Latest West Virginia Headlines

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

West Virginia Fines Pipeline Builder $266K for Environmental Violations

May 21 2019 // The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and Mountain Valley Pipeline have agreed the latter will pay $266,000 for environmental violations dating back to April 2018. The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the...

Motorist Deaths Prompt Speed Limit Reduction on West Virginia Interstate

May 20 2019 // Speed limits have been reduced along a stretch of Interstate 77 in southern West Virginia where 12 motorists have died since 2016. The state Division of Highways lowered the speed limit last month along I-77 in Mercer...

Study: Fentanyl Deaths up 122% in West Virginia

May 15 2019 // West Virginia University researchers say fentanyl deaths are up 122% in the state. The college released the results of a study into the powerful synthetic opioid last month. Analysts looked at all drug-related deaths in...

W. Virginia Governor’s Coal Companies Sued by Feds Over Safety Violations

May 9 2019 // The U.S. government sued nearly two dozen of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies Tuesday to get them to pay about $4.8 million in unpaid mine safety fines. The civil lawsuit was filed by federal...

The Hilb Group Acquires Summit Insurance Services of West Virginia

May 8 2019 // The Hilb Group, LLC has acquired Summit Insurance Services, LLC (SIS), the insurance operations of Summit Financial Group, Inc. of Moorefield, West Virginia. The transaction became effective May 1, 2019. Virginia-based SIS...

More States Could Settle Opioid Suits in Wake of West Virginia’s McKesson Deal

May 6 2019 // McKesson Corp.’s settlement of an opioid lawsuit with West Virginia — the state with the highest U.S. rate of drug-overdose deaths — may encourage other states to seek quick cash to cope with the rising...

McKesson to Pay $37M to Resolve West Virginia Opioid Suit

May 6 2019 // Drug distributor McKesson Corp has agreed to pay $37 million to resolve a lawsuit by the state of West Virginia alleging it helped fuel a U.S. opioid epidemic by failing to stop suspicious orders of painkillers by...

West Virginia Hospitals Seek Damages from Opioid Companies in New Lawsuit

May 3 2019 // Hospitals in West Virginia have banded together to sue some of the country’s largest opioid companies, saying they flooded Appalachia with powerful painkillers and forced medical centers to deal with the financial...

Federal Flood Repair Projects in West Virginia Behind Schedule

May 1 2019 // Hundreds of federally funded flood disaster assistance projects in West Virginia are behind schedule. The Intelligencer reports it’s been more than a year since the flood damage was declared a disaster, yet about 43...

West Virginia to Receive $14.6M in Federal Funds to Fight Opioid Addiction

Mar 25 2019 // West Virginia will receive $14.6 million in federal funds to fight opioid addiction. U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito announced the funding in a news release Thursday from the U.S. Department of Health and...

West Virginia Pipeline Firm Ordered to Pay $3.7M in Overtime Violations

Mar 18 2019 // A natural gas pipeline construction management company has been ordered to pay $3.7 million in back wages and damages to safety inspectors for failing to pay overtime wages. The U.S. Labor Department says in a news release...

Woman Injured at West Virginia Walmart Awarded Nearly $17M

Mar 7 2019 // A jury in West Virginia has returned a nearly $17 million verdict after a woman was injured when staffers tried to detain a shoplifter in Walmart. Jurors in Wood County, West Virginia, issued the verdict Monday. A lawyer...

Dodrill Appointed as West Virginia Insurance Commissioner to Succeed McVey

Feb 20 2019 // West Virginia Governor Jim Justice has appointed James A. Dodrill as insurance commissioner, effective March 4, 2019. Dodrill succeeds Allen McVey, who was appointed earlier this year as secretary of the West Virginia...

Natural Gas Company to Pay $3.15M Fine for Polluting West Virginia Waterways

Feb 15 2019 // A Colorado-based natural gas producer has agreed to pay a $3.15 million civil penalty to resolve pollution violations at 32 drilling sites in West Virginia. The U.S. Department of Justice says in a news release the agency...

Lawmaker: West Virginia Paying Insurance for 4K Vehicles It Doesn’t Own

Feb 11 2019 // A West Virginia lawmaker says the state has been paying insurance on thousands of vehicles than it doesn’t actually own. House of Delegates committee on government organization chairman Gary Howell announced last...

West Virginia City Investigating More Suspicious Blazes

Feb 11 2019 // Firefighters in West Virginia are investigating two more suspicious blazes in Huntington, for a total of 13 since the beginning of the year. The Herald-Dispatch reports one fire reported on Thursday occurred at a home...

5 Former West Virginia Volunteer Firefighters Charged with Arson

Feb 8 2019 // Five former volunteer fighters in West Virginia have been charged with arson following a two-year investigation by the state fire marshal’s office. The office says in a news release that the former Cabell County...

West Virginia Gov. Appoints Hunter Acting Insurance Commissioner

Feb 6 2019 // West Virginia Governor Jim Justice has appointed Erin K. Hunter as acting insurance commissioner for the state, effective Jan. 25, 2019. She takes over for Allan McVey who was appointed by Justice last month as Secretary...

Officials Investigating 11 Fires in West Virginia City

Feb 5 2019 // Fire officials say they’re investigating after responding to nearly a dozen structure fires in five weeks. According to Huntington Fire Marshal Captain Matt Winters tells WCHS-TV that there have been 11 fires so far...

16 High School Basketball Players Injured in West Virginia Bus Crash

Feb 4 2019 // Emergency officials in West Virginia say a charter bus carrying a high school girls basketball team has rolled over, leaving 16 injured. News outlets report the bus was carrying a team from Martinsburg High School when it...