June 4, 2010
The West Virginia Supreme Court has refused to reconsider its decision involving DuPont and punitive damages arising out of a pollution case. Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont asked the court to reconsider a ruling it issued in March involving pollution at a …
June 2, 2010
Investigators probing the nation’s worst coal mining disaster in 40 years plan to enter the Upper Big Branch mine for the first time today, owner Massey Energy Co. said. Unsafe levels of toxic and explosive gases have kept federal and …
June 1, 2010
West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller is urging President Barack Obama to make several mine safety improvements immediately. In a letter dated Sunday, Rockefeller told Obama he should consider several suggestions made by relatives of the men killed in the explosion …
May 28, 2010
One of just two major makers of emergency air packs for U.S. coal mines has stopped selling the devices because they often don’t automatically start and the industry fears it will lead to a shortage, officials said. Underground mines must …
May 27, 2010
The nation’s most knowledgeable drivers are in Idaho, Wisconsin, Montana and Kansas, while the least knowledgeable are in New York, New Jersey, Hawaii and California. That’s according to results from the 2009 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test, which found that …
May 27, 2010
The North Carolina-based Smart Choice Agents Program, which says it currently provides personal and commercial lines markets for some 3,000 independent agencies in 32 states, is expanding into six additional states. The program is moving into Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New …
May 24, 2010
A judge in West Virginia has dismissed a lawsuit over the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration’s plan to privately interview witnesses to the nation’s worst coal mining disaster in 40 years. U.S. District Judge Irene Berger concluded in an …
May 24, 2010
The embattled head of Massey Energy Co. went on the defensive Thursday as he faced angry lawmakers who claim the company’s indifference toward safety led to the nation’s worst mining disaster in 40 years. Massey chief executive Don Blankenship told …
May 17, 2010
$50 Million The total amount in auto insurance refunds that insurers began mailing this month to about one million North Carolina insureds. The distribution is a result of the 2009 auto rate settlement with the insurers’ rating bureau that Commissioner …
May 17, 2010
West Virginia is mulling a new state agency dedicated to policing dangerous coal mines in response to an explosion that killed 29 men at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine. The state Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety plans …