Latest Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Virginia Officials Plan Statewide Tornado Drill
Feb 8 2011 // Virginia emergency management officials are planning to hold a statewide tornado drill. The drill is a joint effort between the state Department of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service. It will take place...
Chinese Drywall: Cracks in Coverage Claims?
Feb 7 2011 // Although not in the national news as much lately, Chinese drywall continues to disrupt the lives and finances of thousands of homeowners and other users of the product. In the courts, homeowners are fighting to obtain...
Virginia Move Could Speed Up Supreme Court Review of Healthcare Law
Feb 4 2011 // Virginia said Thursday it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its challenge to President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, bypassing the appeals process in a rarely used move to try to speed up a definitive...
Ratings Roundup: Assurant, Brickstreet
Feb 2 2011 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that its ratings on Assurant Inc. (BBB/Stable/A-2) and its related companies were unaffected by the announcement that Assurant will take a noncash goodwill impairment...
Cause of Deadly West Virginia Factory Blast Still Uncertain
Jan 27 2011 // The U.S. Chemical Safety Board believes either metal shavings or dust were the source of an explosion that killed three men in a West Virginia factory, but the investigator in charge said his team has yet to determine...
Business Moves
Jan 24 2011 // Encharter Massachusetts-based Encharter Insurance agency will open a fifth branch office, the latest in Simsbury, Connecticut. Encharter will sell personal lines coverage throughout the Farmington Valley, the agency said....
Equipment, Coal Dust Caused West Virginia Mine Blast: Probe
Jan 20 2011 // Federal investigators said Wednesday a small fire caused by a methane or natural gas leak likely set off a massive blast of coal dust that killed 29 miners at Massey Energy’s coal mine in West Virginia last...
Obama Administration Appeals Virginia Healthcare Mandate Ruling
Jan 18 2011 // The Obama administration Tuesday appealed a ruling by a federal judge in Virginia that declared a key part of President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson last...
Justice Department Settles Virginia Malpractice Suit for $2.3M
Jan 14 2011 // The Justice Department has agreed to pay $2.3 million to a couple who claimed inadequate care at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center caused their child to be born with neurological damage. The Virginian-Pilot reports that a...
Oh, Deer! West Virginia Herd Costing Insurers $44 Million a Year
Jan 13 2011 // West Virginia deer are causing excessive damage across the state and the Division of Natural Resources’ plan to manage the herd is deficient in addressing the problem, says a legislative audit released this...
Countryway Acquired by Virginia Farm Bureau
Jan 10 2011 // Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co., is acquiring New York-based Countryway Insurance. Countryway, with headquarters in Syracuse, sells farm and personal lines coverage in 10 states through 380 agencies —...
West Virginia Judge Approves DuPont $70 Million Pollution Settlement
Jan 7 2011 // A pollution case involving a former zinc-smelter site in West Virginia has been resolved with DuPont agreeing to pay $70 million plus fund a medical monitoring program for area residents. DuPont and lawyers representing...
2010 Was U.S. Coal Industry’s Deadliest Since 1992
Jan 4 2011 // The U.S. coal industry had its deadliest year in nearly two decades in 2010, with much of the death toll stemming from a single explosion. As of last week, 48 miners had died in the nation’s 1,500 coal mines over the...
Inspections Reducing Mine Safety Violations: U.S. Official
Dec 28 2010 // Conducting special inspections to crack down on mines with poor safety records appears to be working, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said last week. The agency said it issued 250 citations and orders...
Virginia School Expects $4.4M Insurance Payment for Roof Collapse
Dec 21 2010 // Montgomery County, Virginia says it expects to get $4.4 million from its insurance carrier for the collapse of the Blacksburg High School gym roof last February. The Roanoke Times reports that the anticipated insurance...
Suspect Arrested After String of Fires in Virginia
Dec 20 2010 // Police say a suspect is in custody after a third fire in one week damaged a Super 8 motel in Virginia. Hanover fire Battalion Chief William Jones tells the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the third fire was reported just...
State Says Massey CEO Won’t Testify in Mine Explosion Probe
Dec 14 2010 // Outgoing Massey Energy executive Don Blankenship is refusing to testify as planned next week about the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine, state mine safety officials said. Deputy Director Eugene White said the Office...
Justice Department to Appeal Virginia Healthcare Ruling
Dec 14 2010 // The Justice Department said Tuesday it intends to appeal to a U.S. appeals court a ruling by a judge in Virginia declaring a key part of President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law unconstitutional. Department...
Obamacare Individual Mandate Found Unconstitutional by Federal Judge in Virginia
Dec 13 2010 // A U.S. judge in Virginia Monday declared a key part of President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law unconstitutional in the first major setback on an issue that will likely end up at the Supreme Court. U.S....
Insurer, Agent Help Rebuild West Virginia Fire Station
Dec 13 2010 // Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department is getting $10,000 from State Farm Insurance to help replace a fire station and three fire trucks destroyed in a blaze. The insurance company announced Friday it would donate the money...
