David Sherfinski

A higher power for Va. dental assistants

A proposal that would allow a new class of dental assistants in Virginia to work in patients' mouths with high-speed instruments has many in the professional community gnashing their teeth.

June 3, 2012

Cuccinelli opinion clarifies gun-transport law

Virginians who can lawfully possess firearms do not need concealed-weapons permits to keep loaded handguns within reach in vehicles, according to Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II.

May 30, 2012

McDonnell, O’Malley also in spotlight in Walker recall

Next week's recall election in Wisconsin between Gov. Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett sets up not only a high-profile battle between the two candidates but a side skirmish between Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, chairmen of their parties' governors associations and rising national political stars.

May 29, 2012

Cuccinelli backs Kaine on Dulles rail project

Former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine acted within his authority when he decided in 2006 to transfer the Dulles Toll Road and management of the Dulles rail project to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II said Tuesday.

May 29, 2012

Court shuts out Nationals, Orioles fans’ viewing in N.C.

Despite winning records this year that have delighted their long-suffering fans, it seems the Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles still can't get much respect — including from the federal government.

May 28, 2012

Dentist indicted on prescription, fraud charges

An Oakton dentist has been indicted on charges of illegally distributing prescription pills to patients, professionals and paramours over the past five years and also assuming another dentist's identity to bill more than $160,000 in claims for work he performed on his family.

May 28, 2012

Foes attack, Allen parries in final Va. GOP Senate debate

Republican frontrunner George Allen shrugged off jabs from his U.S. Senate opponents Friday in the state party's final debate before the June 12 primary.

May 26, 2012

Settlement reached in Chantilly gas leak explosion

Washington Gas has to pay Virginia $154,800 under a settlement order from the State Corporation Commission stemming from an investigation into a December 2010 explosion that destroyed a home in Chantilly.

May 24, 2012

NBC poll: Obama, Kaine hold slight leads in Virginia

A new poll has President Obama and U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine with slight leads over their likely Republican opponents in Virginia, where both Democrats are sure to spend a significant amount of time between now and November.

May 24, 2012

McDonnell criticized for veto of Virginia abused-child schooling bill

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has found himself on the opposite side of advocacy groups spanning the political spectrum after vetoing a bill that would allow abused or neglected children living with a relative to enroll in the school district where the relative lives.

May 23, 2012

Virginia risks ADA violations in not releasing mental patients

Virginia, already mired in a $2 billion settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, is again at risk of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act - this time for failing to release discharge-ready patients from state-run behavioral-health hospitals.

May 22, 2012

Firefighter harassment case strikes settlement

A former firefighter has settled with Fairfax County over a high-profile sexual harassment case that included charges that the woman's recruitment officer asked during her interview if she "enjoyed being watched while she had sex."

May 21, 2012

New Va. voter-ID law makes it ‘tough to cheat’

With Gov. Bob McDonnell's blessing, Virginia is the latest in a growing number of states that have adopted voter-identification laws ahead of the 2012 elections — though he managed to add a fairly significant twist.

May 20, 2012

Housing deal bust upsets Fairfax County supervisors

Fairfax County lost about $2.4 million on a Reston housing complex that went into foreclosure several years ago - news that was not formally relayed to the county's Board of Supervisors until this year.

May 20, 2012

McDonnell signs voter ID law, orders Election Board to issue new registration cards

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell on Friday signed into law legislation that will require voters to bring identification to the polls, and issued an executive order requiring the State Board of Elections to provide a new registration card to every voter.

May 18, 2012

Virginia lawmaker backs effort to bar part of terror law

A federal judge this week blocked enforcement of a section of federal law that critics say allows unlawful and indefinite detention of terrorism suspects — a case that Virginia Delegate Robert G. Marshall supported with his own legal brief.

May 17, 2012

MWAA defers vote on Dulles rail labor

Though some had hoped for action on Wednesday, the regional authority overseeing the $6 billion rail-to-Dulles project will not discuss - or possibly vote on - a labor provision that is threatening to derail the second leg of the 23-mile rail line until as late as June 6.

May 16, 2012

Report: Mismanagement rampant at airports authority

The regional authority overseeing one of the largest public works projects in the country is rife with mismanagement, a glaring lack of transparency and lavish spending habits that have included thousand-dollar dinners and a $9,200 plane ticket to Prague, according to a scathing interim report from the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general.

May 15, 2012

House GOP in Virginia blocks gay judicial nominee

The Virginia General Assembly blocked the judicial nomination of a prosecutor and Navy veteran who would have become the state's first openly gay judge after a heated argument in the House of Delegates spilled into the wee hours of Tuesday morning.