Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Winter Weather Leads to 55 Accidents in 5 Hours in West Virginia
Jan 15 2016 // Officials in Monongalia County, West Virginia, say a winter storm combined with dozens of traffic accidents kept many students away from home for hours. County 911 director Michael Wolfe says 55 accidents and 30 requests...
West Virginia Sues Prescription Drug Wholesaler For ‘Flooding’ State
Jan 11 2016 // West Virginia’s attorney general has accused one of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical drug wholesalers of flooding the state with tens of millions of prescription pills in violation of state law. Attorney...
Coal Miner Killed in West Virginia
Jan 6 2016 // State officials are investigating a fatal accident at an underground coal mine in southern West Virginia. The fatality involving a belt roller occurred early Monday at Greenbrier Minerals LLC’s Lower War Eagle Mine...
Coal Mine Deaths at Record Low of 11 in 2015
Dec 31 2015 // Amid layoffs and idled operations, the U.S. coal industry is close to setting a record low for on-the-job deaths in coal mines. In late December, there were 11 deaths in coal mines nationwide for the year, putting the...
Harpers Ferry Rebuild Underway in West Virginia Despite Expense
Dec 29 2015 // It’s been nearly five months since a fire broke out in Harpers Ferry that devastated its historic commercial district and caused millions of dollars in damages. Residents and nearby fire departments swarmed the...
First Major Snowfall in West Virginia Blamed for Dozens of Wrecks
Dec 21 2015 // West Virginia’s first significant snowfall this year is to blame for dozens of highway wrecks. There were no reports of deaths, but slick roads Friday night left many drivers and their passengers injured. In Kanawha...
West Virginia Hospital Association Releases Guidelines to Reduce Opioid Drug Abuse
Dec 18 2015 // The West Virginia Hospital Association Board of Trustees has endorsed a set of guidelines to help West Virginia’s hospitals reduce the misuse of opioid prescription drugs. Director of Communications Tina Rymer said...
11 West Virginia Workers Injured at Chemical Manufacturer Plant
Dec 17 2015 // Eleven contract workers were injured Tuesday in a boiler accident at chemical manufacturer Axiall Corp.’s Natrium plant in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle, the company said. The company said in a statement...
Blankenship Sentencing Set For Next Year in West Virginia Mine Case
Dec 14 2015 // Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship will be sentenced next year on a conviction of conspiring to violate safety rules at the mine where a deadly explosion occurred. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger on Dec. 10...
OSHA Cites West Virginia Logging Company for 22 Safety Violations
Dec 14 2015 // Federal regulators have cited a logging company for 22 serious worker safety violations. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration says Ray Clearing Inc. of Bickmore also was issued one other-than-serious...
Blankenship Verdict Too Late for Struggling West Virginia Coal Industry
Dec 7 2015 // A 48-foot black granite monument with life-size silhouettes of 29 fallen miners defines this small Appalachian town, just downhill from the site of one of the deadliest U.S. mine disasters. Survivors and friends of those...
How a King of Coal Conspired Against Mine Safety
Dec 4 2015 // To hear Donald L. Blankenship tell it, the U.S. coal industry has been undone by inept regulators, evil unions, the media and “global warming hoaxers.” But for jurors at his criminal trial in Charleston, West...
Disaster Loans Offered to West Virginia Businesses Impacted by Weather
Dec 3 2015 // Small businesses in West Virginia that have been impacted by bad weather may be able to get financial assistance from the federal government. The U.S. Small Business Association says economic injury disaster loans are...
Blankenship Jury Still Deadlocked in West Virginia Mine Blast Case
Dec 2 2015 // Jurors at former Massey Energy Co. Chief Donald Blankenship’s criminal trial ended their eighth day of deliberations after telling the judge they remain deadlocked on charges the coal executive plotted to ignore...
Blankenship Case in Limbo in West Virginia as Jurors Struggle to Reach Verdict
Nov 22 2015 // After a third full day of deliberations, a jury recessed Friday without reaching a verdict in the criminal trial of ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. Jurors had been trying since Tuesday, Nov. 17, to reach a decision....
Florida Man Gets 10 Years for West Virginia Pill Trafficking
Nov 20 2015 // A Florida man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for prescription pill trafficking and money laundering. Forty-six-year-old Lester W. Taylor of Daytona Beach, Fla., also was ordered in federal court in Charleston to...
Northern West Virginia Forms Group to ID Health Care Fraud
Nov 19 2015 // State and federal authorities have created a multi-jurisdictional working group to identify and deal with health care fraud in northern West Virginia. U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II and representatives of the FBI,...
Defense Rests in West Virginia Mine Blast Trial, Blankenship Stays Mum
Nov 17 2015 // Former Massey Energy Chief Donald Blankenship won’t take the witness stand to explain what happened when a company mine exploded in 2010 killing 29 workers, choosing instead to leave his fate in the hands of jurors...
West Virginia Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuit by Fired Superintendent
Nov 12 2015 // A former West Virginia schools superintendent cannot sue the state Board of Education over its decision to fire her, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The court ruled in favor of the board, which appealed a...
West Virginia Dog Wins Award for Most Unusual Pet Insurance Claim
Nov 9 2015 // A dog that ate a barbecue skewer has won a national competition for most unusual pet insurance claim. The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports that the 5-year-old Boxer named Curtis beat out 11 other pets in online voting for...
