2.      Columnist: VA Likely To Drop Second Agent Orange System Contract. The syndicated "What's Brewin'" column (10/15, Brewin), appearing on the Nextgov website and elsewhere, reports having "picked up very strong signals that the Veterans Affairs Department has dropped plans to issue a second contract to develop a system to process claims for veterans suffering from diseases related to the Vietnam-era chemical Agent Orange. IBM won the original claims processing system contract in July, and evidently did such a poor job that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki personally called IBM chairman Samuel Palmisano to express his dissatisfaction with the lack of progress. The solicitation for the second contract, I'm told, was an added tool to get IBM's attention, vendors told me, more of a club than a real plan to go ahead with another deal. The VA quietly informed interested bidders it did not plan to issue a second contract over the past week." The columnist adds, "I keep asking the VA" about the status of the project, "and so far have not received a reply."

3.      VA's Baker Named GCN Civilian Agency IT Executive For 2010. The website for Government Computer News (10/15, Walker), in a round-up of its award winners for the year, profiles Roger Baker, VA assistant secretary for information and technology, who was named Civilian Agency Executive of the Year. The publication says that for Baker, "the bottom line for IT is providing dynamic and efficient support for the programs that serve US military veterans. When Baker joined VA in May 2009 after the Senate confirmed his appointment, IT wasn't doing that -- far from it. 'The Office of Information and Technology was fighting with its customers,' he said. 'That doesn't work.' Baker set about transforming the office's culture by changing attitudes and making customer service the agency's highest priority. With the staunch backing of VA's top management, including VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, Baker's efforts quickly yielded results." Baker uses Program Management Accountability System, or PMAS, to reinforce his five main priorities, suspending or cancelsing projects that don't meet performance goals. VA Secretary Shinseki "said that by establishing PMAS, Baker 'has driven home the importance of discipline and strengthened a culture focused on our clients -- America's veterans."

4.      Obama: Agencies Eye 5% Budget Trim, Veterans' Claims Are Unpopular Service Cut. The Washington Post (10/16, Davidson, 605K) reports, "Facing Republican complaints about big government and federal salaries, President Obama said Friday that government agencies might leave some vacancies unfilled as his administration looks for ways to save money. He did not rule out furloughing employees, as some states have, but he warned that such action could result in a loss of services for taxpayers." Obama told an organization of black journalists that "if cutbacks are 'the only way to achieve the savings... then we have to make some decisions about what that means in terms of services.' Veterans, for example, "might have to wait longer for their disability claims to be processed. That's something that people object to pretty vigorously, and rightly so, because we've got a sacred trust to our veterans." The president also disputed complaints from Capitol Hill Republicans and conservative think tanks that federal employees are overpaid, saying that his administration has studied civil service pay levels and found that "high-skilled workers in government are slightly underpaid. Lower-skilled workers are slightly overpaid relative to the private sector." He called that finding "not surprising" because the government has "a unionized workforce," unlikely the typical case in the private sector.

5.      Veterans Affairs FY 2010 Spending Came In $6.9 Billion Lower Than Expected. The website of WDBO-AM Orlando (10/15, Dupree) posts the summary from a joint statement by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and acting Office of Management and Budget director Jeffrey Zients giving final details on the recently completed Fiscal Year 2010 budget. The statement notes that actual outlays at the Department of Veterans Affairs "were $108.3 billion in FY 2010," $6.9 billion less than the July 2010 Mid-Session Review. Of that difference, the agency's Compensation and Pensions program accounted for $4.9 billion, with $4 billion in supplemental costs of liberalized Agent Orange benefits that, due to a delay for Congressional review, was pushed into the next Fiscal Year. The remaining differences were attributed to a decline in retroactive benefit payments from the levels observed earlier in the year, and fewer-than-expected original claims for Disability Compensation. The Readjustment Benefits program came in $0.5 billion lower outlays, as "nearly 150,000 more service members and veterans than expected chose to use the less generous, but somewhat more flexible, Chapter 30 education benefits rather than convert to Chapter 33 education benefits." Changes in Information technology deadlines and staffing under the Project Management Accountability System reduced outlays by another $0.6 billion.

