Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
U.S. Mine Agency Admits Shortcomings, Vows Safety Steps
Jul 5 2007 // Federal inspectors missed obvious problems and failed to follow procedures before three high-profile accidents that killed 19 men at underground coal mines in West Virginia and Kentucky last year, according to the Mine...
W. Va.’s Privatized Brickstreet Mutual Makes First Payment to State
Jul 5 2007 // West Virginia’s workers’ compensation insurer BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. has made its first scheduled payment of $5.8 million on its outstanding surplus note to the state of West Virginia, Gov. Joe...
2 W. Va. Arsons Reminiscent of 2005 Spree in Kanawha County
Jul 2 2007 // Separate fires at a West Virginia school and a mobile home this week rekindled unpleasant memories of a string of arsons two years ago in which five volunteer firefighters were accused of destroying 11 buildings in eastern...
State Farm Announces Rate Decrease for W. Va. Homeowners
Jun 25 2007 // Just weeks after announcing an automobile insurance rate decrease, State Farm Insurance, the largest insurance provider in West Virginia, says it also will lower rates statewide for home insurance. The average West...
W. Va. Church Fire Ruled Arson
Jun 21 2007 // Fire officials have ruled a fire that damaged a Logan County, W. Va., church as arson. There are no suspects at this time in the fire at the Kistler Freewill Baptist Church, Kim O’Brien, spokeswoman for the state...
W. Va. Woman Pleads Guilty to Committing Insurance Fraud
Jun 20 2007 // West Virginia Insurance Commissioner, Jane L. Cline, announced that Kelly Cain pleaded guilty earlier this month to one felony count and one misdemeanor count of insurance fraud. Cain, 27, of Shinnston, admitted June 14...
W. Va. Woman Jailed for Committing Workers’ Compensation Fraud
Jun 13 2007 // An Upshur County woman was sentenced to serve time in a West Virgina correctional facility after pleading guilty to worker’s compensation insurance fraud. Stacie L. McLean, age 34 of Buckhannon, W. Va., pleaded...
W. Va. Judge Seals Records in Medical Malpractice Case
Jun 13 2007 // Legal documents in the numerous lawsuits filed against a former Putnam County General Hospital osteopath have been placed off limits by a West Virginia judge overseeing the cases. Putnam County Circuit Judge O.C. Spaulding...
W. Va. Mine Safety Chief Worries About Shortage of Inspectors
Jun 5 2007 // West Virginia is looking for a few good mine inspectors, but the state’s safety chief doesn’t know where they’ll come from. Ron Wooten, director of the state Office of Miners’ Health Safety and...
W. Va. Woman Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud Charges
Jun 5 2007 // Andrea R. Renquest pleaded guilty in Harrison County, W. Va. to one felony count and one misdemeanor count of insurance fraud. Renquest, 23, of Clarksburg, W. Va., admitted May 29 that she obtained a controlled substance...
County Indicts West Virginia Woman on Workers’ Comp Fraud
May 22 2007 // The Raleigh County, W. Va. Prosecutor’s Office indicted a Raleigh County resident on one felony count of wrongfully seeking workers’ compensation benefits. Angel M. Delung, 34, of Shady Springs, allegedly filed...
West Va.’s Summit Financial Acquires Kelley Agencies of Va.
May 21 2007 // West Virginia-based Summit Financial Group, Inc. has agreed to acquire Kelly Insurance Agency, Inc. and Kelly Property and Casualty Inc. headquartered in Leesburg, Virginia for $6.2 million in stock. The acquisition of the...
Security Again in Focus After 2nd Vehicle Mars W. Va. Capitol Complex
May 21 2007 // The second vehicle crash on the pedestrian-only campus of the West Virginia Capitol Complex is probably not going to prove as costly to repair as one that occurred in March, state officials said. Robert Davis, 76,...
W. Va. Extends State of Emergency Due to April Floods
May 18 2007 // Gov. Joe Manchin extended the state of emergency he declared April 15 in response to flooding, landslides, mudslides, heavy rain and high winds that affected 18 West Virginia counties between April 14 and April 18. The 18...
W. Va.: Massey Energy Hit with Lawsuit, Alleging Clean Water Act Violations
May 15 2007 // West Virginia coal producer Massey Energy Co. and its subsidiaries have illegally poured pollutants into West Virginia and Kentucky waterways 4,633 times within the last six years, federal prosecutors allege in a case...
Eleven West Virginia Counties Added to Federal Disaster List
May 14 2007 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has added 11 West Virginia counties to an earlier disaster declaration by President Bush stemming from last month’s flooding. The additional counties that can seek federal...
U.S. Officials: Lightning Likely Cause of Deadly W. Va. Sago Mine Blast
May 11 2007 // One or more lightning strikes likely caused an electrical current in a cable left deep inside the Sago Mine and touched off the methane blast blamed for the deaths of 12 coal miners last year, the federal Mine Safety and...
Auto Safety Backfires at NASCAR, Says Professor
May 11 2007 // A West Virginia University professor who examined 21 years of NASCAR accident reports and made a comparison to introductions of safety requirements, has concluded that more safety regulations in the popular sport has led...
Feds to Unveil Conclusions on W. Va. Sago Mine Disaster
May 10 2007 // Federal investigators will issue their report Wednesday on the Sago Mine disaster, which killed 12 West Virginia coal miners in a January 2006 explosion and prolonged entrapment underground. Mine Safety and Health...
W. Va. Man Arrested on Insurance Fraud Charges
May 9 2007 // A Raleigh County was arrested May 4 and charged with first degree arson and insurance fraud after allegedly setting fire to his former residence. Andrew B. Halstead, 51, and currently of Prosperity, allegedly burned down...