Latest West Virginia Headlines

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

West Virginia Lawmakers Delay Drunk Driver Lock Expansion

Mar 18 2009 // A proposal to put interlocks in the vehicles of every West Virginian convicted of drunken driving appears to be on hold this year while lawmakers await the results of an earlier expansion of the program.But a West Virginia...

West Virginia’s BrickStreet Mutual Names Allstate’s Laska as CIO

Mar 16 2009 // Tony Laska has joined workers’ compensation insurer BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. as its senior vice president and chief information officer. Laska comes to West Virginia from the Chicago area, where he had been...

Bankruptcy Won’t Help West Virginia Doctor Avoid Malpractice Payments

Mar 9 2009 // A former West Virginia doctor will not be able to use his Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in Birmingham to block payments in scores of malpractice cases after a federal bankruptcy judge ruled he was hiding assets.The order...

West Virginia’s Workers’ Comp Writer BrickStreet to Expand Into Other States

Mar 3 2009 // Workers’ compensation insurer BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co. wants to expand into Kentucky, Virginia, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Illinois.President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Burton says the West...

$160 Million West Virginia Flood Control Project Nears Approval

Feb 24 2009 // A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official says a proposed $160 million flood-control project along the Greenbrier River in West Virginia’s Pocahontas County could be approved soon.Talk of the project started more than...

Lawmakers Propose Reining in West Virginia Insurance Agency

Feb 19 2009 // West Virginia gives its insurance commission a lot of leeway when it comes to regulating workers’ compensation coverage. But pending legislation could change that.The House majority whip and judiciary chairwoman are...

Business Moves

Feb 8 2009 // Liberty Mutual, WausauLiberty Mutual Group, which sells insurance both direct and through independent agents, is discontinuing direct distribution to mid-sized businesses and now plans to distribute its commercial...

2 More West Virginia Families Reach Sago Mine Settlements

Jan 28 2009 // Court records show that families of two more workers who died in the Sago Mine disaster have settled their lawsuits with the mine’s operator.Details of the settlement with International Coal Group were not made...

BrickStreet Writes Outside West Virginia; Drops Worst In-State Accounts

Jan 25 2009 // BrickStreet Mutual Insurance has written its first out-of-state policy. The policy, which went into effect Jan. 1, covers the employees of a West Virginia-based pipeline company working in the Commonwealth of...

West Virginia Mutual Insurance Pays Off $24 Million State Loan

Jan 21 2009 // West Virginia Mutual Insurance Co. (WVMIC), formerly known as the West Virginia Physician’s Mutual Insurance Co., has paid off the $24 million surplus loan it received in 2004 from the State of West Virginia.WVMIC...

West Virginia Insurer BrickStreet Mutual Elects Flaherty Chairman

Jan 20 2009 // BrickStreet Mutual Insurance Co.’s board of directors has elected Charleston attorney Thomas V. Flaherty to serve as its new chairman.In addition, BrickStreet Senior Vice President and General Counsel Thomas J....

Brickstreet Writes First Workers Comp Policy Outside West Virginia

Jan 12 2009 // BrickStreet Mutual Insurance has written its first out-of-state policy. The policy, which went into effect Jan. 1, covers the employees of a West Virginia-based pipeline company working in the Commonwealth of...

Greenbrier Owner Weighs Options for Money-Losing West Virginia Resort

Jan 5 2009 // Railroad operator CSX Corp. has hired New York investment banker Goldman, Sachs & Co. to help determine what to do with the money-losing luxury resort.The aim is to make the White Sulphur Springs landmark a viable...

West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Writer BrickStreet Drops Policies

Jan 4 2009 // West Virginia’s BrickStreet Insurance is looking to trim costs in 2009 by dropping nearly 1,000 workers’ compensation policies its chief calls the worst of the worst.Greg Burton says the policies have brought...

Inspector Shortage Hampers West Virginia Coal Mine Safety Effort

Dec 30 2008 // An inability to retain inspectors is hurting West Virginia’s efforts to make the inherently dangerous business of coal mining safer.Faced with a turnover rate topping 20 percent, the state is scrambling — for...

Massey Energy to Pay $4.2 Million in 2006 Fatal West Virginia Fire

Dec 29 2008 // A Massey Energy subsidiary has agreed to pay $4.2 million in civil and criminal penalties and plead guilty to federal charges stemming from a fire that killed two miners at a southern West Virginia coal mine in January...

West Virginia High Court: Insurer Not Liable in Underage Drinking Case

Dec 19 2008 // The West Virginia Supreme Court says a homeowner’s insurance company should not be held liable for paying damages stemming from a fatal alcohol-related accident involving underaged drinkers.In its unanimous ruling,...

Truck Drivers Teach West Virginia Teens About Road Safety

Dec 9 2008 // Professional truck drivers will be in West Virginia this week demonstrating to teens how to avoid accidents with tractor-trailers.Share the Road is an outreach program of the American Trucking Association that educates...

West Virginia Judiciary Nixes Switching to Nonpartisan Elections

Dec 5 2008 // A group representing West Virginia’s judiciary has decided not to endorse a proposal to end the election of state judges along partisan lines.The West Virginia Judiciary Association adopted a resolution this week...

U.S. Supreme Court Stays Out of West Virginia Damages Case

Dec 3 2008 // The U.S. Supreme Court is refusing to enter a politically charged case from West Virginia, a major coal producing state, that involves a large punitive damages award and allegations of bias by a state judge.In an order...