Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
West Virginia Disability Rate Tied to Bad Habits
Sep 9 2010 // A state lawmaker attributes West Virginia’s high rate of disabled workers to smoking and other poor health habits. Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, told the Charleston Daily Mail that the state’s high smoking and...
West Virginia Firefighter to Plead in Arson Case
Sep 1 2010 // A Nov. 8 plea hearing is set for a former volunteer firefighter accused of setting a blaze in Berkeley County, W. Va., that injured a firefighter from another department. Berkeley County Prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely told...
Surprise Inspections at Appalachian Mines Uncover Safety Violations
Aug 27 2010 // Recent surprise inspections show that increased enforcement isn’t preventing U.S. coal mines from continuing to violate safety laws, the federal Mine Safety & Health Administration said. MSHA inspectors found...
West Virginia Lowers Workers Comp Rates
Aug 11 2010 // Workers’ compensation costs for many employers in West Virginia will drop later this year. Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline’s office recently approved new loss cost rates that are an average 2.9 percent lower...
West Virginia Says Upper Big Branch Monitors Not Modified
Aug 10 2010 // State mine safety officials say testing shows that methane monitors taken from a West Virginia coal mine where 29 were killed in an explosion were not tampered with. The monitors were taken from a mining machine believed...
State Farm Lowers Rates in West Virginia
Aug 4 2010 // State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the largest insurer of autos in West Virginia and in the nation, is decreasing its overall rate level in West Virginia an average of 0.2 percent effective Aug. 30. After this...
Grand Jury Weighs Monitor Shutdown at Massey West Virginia Mine
Aug 2 2010 // A federal grand jury looking into an explosion that killed 29 workers at a Massey Energy Co. coal mine in West Virginia heard testimony last week about possible illegal tampering with a mine safety monitor, the Wall Street...
West Virginia Firefighters Threaten to Strike Over Liability Insurance
Aug 2 2010 // Volunteer firefighters in West Virginia are threatening to stop answering calls if the Legislature doesn’t exempt their supervisors from liability for injuries to firefighters. West Virginia law states that a...
State to Provide Liability Insurance for West Virginia Firefighters
Jul 28 2010 // The state agency that provides insurance for 160 state agencies will provide temporary liability coverage for West Virginia volunteer fire departments that are facing loss of coverage. The state’s Board of Risk and...
West Virginia Firefighters Threaten Strike Over Liability Insurance
Jul 21 2010 // Volunteer firefighters in West Virginia are threatening to stop answering calls if the Legislature doesn’t exempt their supervisors from liability for injuries to firefighters. The West Virginia State Fireman’s...
Federal Disaster Aid for West Virginia Tops $3M
Jul 19 2010 // Federal disaster grants totaling more than $3 million have been approved to help businesses and residents slammed by storms and flooding in southern West Virginia last month. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says...
West Virginia’s BrickStreet Faces Competition for Government Accounts
Jul 5 2010 // West Virginia’s state-created workers’ compensation insurers is expecting to lose million of dollars in government agency contracts following the opening of the market to other carriers on July 1. One by one,...
Safety Agency Dropped 7 West Virginia Mines from Violator List
Jul 1 2010 // Plans to crack down on seven West Virginia coal mines with a history of excessive health and safety violations were dropped because of a lack of money, the industry’s chief federal regulator said this week. The West...
West Virginia Motorcycle Fatalities Decline
Jun 30 2010 // Motorcycle-related fatalities are declining in West Virginia. Only seven motorcycle-related fatalities have occurred in the state so far this year. Governor’s Highway Safety Program manager Barbara Lobert says 25...
Massey Fights Safety Regulator Over West Virginia Mine Probe
Jun 30 2010 // Troubled coal producer Massey Energy Co. has taken legal action against the industry’s chief safety regulator for the second time in a week. Massey said it is appealing a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration...
West Virginia Women Who Won DuPont Toxin Suit Sue Again
Jun 29 2010 // Two West Virginia women who won a class-action lawsuit against DuPont over long-term exposure to toxins from a former zinc-smelting plant are suing again, this time seeking damages for dozens of ailments they say were...
West Virginia Court OKs Suits Against Insurers Under Human Rights Law
Jun 25 2010 // West Virginians can bring bad faith lawsuits against insurance companies under the state’s human rights act, the state Supreme Court of Appeals has ruled. The court found that the West Virginia Human Rights Act...
West Virginia Mine Operator Massey Fined for Minor Violations
Jun 24 2010 // Massey Energy Co. has been fined more than $6,000 for mostly minor safety violations found during an investigation of the nation’s deadliest coal mining disaster in 40 years, according to the federal Mine Safety and...
2 West Virginia County Agencies Drop Insurer BrickStreet
Jun 21 2010 // Two Kanawha County agencies have decided not to use a state-created insurance program for workers’ compensation coverage. Both have told BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. that its proposed rates have prompted them to...
Insurance Hikes for West Virginia Voluntary Fire Departments Delayed
Jun 18 2010 // Workers’ compensation premium increases for volunteer fire departments are being postponed for a year while lawmakers address firefighter safety and liability issues, Gov. Joe Manchin said. Manchin said he hopes to...
