Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Economist Says Huntington, West Virginia Opioid Response Will Cost $2.5 billion
Jul 2 2021 // A 15-year plan to abate the opioid crisis in a West Virginia community will cost local officials $2.5 billion, a forensic economist has testified. George Barrett testified Tuesday that Cabell County and the city of...
Environmentalists To Sue West Virginia Over Pollution At Greensdale Coals Site
Jul 2 2021 // A group of environmentalists said Tuesday it intended to sue West Virginia over evidence of pollutants running into waterways from a coal mine site. In a letter to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection,...
West Virginia Pharmacies Owner Fined In Prescription Probe
Jul 1 2021 // The owner of two West Virginia pharmacies has agreed to pay $300,000 in civil penalties to settle allegations that they filled illegitimate prescriptions in violation of federal law. Federal prosecutors said Beckley...
West Virginia Town Residents Say Coal Dust Is Taking Their Breath Away
Jun 14 2021 // EUNICE, W.Va. — Eunice should have been Becky Rectenwald’s place to settle. The dust settled there instead. Rectenwald, 58, moved to the former Raleigh County mining town from Marmet nearly four years ago for...
West Virginia Governor Hit by U.K. Lender Bankruptcy
Jun 3 2021 // West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice confirmed on Tuesday that he is personally liable for $700 million in loans taken by his coal companies from a lender in the United Kingdom that went bankrupt. The Republican governor took...
Data Expert: Distributors Increased Drug Potency in West Virginia
May 14 2021 // A data expert testifying at a landmark opioid trial in West Virginia said Tuesday that the potency of prescription drugs sent to local communities increased over time, but the three large drug distributors being sued tried...
Insurer Sues West Virginia Gov.’s Company for Failure to Pay Deductibles
May 10 2021 // An insurance company alleges in a federal lawsuit that a company run by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his adult children owes $166,000 for workers’ compensation and employers’ liability coverage...
West Virginia’s Billion-Dollar Trial Against Opioid Distributors Gets Underway
May 3 2021 // The three largest U.S. drug distributors, who are accused of helping fuel the opioid crisis that has resulted in nearly 500,000 overdose deaths in the United States, will defend themselves in a trial that kicks off on...
Report: 2020 A Record Year for Overdose Deaths in West Virginia
Apr 26 2021 // The number of fatal drug overdoses in West Virginia hit a record last year, according to preliminary state data showing at least 1,275 residents died. The increase comes after two years of declining numbers in a state...
West Virginia Firefighters Claim Retaliation in Pay Dispute
Apr 21 2021 // Firefighters in West Virginia’s Morgantown say the city manager lowered their pay in retaliation for their refusal to accept a settlement in a separate dispute, although the city says it is just making the...
Report: Drug Addiction Cost West Virginia an Estimated $11B in 2019
Apr 5 2021 // Treating and addressing drug addiction cost West Virginia an estimated $11.3 billion in one year, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy. The report, written by economist Jill Kriesky, says the...
West Virginia Loosens Virus Restrictions on Bars, Most Businesses
Mar 8 2021 // West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice ordered to loosen pandemic restrictions on Friday at restaurants, bars and most businesses to allow full capacity at those establishments where social distancing is possible. The...
Damage to West Virginia Power Grids from Winter Storm Delays Power Restoration
Feb 26 2021 // Some West Virginia residents are waiting longer than anticipated for their power to come back on after utility crews found new damage from ice storms earlier this month. Drone and helicopter surveillance found the new...
Family of West Virginia Gov to Pay $270K in Suit Over Mine Discharges
Feb 26 2021 // A coal company controlled by the family of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice must pay $270,000 to a nonprofit land protection group and comply with selenium discharge limits under a settlement approved by a federal...
1 Worker Killed, 3 Injured by West Virginia Chemical Plant Blast
Dec 11 2020 // An explosion and fire at a West Virginia chemical plant that shook surrounding homes killed a plant worker and injured three other people. It happened after 10 p.m. Tuesday at Optima Chemicals Co., a tenant on the Chemours...
Explosion at West Virginia Chemours Plant Prompts Shelter-In-Place
Dec 10 2020 // An explosion at a West Virginia chemical plant on Tuesday night prompted authorities to order residents within 2 miles of the plant to remain indoors. The explosion occurred at 10:02 p.m. EST at the Chemours plant in the...
Trial in West Virginia Opioid Lawsuit Postponed Indefinitely
Dec 9 2020 // A federal judge in West Virginia has indefinitely postponed a trial date in a lawsuit filed by the city of Huntington and Cabell County over the opioid crisis. The lawsuit accuses drug distributors AmerisourceBergen,...
Death of West Virginia Miner Marks 6th US Coal Mining Fatality of 2020
Nov 25 2020 // A coal miner died Monday in a workplace accident in southern West Virginia, the governor’s office said. Taylor Meldin Halstead, 20, of Bob White, was killed in the accident at Panther Mining LLC’s American...
Road Paving Companies to Pay West Virginia $101.3M Over Antitrust Violations
Nov 20 2020 // West Virginia officials announced a $101.3 million settlement last month in an antitrust suit against 11 asphalt and paving companies the state accused of cornering the market and driving up project...
W. Virginia High Court Nixes AG Consumer Protection Claim in Catholic Church Suit
Nov 19 2020 // West Virginia’s attorney general cannot use a consumer protection law to sue a Roman Catholic diocese over sexual abuse allegations, the state’s high court said Monday. The West Virginia Supreme Court issued...
