Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
West Virginia City Faces Health Crisis from Water Outage
Jul 28 2020 // A southern West Virginia town has been without water service for several days after a pump broke, prompting concerns about a shortage of a precious resource during the coronavirus pandemic. Residents of the 563-customer...
$3.5M Settlement Reached in Death of Black Man Shot 22 Times by West Virginia Police
Jul 24 2020 // A West Virginia city has agreed to settle an excessive force lawsuit filed by the family of a homeless Black man who was shot 22 times by police, an attorney said. Christopher E. Brown, the attorney for the family of Wayne...
Asbestos Trial to Start With Social Distancing in Conference Center, Not Courthouse
Jul 23 2020 // A West Virginia judge urged parties in dozens of asbestos lawsuits to reach a settlement and avoid the “dreadful experience” of a live trial next week while the coronavirus pandemic rages on. Judge Ronald...
West Virginia Sued Over Non-Compliance of Coal Reclamation Fund
Jul 17 2020 // Environmental groups have sued the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection over what they say is the agency’s failure to adhere to federal reporting requirements for a coal mine reclamation fund. The...
West Virginia Reinstates Restrictions on Bars, Large Gatherings Amid Virus Surge
Jul 15 2020 // West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice moved Monday to close bars in the state’s largest college town and reimpose restrictions on large gatherings as coronavirus cases rise to record levels. Justice, a Republican, ordered...
3 Workers Injured at West Virginia Chemical Plant
Jul 15 2020 // Three workers have been injured at a West Virginia chemical plant, officials said. The incident happened Sunday evening at the Westlake Chemical plant, which produces chlorine, news outlets reported. Details of what...
Bosch to Pay $550K to West Virginia for Role in Emissions Scandal
Jul 6 2020 // West Virginia has received a $550,000 payment from a German firm related to a car emissions-rigging scandal, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced last month. Morrisey announced the payment from auto parts and...
West Virginia Trail Derailment Caused by Engineer Error: Report
Jun 30 2020 // An engineer error caused a CSX freight train to derail as it crossed the Potomac River near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, sending two cars into the water and damaging a footbridge that is part of the Appalachian Trail,...
West Virginia Mayor Accused of Taking Flood Relief Money
Jun 23 2020 // A mayor in West Virginia is accused of taking federal flood relief funds intended for her city and paying herself extra money for working with a flood recovery team. Richwood Mayor Chris Drennen was indicted on federal...
Worker Killed, 1 Injured in Collapse of West Virginia Power Plant
Jun 19 2020 // One worker died and another was injured when a structure at an old West Virginia power plant collapsed while being prepped for demolition, officials said. Mason County dispatchers told news outlets that workers were...
Appeals Court Rejects Qualified Immunity for West Virginia Police in Excessive Force Suit
Jun 18 2020 // A federal appeals court has vacated part of a finding that cleared five West Virginia police officers on qualified immunity grounds in an excessive force lawsuit, which was filed by the estate of a homeless black man shot...
Emergency Declared as Southern West Virginia County Hit Hard by Floods
Jun 17 2020 // Gov. Jim Justice has declared an emergency in a southern West Virginia county from severe flooding. Thunderstorms caused floodwaters to rise in Fayette County on Sunday night, prompting Justice to issue the emergency...
National Guard Decontaminates West Virginia Church After COVID-19 Outbreak
Jun 16 2020 // A coronavirus outbreak at a West Virginia church has caused at least 17 virus cases, prompting the governor to call in the National Guard for decontamination work, state officials said Saturday. The Greenbrier County...
Rite-Aid, Walgreens Sued by West Virginia Over Opioid Rx Flood
Jun 8 2020 // Rite-Aid and Walgreens failed to monitor and report suspicious orders of prescription painkillers in West Virginia while inundating their retail pharmacies with tens of millions of pills, according to a state lawsuit. The...
West Virginia Expands State Reopenings Ahead of Memorial Day Weekend
May 20 2020 // West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Monday expanded his plan to lift coronavirus restrictions while acknowledging that cases will likely rise as the economy reopens. The Republican governor has added indoor malls to the...
Workers at West Virginia Poultry Processing Plant to be Tested for Virus
May 12 2020 // The West Virginia National Guard will assist in conducting tests for the coronavirus starting Monday at a poultry processing plant in a small county where cases have increased, authorities said. Testing at the...
W. Va. Gov. Justice’s Coal Firms to Pay $1M in Fines, Penalties in Mine Contract Dispute
Apr 28 2020 // A federal judge in Kentucky has ordered companies owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice to pay more than $1 million in fees and expenses in a lawsuit that accused them of defaulting on a mining contract. U.S. District...
West Virginia Governor’s Coal Companies to Pay $5M in Fines for Safety Violations
Apr 6 2020 // Billionaire West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies have agreed to pay more than $5 million for thousands of mine safety violations, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The civil case brought by prosecutors...
Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Involving Wyoming Coal Workers
Apr 6 2020 // Attorneys representing Wyoming coal miners reached a settlement in a class action lawsuit against a bankrupt coal operator. The settlement with Blackjewel LLC of West Virginia requires final approval by a federal judge,...
West Virginia Nursing Home Now ‘Ground Zero’ for Virus
Mar 27 2020 // A West Virginia nursing home with at least 20 coronavirus cases has become “ground zero” for the state’s growing virus caseload, officials said Wednesday. Carl Shrader, medical director for the Sundale...