6.      GAO Reports Burn Pits Still Being Used In Iraq, Afghanistan. The UPI /Medill News(10/15, Koeske) reports, "A US government report released Friday finds that waste disposal methods at military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to expose troops to potentially harmful emissions, despite recent legislation aimed at curbing hazardous disposal practices. The Government Accountability Office investigated four bases in Iraq in the past year and found none were entirely in compliance with regulations. The regulations, passed in 2009, prohibit the disposal of hazardous and bio-medical waste in open-air burn pits, except in circumstances where the US secretary of Defense deems that no feasible alternative exists. In spite of these regulations, the GAO found that all four bases routinely burned plastic, which releases dioxins, the family of chemicals found in the Vietnam War herbicide known as Agent Orange." In a statement Friday, WI Sen. Russ Feingold (D), a sponsor of a bnill to ban burn pits, said he was "deeply troubled to learn that the Defense Department has not taken simple steps, such as segregating plastics, to ensure that our troops are not exposed to harmful emissions." He added that the Defense Department's "slow reaction has exposed another generation of veterans to the exact same carcinogens found in Agent Orange." A Feingold aide said that the Senator would likely offer an amendment to force the military and contractors to comply with burn pit regulations.

7.      VA Aims To Document If Security Tools Are Being Used On All Its Computers.  Federal Times (10/16, Davidson, 40K) reports that Veterans Affairs "this summer launched a cybersecurity initiative to verify whether a variety of security tools are being used on each of its computers. When it comes to a veteran's electronic health records, that means VA will verify the security of the computer used by a VA physician entering a diagnosis, a pharmacist filling a prescription, or a billing clerk making note of a patient's co-pays."

8.      VA Will Not Move To Old Northwest Airlines HQ. The Minneapolis Star Tribune (10/15, Bjorhus) reports, "A $19.5 million deal for investors to buy the old corporate headquarters of Northwest Airlines in Eagan has fallen apart" after the US Department of Veterans Affairs "nixed a move to the site." The US General Services Administration "said Thursday that...VA will stay put at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling."

9.      VA, Defense Work To Make Health IT Systems Interoperable.  Federal Times (10/15, Johnson, 40K) reports, "The Veterans Affairs Department aims to be able to share its patients' electronic medical records with private-sector health care providers and the Defense Department by 2012. But most people tracking VA's efforts agree that progress is slow. VA and the Defense Department have struggled for years to create a common system that supports VA's mission of caring for veterans and DoD's mission of caring for the active-duty military." In an October 6 Senate Veterans Affairs hearing, Sen. Richard Burr (NC), the panel's ranking Republican, "criticized the departments' efforts to achieve interoperability between VA's Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture and DoD's AHLTA system (once known as the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application)." According to testimony from the CEO if health IT software firm Allscripts, even a North Chicago facility serving both veterans and active-duty military "cannot share records on allergies, health problems or clinical orders." Under the interoperability plan, the VA and Defense will be able to exchange clinical health data by 2012, then two years later be able to exchange housing, insurance, education and memorial data.

10.    VA Awards Contract For Pilot Study Of Speeding Medical Record Retrieval. A PR Web release (10/15) announces that the VA's Veterans Benefits Administration "has awarded DOMA Technologies the contract for a Pilot Study into the Centralized Retrieval, Assembly, and Secure Transmission of Private Medical Records to expedite claims processes. The project aims to reduce the 40 days it presently takes to retrieve medical records from private healthcare providers down to seven days. The pilot study will be conducted in six VBA regional offices is expected to be finished within six months. The release also appears in News-Medical.Net (10/15) and the Kansas City Star (10/15, 233K).

11.    VA Contracts With McGraw-Hill For Access To Medical Learning Platforms. In a PR Newswire release (10/15). McGraw-Hill's Professional announces that the Department of Veterans Affairs "has signed a contract for the entire suite of McGraw-Hill's Access online courses -- AccessMedicine, AccessSurgery, AccessPharmacy, AccessAnesthesiology, AccessEmergency Medicine, and AccessPhysiotherapy."

