Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
West Virginia Agent Pleads Guilty to Burning Down His Own Home
Apr 14 2016 // A West Virginia man has pleaded guilty in federal court to aiding and abetting arson and conspiracy to tamper with a witness. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of West Virginia said in a news...
Mississippi and West Virginia Governors Both Sign Ridesharing Laws
Apr 7 2016 // Mississippi and West Virginia have become the 30th and 31st states to pass legislation to create a statewide regulatory framework for ridesharing services offered by transportation network companies like Uber and...
Massey Ex-CEO Blankenship Sentenced to 1 Year in Jail for Fatal Mine Explosion
Apr 6 2016 // Former coal baron Donald Blankenship was sentenced to a year in prison for evading mine-safety rules in one of the final chapters of a fatal mine explosion that was the worst U.S. coal industry accident in almost 40...
6 Years After Upper Big Branch Tragedy, Ex-CEO of Mine Faces Sentencing
Apr 6 2016 // Six years after 29 miners were killed in a West Virginia coal dust explosion, the man who ran the mining company like a fiefdom — a coal baron and power broker who earned millions of dollars a year — will learn...
Apartment Fire in West Virginia Displaces 100 Residents
Apr 6 2016 // Fire officials have confirmed that smoke detectors inside a Huntington apartment complex didn’t go off when the building caught fire, causing more than 100 residents to be displaced. News outlets report that...
Ridesharing Gets Green Light in West Virginia
Apr 4 2016 // Companies like Uber and Lyft can soon start offering rides in West Virginia under a new law approved by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. The Democrat signed a bill in March letting ridesharing companies operate in the state. The...
West Virginia Officials Propose $93K Fine Against Natural Gas Company
Mar 31 2016 // West Virginia environmental officials have proposed a $93,000 fine on an Antero Resources natural gas company for polluting waterways. In a consent order, state Department of Environmental Protection and Antero Midstream...
West Virginia Pharmacists Reduce Hydrocodone Dispensing by Nearly 13M
Mar 31 2016 // West Virginia pharmacies are dispensing significantly fewer doses of the state’s most popular prescription painkiller, hydrocodone. The number of prescribed hydrocodone products dropped by nearly 13 million tablets...
West Virginia Coal Boss Should Face Maximum Sentence, U.S. Says
Mar 30 2016 // Former coal baron Donald Blankenship should face the maximum sentence of one year in prison for flouting mine-safety rules, prosecutors said, urging a judge to send a message to the coal industry. The government asked U.S....
West Virginia Governor Approves Stiffer Penalties for Passing School Buses
Mar 28 2016 // West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has approved increased penalties for passing stopped school buses. Tomblin signed the bill March 24. On a first offense, drivers passing a school bus that stopped to pick up or drop off...
OSHA Cites West Virginia Saw Mill for Safety, Health Violations
Mar 25 2016 // Federal regulators have cited a Princeton saw mill for alleged workplace safety and health violations, including a lack of protective equipment worn during the operation of a chainsaw. The Occupational Safety and Health...
Ridesharing Gets Green Light in West Virginia
Mar 18 2016 // Companies like Uber and Lyft can soon start offering rides in West Virginia under a new law approved by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. The Democrat signed a bill Tuesday letting ridesharing companies operate in the state. The...
Ex-Freedom President Gets 1 Month in Prison for West Virginia Chemical Spill
Feb 18 2016 // An executive who appeared unsympathetic when he spoke to the public after a chemical spill sullied tap water for 300,000 people in West Virginia was sentenced to one month in federal prison Wednesday. Ex-Freedom Industries...
Ridesharing Bill Makes It Through West Virginia House
Feb 17 2016 // West Virginia is a step closer to letting Uber and similar companies offer rides in the state. The bill passed the House of Delegates by a 94-4 margin Monday. It next moves to the Senate. The proposal would apply to Uber,...
Ex-Freedom Industries Exec Sentenced to 1 Month for West Virginia Chemical Spill
Feb 17 2016 // A former Freedom Industries executive was sentenced Feb. 11 to one month in federal prison for a chemical spill that fouled the drinking water supply of 300,000 West Virginians. Dennis Farrell also was fined $20,000 in...
A.M. Best Revises Outlook to Negative for West Virginia Mutual Insurance Co.
Feb 16 2016 // A.M. Best has revised the outlook to negative from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a-” of West Virginia Mutual Insurance Company (WVMIC)...
West Virginia House Approves Bill Waiving Permits for Concealed Guns
Feb 10 2016 // After the bill was vetoed last year, a proposal to allow carrying a concealed gun without a permit in West Virginia passed its first major test this week. The Republican-led House of Delegates voted 68-31 on the concealed...
Company Responsible for West Virginia Chemical Receives ‘Symbolic’ Fine
Feb 8 2016 // A bankrupt chemical company responsible for a spill that contaminated a West Virginia river and fouled the drinking water supply of 300,000 residents was fined $900,000 on pollution charges Feb. 4, with a judge noting that...
Bill Legalizing Ridesharing Moving through West Virginia House
Feb 5 2016 // What a difference a year makes in the world of ridesharing. Just 18 months ago, only one state (Colorado) had passed comprehensive legislation legalizing and regulating the emerging market of transportation network...
Freedom Industries Official Sentenced for West Virginia Chemical Spill
Feb 3 2016 // A former environmental consultant at a chemical distributor was sentenced to three years’ probation and fined $10,000 Monday for a 2014 chemical spill that fouled the drinking water supply of 300,000 West...
