Latest Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Gov. Manchin Names Commission to Study West Virginia Judiciary
Jun 18 2009 // Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will serve as honorary chair of a new study of West Virginia’s judiciary commissioned by Gov. Joe Manchin, the governor announced. Manchin named...
Retired West Virginia Judge to Replace Benjamin in Massey Retrial
Jun 16 2009 // A retired Putnam County judge has been picked to replace state Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent Benjamin on a case involving Massey Energy. Acting chief justice Robin Davis appointed James Holliday on Thursday to serve on...
Justice Benjamins
Jun 15 2009 // Eleven states also elect insurance commissioners and given that insurance regulators are in many ways judges, the same potential conflicts are in play. An elected West Virginia judge should have taken himself out a case...
How Might Supreme Court Recusal Ruling Affect West Virginia Judiciary?
Jun 10 2009 // This week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that faults state Justice Brent Benjamin for not recusing himself from a case involving a generous campaign supporter may aid a pending review of West Virginia’s court...
Supreme Court Favors Elected Judge Recusal In West Virginia Massey Case
Jun 9 2009 // The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a West Virginia judge should have disqualified himself from an appeal of a $50 million jury verdict against Massey Energy Co. because the coal mining company’s CEO had been a major...
Woman Wins Suit Against Virginia Assisted Living Home
Jun 8 2009 // A jury has awarded $750,000 in damages against an assisted living facility in Newport News, Virginia where a former staffer is accused of sexually assaulting a mentally disabled resident. Last week’s verdict came in...
West Virginia to Review Accidents Involving State Vehicles
May 29 2009 // West Virginia officials plan to enforce a long-ignored regulation requiring reviews of accidents involving state vehicles in response to a legislative audit that criticized one agency. The audit says 19 Alcohol Beverage...
West Virginia Physician Convicted of Insurance Fraud Seeks Retrial
May 29 2009 // A Marlinton, West Virginia, physician convicted on 29 counts of health care fraud for billing insurers for services he never performed is seeking a new trial. U.S. District Judge Irene Keeley has set a July 2 hearing for...
Virginia Exempts Hurricane-Preparedness Items from Sales Tax
May 28 2009 // If you’re planning on preparing for a hurricane, this is the week to do it. Virginia’s sales tax holiday on hurricane preparedness items runs from Monday through Sunday. Throughout the week, 22 items that can...
Virginia State Police Traffic Crackdown Results in 6,800 Violations
May 22 2009 // Virginia State Police say a two-day traffic safety campaign along Interstates 81 and 95 resulted in more than 6,800 violations. State Police conducted Operation Air, Land & Speed on Sunday and Monday. Along I-81,...
West Virginia Fines Trucking Firm for Fatal Mining Accident
May 21 2009 // The state of West Virginia has fined a trucking company $50,000 for violations investigators say contributed to a fatal coal mining accident in February, a spokeswoman for the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and...
Virginia Begins Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday May 25
May 18 2009 // The state is giving Virginia residents an incentive to prepare for hurricane season. Virginia’s Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday begins May 25 and runs through May 31. During the weeklong holiday, state and...
Medical Device Maker to Settle Suits Against West Virginia Doctor
May 15 2009 // A medical device maker has told shareholders it is settling out of lawsuits against Dr. John King, the one-time West Virginia osteopath at the center of scores of malpractice claims. Biomet Inc. has reached agreements with...
Emergency Declared in West Virginia Due to Severe Flooding
May 11 2009 // Heavy rains caused flash-flooding this past weekend in southern West Virginia, closing many highways, forcing residents from their homes and prompting Gov. Joe Manchin to declare a state of emergency. Manchin’s...
West Virginia’s City National Bank Acquires 2 Insurance Agencies
May 5 2009 // Charleston, West Virginia-based City National Bank and its insurance division, CityInsurance Professionals, reported they have acquired two local insurance agencies: the Patton Insurance Agency in Nitro and the Dickens...
Safety Lapses Found in West Virginia Bayer Chemical Plant Explosion
Apr 24 2009 // A large explosion and fire that took the lives of two workers at the Bayer CropScience plant in West Virginia last August was caused by a thermal runaway reaction during the production of an insecticide. The event likely...
West Virginia’s Expanding Brickstreet Mutual Outsources Public Relations
Apr 20 2009 // West Virginia workers’ compensation carrier BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. says it’s getting rid of its in-house public relations and communications office. BrickStreet president and chief executive Greg...
Massey Energy Fined $2.5 Million for Fatal West Virginia Mine Fire
Apr 17 2009 // A Massey Energy subsidiary was fined $2.5 million fine this week after a federal judge accepted the company’s guilty plea to 10 criminal charges for a fire that killed two West Virginia coal miners. U.S. District...
Jury Awards Virginia Woman $3.2M in Ikea Accident
Apr 16 2009 // A woman whose pelvis was crushed when more than 350 pounds of countertops suddenly fell on her at Ikea has been awarded $3.2 million by a Fairfax County jury. Xiaolei Zeng, of Arlington, says a stack of four countertops...
DuPont: West Virginia Court Should Overturn Smelter Case
Apr 10 2009 // Chemical maker DuPont urged the West Virginia Supreme Court to fix what it called mistakes that led to a nearly $400 million verdict against the company by overturning the case. The court can order a new trial or even...