12.    Vietnam Vet's Sculpture Wins National Veterans Creative Arts Festival. The Charleston (WV) Gazette (10/15, Nett, 40K) reports, "Late at night, when the dreams from James Lykins' time in Vietnam keep him awake, he sits and carves out the faces of the men he served with. He started with a wall panel and some ceiling Spackle more than 20 years ago, and night after night, he molded the faces of more than 50 men who he knew during his tour as a Marine radioman with the Second Force Reconnaissance." Lykins' sculpture "Green  

Faces/Purple Heart," which depicts from memory the faces of dozens of faces of veterans wounded or killed during the Vietnam conflict, "won first place and best in show at the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival. Lykins, of Charleston, will travel to La Crosse, Wis., on Monday to attend the annual arts festival and meet with about 3,000 artists and performers from across the nation." Lykins is also enrolled in the PTSD program at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, which has a strong record in the national arts competition, having taken nine national medals in three years.

13.    Ohio Historical Marker Commemorates Role Of Local Vet In Winning WWII Memorial. The website of WTOL-TV Toledo, OH (10/15, Harvey) reports, "The National World War II Memorial, 17 years in the making, will always be a legacy of the vision of Roger Durbin, even though he did not live to see it. Six years after the National World War II Memorial's dedication in Washington, D.C., another unveiling will take place Saturday in the hometown of the man who made the monument possible." A new Ohio Historical marker at Ford Cemetery in Berkey, Ohio will commemorate Durbin's role in launching the drive for a World War II memorial in Washington.

14.    Iowa, Illinois World War II Veterans Take Honor Tour Of Washington. The Waterloo and Cedar Falls (IA) Courier (10/15, Guess, 40K) reports, "Smiles and cheers filled the Parkersburg Veterans Memorial Building on Wednesday. Eight World War II veterans were ready to begin a four-day trip to Washington, D.C." Members of the Aplington American Legion rode in vans to a Thursday morning take-off from Moline, Illinois. The trip, which will take a total of 30 World War II veterans to Washington before returning Monday, is the seventh Honor Tour from the area.

15.    Korean Vet, Five Others Named Grand Marshals For VA Veterans Day Parade. The Arizona Republic (10/15, Rodriguez) said Arden Rowley, who "spent 33 months in prisoner-of-war camps during the Korean War," is "one of six men to be honored" by the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System "as grand marshals in the VA Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 11."

16.    Military Medical Researchers Find Blood Test For Concussions.  ABC World News (10/15, story 2, 2:25, Claiborne) reported, ""They're an all too common sports injury. But people suffer all kind of concussions, in car crashes, falls. It can happen to shaken babies. And of course, in combat. But too often, mild concussions go undetected, exposing the person to much more serious brain damage if they have a second concussion before the first one has fully healed. Most concussions occur to children under the age of four, and to teenagers. ... But now, US Army researchers say there's a new blood test that makes it possible to quickly and easily diagnose some mild concussions." The director of the Army's Combat Casualty Care Program called the finding "a confirmation of a major breakthrough." The reporter continued, "Researchers studied 34 people taken to a hospital trauma unit who had been diagnosed with mild concussions. Each one of them showed the presence of certain proteins in their blood, so-called biomarkers -- that did not show up in uninjured people. ... The theory that the jolt, the actual injury to the brain, unleashes these special proteins into the bloodstream. The implications for early detection and better treatment of head injuries have scientists excited. ... With hundreds of thousands of soldiers and Marines suffering brain injuries in combat, the military is, of course, keenly interested in this research. The army has ordered seven different pro to types of a hand held device to diagnose injuries. Very promising early results."

17.    Psychiatrist: Sleepwalking, PTSD Left Veteran Unaware He Was Committing Armed Assault. The Woodbine (IA) Twiner (10/15, Nation, 1K) reports, "A psychiatrist testified Thursday that retired Lt. Col. Robert Butts suffered from dissociation when he forced his way into an apartment, held a woman at gunpoint and disrobed her before police arrived. Butts, 44, is charged with second-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary and five additional charges after breaking into Regina and Jennifer Walker's Sherwood Plaza apartment on Nov. 11." A defense psychiatrist from Creighton University testified that Butts "did not have any recollection of the events; he only remembered being in his own apartment -- a building away from the Walkers' complex -- and then waking up to police officers arresting him." He said that Butts' sleepwalking disorder was "complicated by post-traumatic stress disorder, Gulf War Syndrome, closed head injuries suffered as a child, drinking alcohol, stress at work and depression," and led to a dissociative state.

