Latest Virginia Headlines

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

Company Pleads Not Guilty in Virginia to $670M Fraud

Mar 20 2012 // A Costa Rican company accused of a $670 million insurance fraud scheme has pleaded not guilty in federal court in Richmond, Va. Defense attorney John Russell entered the plea Monday on behalf of Provident Capital Indemnity...

Va. Woman Faces Maximum of 303 Years in Prison for Healthcare Fraud

Mar 19 2012 // A Richmond, Virginia, woman has been convicted on 35 counts of health care fraud and other charges. Federal prosecutors say a U.S. District Court jury found 49-yar-old Veronica Sharon Cunningham guilty last Thursday after...

West Virginia Passes Mine Safety Measure

Mar 19 2012 // West Virginia will update its mine safety laws in the wake of the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in four decades. The House of Delegates sent the measure to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, who proposed the legislation. Delegates...

Global Warming Litigation Ruling in Favor of Insurers Vacated

Mar 19 2012 // What Does This Mean? As if times weren’t uncertain enough, the Virginia Supreme Court issued a ruling on Jan. 17, 2012, vacating its Sept. 16, 2011, opinion in Steadfast Insurance Co. v. The AES Corp. and granting a...

Marsh & McLennan Agency Acquires KSPH in Virginia

Mar 13 2012 // Marsh & McLennan Agency, a unit of Marsh Inc. acquired KSPH, a $5 million revenue employee benefits agency in Glen Allen, Va. Launched in 2000, KSPH offers employee benefits and retirement plan services to middle...

West Virginia Passes Ban on Texting While Driving

Mar 13 2012 // West Virginia lawmakers ended their 60-day legislative session over the weekend by passing agreements on fighting methamphetamine labs and targeting distracted drivers. A unanimous Senate vote and an 80-8 vote in the House...

Judge Combines West Virginia Slurry Pollution Cases

Mar 12 2012 // The claims of hundreds of Boone County residents who blame coal companies for contaminating their water supplies will be heard in a single trial, a judge ruled last week. Circuit Judge William Thompson issued an order...

Lawmaker Halts Effort to Ease West Virginia Motorcycle Helmet Law

Mar 8 2012 // Efforts to ease West Virginia’s motorcycle helmet law have been stopped short by the bill’s advocate, who pledged to fight for legislation making helmets optional next year. The Senate Transportation committee...

West Virginia Lawmakers Pass Mine Safety Measure

Mar 8 2012 // West Virginia will update its mine safety laws in the wake of the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in four decades. The House of Delegates sent the measure to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. Delegates approved several changes made...

Virginia Man Pleads Guilty to Faking Death for $750K Insurance Payment

Mar 7 2012 // A Lunenberg man has pleaded guilty to trying to fake his death to receive a $750,000 life insurance payment. U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride says 38-year-old Jamie Dwayne Long pleaded guilty Monday to mail fraud. Long bought...

More in West Virginia Accept Flood Property Buyouts

Mar 6 2012 // Another 33 property owners in a flood-prone Berkeley County, West Virginia community have agreed to government buyouts. The buyouts will give the county title to a total 116 parcels in Sportsman’s Paradise along the...

West Virginia Safety Bill Responds to Upper Big Branch Tragedy

Mar 1 2012 // A father crushed in a roof fall. A former schoolmate suffocated by poisoned air. Sharing stories of loved ones and friends killed in West Virginia’s coal mines, a unanimous House of Delegates passed safety...

Ex-Security Chief at West Virginia Mine Gets 3 Years in Jail

Mar 1 2012 // A U.S. judge sentenced the former security chief at a West Virginia mine to three years in prison after being convicted of two felonies related to a federal probe into the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in 40 years, in...

West Virginia Bill Requires Insurance Disclosure

Feb 29 2012 // West Virginia’s House of Delegates has approved a bill requiring insurance companies to provide policy information in advance of claims. The bipartisan bill that passed 64-33 would allow people filing a file claim to...

March 5 Deadline to Register for Virginia Quake Aid

Feb 28 2012 // A deadline is approaching for victims of the Aug. 23 earthquake to register for federal disaster aid. March 5 is the last day for homeowners, business owners and renters in Virginia who have earthquake damage to register...

FEMA Gives $19M to Help Rebuild Virginia High School

Feb 27 2012 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded $19 million to help rebuild Louisa County High School, which was damaged during the Aug. 23 earthquake. A news release from Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office last...

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...

Virginia Residents File $2B Lawsuit Over Toxic Fly Ash

Feb 23 2012 // A group of Chesapeake residents has filed a $2 billion lawsuit against the owners of Battlefield Golf Club at Centreville and Dominion Virginia Power, claiming that the toxic fly ash on which the course was built...

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...

2 Virginia Localities Declared Primary Disaster Areas

Feb 22 2012 // Isle of Wight County and the city of Suffolk in Virginia have been declared as primary disaster areas because of damage caused by excessive heat, storms and excessive rainfall in 2011. The Virginia Department of...