Latest West Virginia Headlines

All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Massey Ex-CEO Blankenship’s Criminal Trial Moved to July

Apr 12 2015 // Former Massey Energy Co. Chief Executive Officer Donald Blankenship was given a three-month reprieve to prepare for a criminal trial over an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners.The blast at the Upper Big Branch Mine...

Ex-Massey Mine CEO: ‘I Don’t Want to Go to 100 Funerals’

Apr 9 2015 // Former Massey Energy Co. Chief Executive Officer Donald Blankenship, facing criminal trial over an April 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners, said the year before that he feared a disaster with 100 deaths.“I...

Pipeline Developer Sues More Than 100 West Virginia Property Owners

Apr 6 2015 // More than 100 property owners in West Virginia are being sued by the developer of a proposed natural gas pipeline.Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC’s lawsuit seeks access to the properties to conduct a survey for a...

Jury Awards $3M to West Virginia Man in Ford Crash Lawsuit

Apr 6 2015 // A 74-year-old West Virginia man who sued Ford Motor Company after his gas pedal got stuck, causing him to crash his truck, has been awarded more than $3 million in damages. The Charleston Gazette reports that a federal...

West Virginia Lawmakers Put Off Decision on Uber

Apr 6 2015 // It looks unlikely that Uber is coming to West Virginia this year.With debate closed, the Republican-led House of Delegates voted on March 13 against reviving an Uber bill that was idled. The bill would have allowed Uber...

Family Sues Over West Virginia School’s Use of Walking as Discipline

Apr 2 2015 // A student’s family is suing West Virginia’s Berkeley County Schools over a school’s use of walking as a form of discipline.The lawsuit says Mountain Ridge Intermediate School’s policy violates state...

Freedom Industries, West Virginia Sign Spill Site Cleanup Agreement

Apr 2 2015 // Freedom Industries and West Virginia regulators have signed an agreement for cleaning up the site of a 2014 chemical spill in the Elk River that prompted a tap water ban for 300,000 people for days.The agreement announced...

West Virginia Governor Signs Scaled Back Version of 2014 Water Safety Law

Mar 30 2015 // Less than a year after signing legislation with new safeguards in response to a 2014 chemical spill that prompted a tap-water ban for 300,000 people, West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed a bill Friday to trim...

West Virginia Chemical Spill Settlement for Community Projects Dropped

Mar 27 2015 // Lawyers for businesses and people affected by a massive chemical spill last year say a settlement to fund community projects is no longer being considered.In June 2014, lawyers for the groups affected by the Freedom...

Former Massey CEO Pleads Not Guilty to New Indictment in Mine Blast

Mar 25 2015 // The former chief executive of Massey Energy Co. pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a revised federal indictment arising from a 2010 West Virginia coal mine explosion that killed 29 miners.The former chief executive, Donald...

West Virginia Governor Signs Comparative Fault Legal Reform Bill

Mar 23 2015 // Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has signed a bill changing legal protections when multiple parties are deemed at fault in a lawsuit. The Democratic governor approved a comparative fault bill passed by the Republican-run...

West Virginia Lawmakers Clear Legal Reform Compromise

Mar 18 2015 // The West Virginia Republican-led Legislature has cleared a legal reform proposal compromise.House delegates voted 63-33 March 14 for deliberate intent legal protection changes. When a known unsafe working condition hurts...

Former Freedom Owners Plead Guilty in West Virginia Chemical Spill Case

Mar 18 2015 // Two former owners of Freedom Industries pleaded guilty on Monday to environmental violations stemming from last year’s Charleston chemical spill that prompted a temporary tap water ban for 300,000 residents.At...

West Virginia Governor Signs Controversial Coal Bill

Mar 17 2015 // West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has signed a bill lauded by the struggling coal industry and called dangerous by the miners’ union.Tomblin signed the bill last week changing coal mine safety and environmental...

Highway Fatalities in West Virginia Down 18 percent in 2014

Mar 16 2015 // Highway fatalities in West Virginia dropped from 332 in 2013 to 271 in 2014, according to a statement by the state’s Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Pat Reed. The decline shows the state is moving in the...

West Virginia Lawmakers Put Off Decision on Uber

Mar 16 2015 // It looks unlikely that Uber is coming to West Virginia this year.With debate closed, the Republican-led House of Delegates voted Friday against reviving an Uber bill that was idled. The bill would have allowed Uber and...

West Virginia Lawmakers Send Rollback of Chemical Spill Law to House Floor

Mar 12 2015 // A West Virginia House panel narrowly approved a bill to scale back protections to prevent chemical spills from sullying water supplies.The January 2014 chemical spill that contaminated drinking water for 300,000 residents...

West Virginia Governor Signs Comparative Fault Legal Reform Bill

Mar 9 2015 // Governor Earl Ray Tomblin has signed a bill changing legal protections when multiple parties are deemed at fault in a lawsuit.The Democratic governor approved a comparative fault bill passed by the Republican-run...

Transport Company Agrees to Restoration Plan After West Virginia Train Derailment

Mar 9 2015 // Federal regulators say CSX Transportation has agreed to a long-term plan for cleaning up and restoring the area around a fiery oil-train derailment in southern West Virginia.Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...

West Virginia’s Coal Country Split as New Law Pits Owners, Workers: Commodities

Mar 4 2015 // Mike Caputo, one of the top Democrats in the West Virginia legislature, began working in the state’s coal mines at age 19. It helped put his kids through school, he said, and helped him pay for his family home.Now...