Latest West Virginia Headlines

All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Judge Orders W. Va. Malpractice Claims to Proceed Amid Bankruptcy

Dec 27 2007 // Eight lawsuits alleging medical malpractice by a former West Virginia doctor can continue toward trial while he settles his debts in bankruptcy court, a judge has ordered. Dr. John A. King consented to the rulings issued...

West Virginia Privatization

Dec 23 2007 // The move to privatize the state’s workers’ compensation fund and rebrand it as BrickStreet Mutual has received mostly positive reviews, even from injured workers and their attorneys. The next phase in the...

W.Va. Delays Deployment of Steel-Shelled Mine Shelters

Dec 21 2007 // West Virginia’s mine safety chief has delayed deployment of steel-shelled shelters in underground coal mines because they could not meet a state standard for internal temperatures during testing. Ron Wooten, director...

Workers’ Comp Hits Rocky Patch in W. Va. on Road to Full Privatization

Dec 5 2007 // The latest power struggle between W. Va. Gov. Joe Manchin’s administration and lawmakers spilled out into the open last week, and those who attended the final meeting of the monthly interim session got a front-row...

Insurance Related Fraud Results in Arrest and Arraignment for 2 in W. Va.

Dec 4 2007 // West Virginia Insurance Commission officials arrested two Logan County women last week for alleged computer fraud and forgery. Lisa K. Hall, 26, of Man, and Cynthia B. Hall, age unknown, of Mitchell Heights, were charged...

Another Suit Filed Over Fatal West Virginia Mine Fire

Dec 3 2007 // Massey Energy Co. is facing another lawsuit over a fatal fire at one of its mines in West Virginia. Wyatt Robinson’s lawsuit claims Richmond, Va.-based Massey and a subsidiary, Aracoma Coal Company Inc., failed to...

3 Arrested in W. Va. on Insurance Fraud Charges

Nov 30 2007 // West Virginia Insurance officials arrested three individuals in Putnam County for alleged insurance fraud. The Insurance Commissioner’s Fraud Unit arrested Diana K. Phillips, 52, of Hurricane, Charles Keith Phillips,...

Good Things Going on in West Virginia

Nov 18 2007 // When talk turns to insurance in West Virginia, inevitably workers’ compensation comes up. No one knows that better than Insurance Commissioner Jane Cline. In a recent interview with Insurance Journal‘s Andrew...

W. Va.: 2 Kanawha County Women Arrested on Insurance Fraud Charges

Nov 14 2007 // West Virginia Insurance Commission officials arrested two Kanawha County women on insurance fraud related charges. A State Trooper assigned to the Insurance Commission’s Fraud Unit in Charleston arrested Linda Jett...

Allstate Cuts West Virginia Home Insurance Rates

Nov 12 2007 // Allstate customers in West Virginia will be paying less for homeowners’ insurance. The company announced last week that West Virginia homeowners with Allstate insurance policies will get an average rate cut of 10...

W. Va. Co. Expands Recall of Smoked Salmon Dip to 19 States

Nov 8 2007 // House of Thaller Inc. has expanded its recall of smoked salmon dips sold in West Virginia and 19 other states. The company is recalling an additional 11,177 pounds of dip packaged in 7.5-ounce containers using the Kroger...

W. Va.Counties Face Daunting Public Employee Insurance Rate Hikes

Nov 7 2007 // County officials statewide hope a series of public hearings that began Monday will highlight the threat a string of double-digit health care premium increases pose to their budgets. The 41 counties that cover their workers...

W. Va. lawmakers may reassert workers’ comp oversight

Oct 27 2007 // West Virginia legislators learned recently that they have no one to blame but themselves for the loss of power over the rules that govern workers’ compensation claims and benefits. Lawmakers first ceded the...

W. Va. Under State-wide Burn Ban

Oct 23 2007 // To reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires due to drought, Gov. Joe Manchin issued a proclamation that bans all outdoor burning throughout West Virginia effective Oct. 18. The ban, prompted by drought conditions and...

DuPont Ordered to Pay Nearly $200m in W. Va. Class-action Lawsuit

Oct 22 2007 // A West Virginia court convicted DuPont of wanton, willful and reckless conduct, and ordered the company to pay $196.2 million in punitive damages for its actions at a former zinc-smelting plant, where residents claimed the...

Jury Orders DuPont to Pay $55.5 Million to Cleanup West Virginia

Oct 17 2007 // DuPont Co. should pay about $55.5 million for property cleanup claims arising from a West Virginia industrial waste site, a Harrison County jury decided Monday. The decision came in the third phase of a trial in a...

W. Va. Jury Orders DuPont to Provide Medical Monitoring for 40 Years

Oct 12 2007 // DuPont Co. must provide medical monitoring for about 7,000 West Virginia residents who were exposed to arsenic, cadmium and lead contamination from a waste site at a former Harrison County smelter, a jury said...

W. Va. Workers Comp Writer BrickStreet Consolidates Operations

Oct 11 2007 // West Virginia’s private workers’ compensation insurance carrier, BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co., is moving to a new corporate headquarters in downtown Charleston. BrickStreet began the process of...

W. Va. Lawmakers Ponder Power Shift in Workers’ Compensation

Oct 10 2007 // West Virginia legislators learned Sunday that they have no one to blame but themselves for the loss of power over the rules that govern workers’ compensation claims and benefits. Lawmakers first ceded the rule-making...

W. Va. registrations jump during tax amnesty

Oct 8 2007 // West Virginia registration of out-of-state vehicles jumped 10 percent during a recent tax amnesty period, but officials don’t know for certain whether the increase was spurred by the opportunity to avoid paying a...