Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Massey Settles Massive West Virginia Coal Slurry Case
Jul 29 2011 // After a marathon mediation session that ended just before dawn Wednesday, mining company Massey Energy settled a 7-year-old lawsuit with hundreds of southern West Virginia residents who claim the company poisoned their...
BrickStreet Bids to Keep West Virginia Workers’ Comp Accounts
Jul 27 2011 // BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. has decided it wants to continue providing workers’ compensation insurance to state agencies. BrickStreet had said earlier this year that it wasn’t interested in continuing the...
Judge Blasts West Virginia Medical Damages Cap
Jul 25 2011 // A West Virginia judge who helped West Virginia’s Supreme Court hear a recent medical malpractice case is blasting the outcome. First Circuit Judge Ronald Wilson dissented sharply on Friday with last month’s...
West Virginia Court Weighs Pollution Liability of Massey Subsidiary
Jul 25 2011 // Three judges hearing a coal slurry pollution lawsuit against Massey Energy are considering whether the parent corporation should be held liable for the actions of a subsidiary it claims operated independently. Massey...
West Virginia Extends Deadline for Insurer Bids on State Business
Jul 19 2011 // The deadline for insurers wanting to submit bids to write the workers’ compensation coverage for state agencies in West Virginia has been extended until October. West Virginia’s primary workers’...
West Virginia Moves Ahead with Plan for Business Court
Jul 18 2011 // The West Virginia Supreme Court has given a committee the go-ahead to design a new court system that would consider business-related lawsuits. Wayne County Circuit Judge Darrell Pratt, the committee’s chairman, said...
Counties Join West Virginia Risk Pool
Jul 18 2011 // In the wake of a decision by a West Virginia workers’ compensation insurer to drop its program for government agencies, more counties are lining up to join a risk pool. County governments throughout the state are...
West Virginia Receives Funds to Demolish Flood-Prone Homes
Jul 8 2011 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded $1.2 million to West Virginia’s Wayne County to acquire and tear down flood-prone homes. Rep. Nick Rahall announced the hazard mitigation grant. The West Virginia...
Report Faults DuPont in West Virginia Worker’s Death
Jul 7 2011 // Chemical maker DuPont failed to promptly inform emergency crews about a phosgene leak that killed a worker last year, according to a U.S. government report released Thursday. The report by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB),...
West Virginia Firefighters Get Insurance Premium Subsidy Check
Jul 7 2011 // A volunteer fire department in Kanawha County has become the first in West Virginia to receive a rebate check to cover the costs of higher premiums for workers’ compensation insurance. The check for $1,638 was...
West Virginia Firefighters’ Relief
Jul 4 2011 // West Virginia’s volunteer fire departments looking to offset increases in their workers’ compensation premiums can now apply for help on a website launched by state Auditor Glen Gainer. “Volunteer...
Federal Report: Coal Dust, Deception in Fatal West Virginia Mine Blast
Jun 30 2011 // The blast that killed 29 men in a West Virginia coal mine last year was probably caused by coal dust ignition, compounded by safety failings, intimidation and deception by the mine’s owner, the U.S. mine regulator...
More West Virginia Counties Join Workers’ Compensation Pool
Jun 30 2011 // In the wake of a decision by a West Virginia workers’ compensation insurer to drop its program for government agencies, more counties are lining up to join a risk pool. County governments throughout the state are...
Riley Named West Virginia Acting Insurance Commissioner
Jun 21 2011 // West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced that Michael D. Riley will serve as acting state insurance commissioner effective July 1. Current Commissioner Jane L. Cline will retire as of June 30 after 10 years in the...
West Virginia Offers Firefighters Relief on Workers’ Compensation
Jun 20 2011 // West Virginia’s volunteer fire departments looking to offset anticipated increases in their workers’ compensation insurance premiums can turn to a website launched by the state auditor’s office. Auditor...
Coal Industry Blasts Safety Rules
Jun 20 2011 // Coal industry officials have roundly criticized two sets of new safety rules proposed by federal regulators following an explosion that killed 29 West Virginia miners last year. The West Virginia Coal Association and Alpha...
Average Long Term Care Liability Claim Rising: Aon Study
Jun 17 2011 // Long term care liability costs are rising because the average claim size is increasing even as claim frequency declines. There has been a four percent increase in the average claim size, according to research by Aon Risk...
West Virginia Reports State Agencies’ Workers’ Compensation Data
Jun 17 2011 // State figures show the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety had the worst workers’ compensation record among state agencies over the past five years. The department had $10.8 million in...
Coal Industry Blasts New Federal Mine Safety Rules
Jun 9 2011 // Coal industry officials this week roundly criticized two sets of new safety rules proposed by federal regulators following an explosion that killed 29 West Virginia miners last year. The West Virginia Coal Association and...
Massey Criticizes Federal Report on West Virginia Mine Disaster
Jun 6 2011 // The company that owned the coal mine where 29 miners died in the worst U.S. mining disaster in four decades concluded the explosion was the result of unpreventable natural gas buildup and not coal dust, contradicting the...
