocacy group. The Washington, D.C.-based American Tort Reform Association is out...
Questions Raised About Federal Probe of West Virginia Mine Blast
Dec 13 2011 // Newly disclosed records show U.S. Labor Department officials stopped independent investigators from questioning how federal regulators handled methane leaks from the floor of the Upper Big Branch mine several times before...
Firm to Pay $209M Over West Virginia Blast That Killed 29
Dec 7 2011 // Coal miner Alpha Natural Resources has agreed to pay $1.5 million to each of the families of 29 miners killed in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia last year. The payments – part of a $209...
West Virginia Man Admits Staging Crashes In Insurance Scam
Dec 4 2011 // A Buckhannon, West Virginia man has pleaded guilty to defrauding insurance companies by staging vehicle accidents and filing fake claims. Forty-two-year-old Christopher John Thrain pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud...
Settlements Reached in Remaining West Virginia Sago Mine Lawsuits
Nov 18 2011 // Settlements have been approved in the six remaining wrongful-death lawsuits filed by the families of miners who died in the 2006 Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia. Circuit Judge Charles King also signed off on several...
West Virginia Nursing Home Challenges $91 Million Jury Award
Nov 8 2011 // A Charleston nursing home is challenging a $91 million damage award in a lawsuit stemming from the death of an elderly woman hours after she left the facility. Lawyers for Heartland of Charleston claim in a recent court...
