Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
West Virginia Governor Touts 20th-Straight Workers’ Comp Loss Cost Decrease
Aug 13 2024 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance is recommending a 9.1% decrease in workers’ compensation loss cost projections for the West Virginia voluntary market. If approved by regulators, it would mark the 20th...
Woman Dies in West Virginia’s Second Coal Mine Fatality This Year
Jul 26 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia woman died Wednesday more than a week after an accident at a southern West Virginia coal mine, Gov. Jim Justice said. Ashley Cogar, 33, of Erbacon, was injured at the Wyco Surface...
WV Reminds Local Governments, Non-Profits of Flood Insurance Requirements
Jul 25 2024 // The West Virginia insurance commissioner is reminding all state and local governments and non-profit organizations that they could face penalties if they fail to obtain flood insurance on properties in flood hazard...
West Virginia’s Ludewig Retires as Agency Joins with Leavitt Group
Jul 19 2024 // Longtime West Virginia insurance agent Charles Ludewig has decided to retire, paving the way for his agency to join the Leavitt Group, one of the largest privately held brokerages in the country. “I’m looking...
Lawsuit Against West Virginia Troopers Settled in Death of Maryland Man
Jul 12 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A judge approved a $1 million settlement Tuesday in a wrongful death lawsuit that accused West Virginia state police troopers of using excessive force on a Maryland man who was walking along a...
WV Governor’s Coal Company Settles with BrickStreet Mutual in Payment Dispute
May 28 2024 // The hits keep coming for West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his coal companies. The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals last week agreed to dismiss an appeal brought by Justice’s Southern Coal Corp. against its...
WV Coal Mine Where Miner Died Had Multiple Safety Violations
May 24 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A coal mine in West Virginia had a long history of safety violations before a miner was fatally injured this week operating an excavator, according to local news reports. Virgil Paynter, of...
Workers’ Comp Apportion Evals Must be Well-Reasoned, WV Supreme Court Says
Apr 24 2024 // West Virginia law, like statutes in a number of states, allows employers to try and apportion contributions to a worker’s injury, including how much a pre-existing condition may have played a role. The...
West Virginia Saw 5 Tornadoes Last Week, Double the Yearly Average
Apr 10 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The National Weather Service on Monday confirmed a fifth tornado touched down during severe storms that barreled across West Virginia last week. That’s more than double the state’s...
Nationwide Wants 19% Increase in Auto Rates in West Virginia
Apr 4 2024 // Nationwide Insurance is asking West Virginia regulators for a 19% average rate increase on auto liability insurance, a move that could affect more than 27,000 insured drivers. The West Virginia insurance commissioner said...
Severe Weather Spawns Tornado, Damage and One Death in South, Midwest
Apr 4 2024 // Thousands of homes and businesses were without power Tuesday as severe weather roared through several states, causing at least one death and spawning possible tornadoes. Parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Mississippi,...
West Virginia Lawmakers Ban Smoking in Cars with Kids Present
Mar 25 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia, which has the highest rate of adult cigarette use in the nation, became the 12th state to ban smoking in vehicles with children present under a bill signed by Republican Gov. Jim...
Indiana, West Virginia Pass New Restrictions on Third-Party Litigation Financing
Mar 21 2024 // Efforts to rein in third-party litigation financing are on their way to becoming law in Indiana and West Virginia, a scorecard that is less than what business and insurance interests had hoped for this spring. In Indiana,...
Panel Asks W.Va. Supreme Court if Opioid Distribution Can Cause a Public Nuisance
Mar 21 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court asked West Virginia’s highest court Monday whether opioid distributions can cause a public nuisance as it reviews a landmark lawsuit against three major U.S. drug...
WV Governor’s Coal Company Found in Contempt, Must Pay BrickStreet for Comp Loss
Feb 28 2024 // A coal company owned by West Virginia’s governor has been found in contempt of court and must face fines of $2,500 a day until it pays its contractual obligations to its workers’ compensation insurance carrier,...
West Virginia Bill Stokes Fears About Pesticide-Producing Logging Facility
Feb 15 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia bill approved by the House of Delegates on Tuesday that limits counties from regulating agricultural operations is stoking fears that a logging company could resurrect plans to...
Bank Plans to Auction Off Greenbriar Lots Owned by West Virginia Governor
Feb 9 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A Virginia bank that is seeking to recover more than $300 million in longstanding unpaid business loans to the family of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is planning to auction off land at a...
Authorities: Man Fleeing Police in Alabama Caused Crash That Injured Gayle Manchin
Feb 5 2024 // HOMEWOOD, Ala. (AP) — A man fleeing police caused the Alabama car crash that injured Gayle Manchin, head of an economic development partnership of the federal government and 13 state governments and the wife of U.S. Sen....
West Virginia Construction Firm to Buy Bankrupt College Campus
Feb 2 2024 // CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A federal bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved the sale of a defunct private university’s campus to the owner of a West Virginia construction firm for $5 million. Craig G. Phillips, owner...
WV Supreme Court Denies Insurers’ Appeal in Chlorine Leak that Damaged Plant
Jan 26 2024 // A group of 12 insurance companies cannot yet appeal a trial court’s finding that contamination exclusions did not bar coverage for a chemical plant that was damaged when 90 tons of liquid chlorine leaked from a...
