Latest Virginia Headlines

Federal Judge Lets Virginia Challenge to Obama Healthcare Law Proceed

Aug 2 2010 // A U.S. judge Monday refused to dismiss a challenge by the state of Virginia to President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare reform law, a setback that will force his administration to mount a lengthy legal...

West Virginia Firefighters Threaten to Strike Over Liability Insurance

Aug 2 2010 // Volunteer firefighters in West Virginia are threatening to stop answering calls if the Legislature doesn’t exempt their supervisors from liability for injuries to firefighters. West Virginia law states that a...

Murphy to Lead ProMutual’s Entrance into Virginia Market

Jul 29 2010 // Boston-based medial professional liability insurer ProMutual Group will begin selling coverage in Virginia through its member company, ProSelect Insurance Co. Tom Murphy has been hired to manage the distribution network,...

State to Provide Liability Insurance for West Virginia Firefighters

Jul 28 2010 // The state agency that provides insurance for 160 state agencies will provide temporary liability coverage for West Virginia volunteer fire departments that are facing loss of coverage. The state’s Board of Risk and...

Massey Settles Lawsuit Over Miner’s Death for $2.1 Million

Jul 21 2010 // Massey Energy has settled a lawsuit filed by the family of a contract worker killed at one of the company’s West Virginia coal mines. Boone County Circuit Court records show Massey paid the family of Steven Cain $2.1...

Virginia Police Crackdown Nets 6K Tickets, Arrests

Jul 21 2010 // A weekend enforcement effort by the Virginia State Police on Interstates 81 and 95 resulted in more than 6,000 summonses and arrests. More than half of the tickets were for speeding. State police also reported stopping 628...

West Virginia Firefighters Threaten Strike Over Liability Insurance

Jul 21 2010 // Volunteer firefighters in West Virginia are threatening to stop answering calls if the Legislature doesn’t exempt their supervisors from liability for injuries to firefighters. The West Virginia State Fireman’s...

Jul 19 2010 // Researchers hope the project could revolutionize mobility. Do you ever feel like you’re driving blind? Have you ever passed through a stop sign and swore you never saw it? Or nearly sideswiped a car while changing...

Federal Disaster Aid for West Virginia Tops $3M

Jul 19 2010 // Federal disaster grants totaling more than $3 million have been approved to help businesses and residents slammed by storms and flooding in southern West Virginia last month. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says...

Jul 19 2010 // Researchers hope the project could revolutionize mobility and challenge long-held assumptions about perceived limitations. Do you ever feel like you’re driving blind? Have you ever passed through a stop sign and...

Insurance Professionals of Central Virginia Elects New Officers

Jul 15 2010 // Tina Carroll, a State Farm agent, has been named president of The Insurance Professionals of Central of Virginia for the group’s 2010 to 2011 year. The group’s other newly elected officers are Vice President...

Virginia Start-Up Hilb Group Acquires North Carolina, New York Agencies

Jul 14 2010 // The Hilb Group, a Virginia insurance brokerage launched in 2009 by the founder of what became one of the world’s largest brokerages along with his son, has added its first two partners as it begins building a...

Researchers Building Car for Blind Drivers

Jul 7 2010 // Could a blind person drive a car? Researchers are trying to make that far-fetched notion a reality. The National Federation of the Blind and Virginia Tech plan to demonstrate a prototype vehicle next year equipped with...

Business Moves

Jul 5 2010 // Arthur J. Gallagher, Joseph James & Associates Illinois-based insurance brokerage and risk management services firm, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., has acquired Joseph James & Associates of Dublin, Ohio. Terms of...

West Virginia’s BrickStreet Faces Competition for Government Accounts

Jul 5 2010 // West Virginia’s state-created workers’ compensation insurers is expecting to lose million of dollars in government agency contracts following the opening of the market to other carriers on July 1. One by one,...

$25M Lawsuit Filed over 2008 Virginia Shooting Rampage

Jul 2 2010 // A $25 million wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in connection with a 2008 shooting rampage in Virginia that left one man dead and two other people injured. The lawsuit was filed earlier this month in Wythe County...

Safety Agency Dropped 7 West Virginia Mines from Violator List

Jul 1 2010 // Plans to crack down on seven West Virginia coal mines with a history of excessive health and safety violations were dropped because of a lack of money, the industry’s chief federal regulator said this week. The West...

West Virginia Motorcycle Fatalities Decline

Jun 30 2010 // Motorcycle-related fatalities are declining in West Virginia. Only seven motorcycle-related fatalities have occurred in the state so far this year. Governor’s Highway Safety Program manager Barbara Lobert says 25...

Massey Fights Safety Regulator Over West Virginia Mine Probe

Jun 30 2010 // Troubled coal producer Massey Energy Co. has taken legal action against the industry’s chief safety regulator for the second time in a week. Massey said it is appealing a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration...

West Virginia Women Who Won DuPont Toxin Suit Sue Again

Jun 29 2010 // Two West Virginia women who won a class-action lawsuit against DuPont over long-term exposure to toxins from a former zinc-smelting plant are suing again, this time seeking damages for dozens of ailments they say were...