Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
West Virginia Lawmakers Put Off Decision on Uber
Mar 16 2015 // It looks unlikely that Uber is coming to West Virginia this year. With debate closed, the Republican-led House of Delegates voted Friday against reviving an Uber bill that was idled. The bill would have allowed Uber and...
West Virginia Lawmakers Send Rollback of Chemical Spill Law to House Floor
Mar 12 2015 // A West Virginia House panel narrowly approved a bill to scale back protections to prevent chemical spills from sullying water supplies. The January 2014 chemical spill that contaminated drinking water for 300,000 residents...
West Virginia Governor Signs Comparative Fault Legal Reform Bill
Mar 9 2015 // Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has signed a bill changing legal protections when multiple parties are deemed at fault in a lawsuit. The Democratic governor approved a comparative fault bill passed by the Republican-run...
Transport Company Agrees to Restoration Plan After West Virginia Train Derailment
Mar 9 2015 // Federal regulators say CSX Transportation has agreed to a long-term plan for cleaning up and restoring the area around a fiery oil-train derailment in southern West Virginia. Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...
West Virginia’s Coal Country Split as New Law Pits Owners, Workers: Commodities
Mar 4 2015 // Mike Caputo, one of the top Democrats in the West Virginia legislature, began working in the state’s coal mines at age 19. It helped put his kids through school, he said, and helped him pay for his family home. Now...
Crop Insurance Deadline Nears for West Virginia Farmers
Mar 4 2015 // A deadline is approaching for West Virginia farmers to buy insurance for crops planted in the spring. March 15 is the closing date to either buy crop insurance or change an existing policy. The U.S. Department of...
West Virginia Judges Approve $11.3M Settlement with Ex-Mountain State Students
Mar 3 2015 // A three-judge panel says former students of West Virginia’s Mountain State University are entitled to an $11.3 million payout. Media reports state that the so-called mass litigation panel met in Charleston last...
Derailed Train in West Virginia Had Safer Tank Cars
Feb 26 2015 // The fiery derailment of a train carrying crude oil in West Virginia earlier this month is one of three in the past year involving tank cars that already meet a higher safety standard than what federal law requires –...
Feds Say Speed Not a Factor in West Virginia Oil Train Crash
Feb 23 2015 // Speed doesn’t appear to have been a factor in an oil-train derailment in southern West Virginia, a federal transportation official said Thursday. The CSX train was going 33 mph at the time of the crash on Feb. 16 in...
Gas Vapor Possible Factor in West Virginia Oil Train Fireball
Feb 20 2015 // Federal investigators will examine whether pressurized gas played a role in the massive blast that followed the derailment of a train carrying crude oil through West Virginia this week, the U.S. Transportation Department...
Calls for Safety Upgrades Follow West Virginia Oil Train Crash
Feb 18 2015 // A fiery oil train derailment in West Virginia this week exposes lax safety standards and strengthens the case for tougher U.S. rules governing such shipments, safety advocates said on Tuesday. A 109-car delivery of crude...
Update: Crude Oil Train Derails in West Virginia
Feb 16 2015 // A CSX Corp train hauling North Dakota crude derailed in West Virginia on Monday, setting a number of cars ablaze, destroying a house and forcing the evacuation of two towns in the second significant oil-train incident in...
Former West Virginia Chemical Company Execs. Request Delay of Trials
Feb 12 2015 // Four former executives of a West Virginia chemical company are asking a judge to delay their trials on charges stemming from the January 2014 chemical spill. Attorneys for former Freedom Industries President Gary Southern...
West Virginia House Clears Reform Bill for Deliberate Intent Lawsuit Protections
Feb 12 2015 // The GOP-led West Virginia House of Delegates voted 59-38 Tuesday to scale back deliberate intent lawsuit protections. When there’s a known unsafe working condition that hurts or kills someone, the lawsuits are...
Former Massey CEO Requests Dismissal of Charges from West Virginia Mine Explosion
Feb 10 2015 // A former coal company executive is seeking the dismissal of charges stemming from a 2010 mine explosion that killed 29 workers in West Virginia. Don Blankenship, former chief executive officer of Massey Energy, also has...
Ex-Owner of West Virginia Chemical Co. Responsible for Spill Requests Trial Delay
Feb 6 2015 // The former owner of a chemical company that fouled drinking water used by hundreds of thousands of West Virginia residents wants his trial delayed. Attorneys for Charles Herzing cite the heft of documents they must review...
West Virginia Regulators Propose Fees for High-Risk Storage Tanks
Feb 2 2015 // State environmental regulators in West Virginia say the highest-risk above ground storage tanks could face a $375 annual fee in a law to protect water supplies. Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy...
Water Being Restored in West Virginia Town Affected by Diesel Spill
Jan 29 2015 // Officials in southeastern West Virginia began turning the water back on Monday evening for about 12,000 Lewisburg area residents who lost service after a diesel fuel spill. The Bureau of Public Health notified the city it...
Diesel Fuel Spill in West Virginia Leaves 12,000 Residents, Businesses without Water
Jan 28 2015 // Schools, restaurants and businesses in the Lewisburg, West Virginia area were closed Monday and about 12,000 people were without water following a diesel fuel spill that prompted a shutdown of the city’s treatment...
New Charge Filed for Ex-President of Company Behind West Virginia Chemical Spill
Jan 26 2015 // A former Freedom Industries executive charged in a West Virginia chemical spill is facing a new federal fraud charge stemming from the company’s bankruptcy. A federal grand jury in Beckley handed up a superseding...
