Latest Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Virginia ‘Guns in Bars’ Study Finds Little Effect on Crime
Aug 16 2011 // The number of gun crimes at Virginia bars and restaurants declined slightly during the first year of a new state law that allows people with permits to carry concealed firearms into establishments that serve alcohol, a...
3 Insurers Bid for West Virginia’s Workers’ Compensation Business
Aug 15 2011 // Three companies are vying to provide workers’ compensation coverage for state agencies. Acting Insurance Commissioner Michael Riley said that that BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co., Chartis, and Zurich Insurance Co....
First Responder Fees: Insurers Should Expect to Pay More
Aug 12 2011 // While fee recovery by fire departments is nothing new, an increasing number of local municipalities have begun to charge for first responder, primarily fire department, services. Though the types of fees and rates vary...
Massey Offers $35 Million to Settle Coal Slurry Claim in West Virginia
Aug 11 2011 // Massey Energy Co. has offered $35 million to settle a 7-year-old lawsuit with hundreds of southern West Virginia residents who say the mining company poisoned their drinking supplies with wastewater called coal slurry. The...
West Virginia Jury Awards $91.5 Million in Nursing Home Death
Aug 9 2011 // A jury in Kanawha County, West Virginia has awarded $91.5 million in damages to the family of an 87-year-old woman who died after her stay at a Charleston nursing home. The jury ruled that Heartland of Charleston failed to...
21 West Virginia Flood-Prone Properties Eligible for Buyouts
Aug 9 2011 // Owners of 21 flood-prone properties in a rural Berkeley County, West Virginia community are being offered buyouts. The parcels in Sportsman’s Paradise include nine vacant lots and 12 with dwellings. Donna Seiler...
Virginia University Settles Student Lawsuit Over Rape
Aug 5 2011 // A lawsuit filed against the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia by a former student who was raped on campus has been settled. Assistant Attorney General John Gilbody told the state Division of Risk...
Workers’ Compensation Costs Continue to Drop in West Virginia
Aug 3 2011 // West Virginia employers would continue to benefit from lower workers’ compensation rates if the state agrees with an industry filing that loss costs be cut by 8.1 percent. Since the state privatized its...
October Hearing Set on Va. Workers’ Comp Premiums
Aug 3 2011 // Virginia regulators are planning to hold a hearing in October on proposed adjustments in premiums charged for workers’ compensation insurance. The State Corporation Commission said it set an Oct. 27 hearing in...
Massey Settles Massive West Virginia Coal Slurry Case
Jul 29 2011 // After a marathon mediation session that ended just before dawn Wednesday, mining company Massey Energy settled a 7-year-old lawsuit with hundreds of southern West Virginia residents who claim the company poisoned their...
Long-Time Virginia Insurance Commissioner Gross Dies
Jul 28 2011 // Alfred W. Gross, who served as insurance commissioner for the state of Virginia for 14 years until he retired last year, has passed away, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Gross...
BrickStreet Bids to Keep West Virginia Workers’ Comp Accounts
Jul 27 2011 // BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. has decided it wants to continue providing workers’ compensation insurance to state agencies. BrickStreet had said earlier this year that it wasn’t interested in continuing the...
5 Sentenced in Va. for $100M Fraud Scheme
Jul 25 2011 // Five men who pleaded guilty in a $100 million fraud scheme that claimed about 800 victims nationwide were sentenced Friday to federal prison terms ranging from three years to more than 15 years. The five included the...
Judge Blasts West Virginia Medical Damages Cap
Jul 25 2011 // A West Virginia judge who helped West Virginia’s Supreme Court hear a recent medical malpractice case is blasting the outcome. First Circuit Judge Ronald Wilson dissented sharply on Friday with last month’s...
West Virginia Court Weighs Pollution Liability of Massey Subsidiary
Jul 25 2011 // Three judges hearing a coal slurry pollution lawsuit against Massey Energy are considering whether the parent corporation should be held liable for the actions of a subsidiary it claims operated independently. Massey...
West Virginia Extends Deadline for Insurer Bids on State Business
Jul 19 2011 // The deadline for insurers wanting to submit bids to write the workers’ compensation coverage for state agencies in West Virginia has been extended until October. West Virginia’s primary workers’...
Virginia Judge Nixes Part of $1 Billion Fly Ash Lawsuit
Jul 18 2011 // A group of Chesapeake residents plans to refile a $1 billion lawsuit against Dominion Virginia Power after a judge dismissed claims that fly ash used to build a golf course harmed their health and property. The lawsuit was...
West Virginia Moves Ahead with Plan for Business Court
Jul 18 2011 // The West Virginia Supreme Court has given a committee the go-ahead to design a new court system that would consider business-related lawsuits. Wayne County Circuit Judge Darrell Pratt, the committee’s chairman, said...
Counties Join West Virginia Risk Pool
Jul 18 2011 // In the wake of a decision by a West Virginia workers’ compensation insurer to drop its program for government agencies, more counties are lining up to join a risk pool. County governments throughout the state are...
Man Pleads Guilty to Torching Virginia Motel Twice
Jul 14 2011 // A former employee has pleaded guilty to setting two fires at a motel in Ashland, Virginia that caused $2 million in damage. Media outlets report that 23-year-old Jose Antonio Ramirez faces up to life in prison when...