18.    CenterPointe, VA Teaming Up To Assist Homeless Vets. The Lincoln (NE) Journal Star (10/15, Young) said CenterPointe, which "specializes in helping people with substance abuse issues and mental health disorders, and the Department of Veterans Affairs will team up to help homeless veterans" in a "group home in southwest Lincoln." The department and CenterPointe will "offer a home there for up to 10 male veterans who need substance abuse and mental health services. The men will have access to case management services and outpatient counseling services through CenterPointe or...VA."

19.    VA Awards Contract For Outpatient Clinic In Walla Walla VAMC. The Tri-City (WA) Herald (10/15, 37K) reports that the Department of Veterans Affairs "has awarded a nearly $23 million design-build contract for a new outpatient clinic to be built on the Walla Walla VA campus. Brian Westfield, director of the Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center, said the clinic is scheduled for completion in January 2013." The new outpatient clinic will enable the VAMC to consolidate clinic, administrative and support functions that are currently spread across the 88-acre VAMC campus.

20.    Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Held For New VA Clinic. The Lake County (CA) News (10/15, Larson) noted that on Wednesday, as "dozens of community members and local officials looked on," US Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) "took a large pair of ceremonial scissors and sliced through a blue ribbon strung across the front of the new Veterans Affairs clinic in Clearlake." The clinic will "officially open for patient care on Nov. 1."

21.    Grand Opening Held For New Va Clinic In North Dakota. The Williston (ND) Herald (10/15, Mayhugh, 5K) reports, "Hundreds of area veterans will have a new place to go for medical care, as the new Community-Based Outpatient Clinic" in Williston, managed by the Fargo VAMC, "held its ribbon-cutting and grand opening on Tuesday. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the company that contracted for the clinic, CR Associates, as well as the Williston chapter of Disabled American Veterans and the local chamber of commerce."

22.    VA Hospital Officials Host Tour Of Clinic Under Construction. In continuing coverage, the Beckley (WV) Register-Herald (10/15, Alvey) noted that on Tuesday, officials with the Veterans Affairs hospital in Beckley "hosted a walk-through of their new outpatient clinic under construction at the Greenbrier Valley Airport Industrial Park." Among "those taking the tour" were US Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), who "collaborated with the Beckley VAMC in establishing the clinic and for whom the building in which the clinic is located is named." The clinic will "serve an estimated 2,400 veterans."

23.    Shreveport VAMC Celebrates 60th Year. The Shreveport Times (LA) (10/16, 46K) reports, "Overton Brooks VA Hospital in Shreveport kicked off its year-long 60th birthday party with an employee talent show, lunch for its 1,500 employees, car washes for veterans and a display about the hospital's history. The hospital will continue the celebration with events every three months for the staff and patients. Organizers are considering putting on a public 60th anniversary event at a location away from the hospital early in 2011, said Sandy Franks, hospital spokeswoman."

24.    New VA Clinic In Cape Coral Business Slates Business Forum. The Fort Myers News-Press (10/16, Husty, 82K) reports, "People interested in creating businesses near the new Veterans Administration clinic in Cape Coral are being invited to a public forum to discuss the issue. The city has created a Veterans Investment Zone to encourage business development around the clinic at Corbett Road and Diplomat Parkway. The clinic is currently under construction and scheduled to open early next year." A development official in Cape Coral says the city wants to "attract medical offices, assisted living facilities, retail businesses, hotels and light industry in the neighborhood of the clinic." The November 9 forum will bring together officials from VA, the city, a local university's small business development center and leading industries.

25.    VA To Host Vision Awareness Day Open House. The Lake City (FL) Journal (10/15) reports, "The North Florida South Georgia Veterans Health System will host the 18th Annual Vision Awareness Day Open House at two" Veterans Affairs hospitals. Programs "will be held at the Lake City VA Medical Center...on Monday, October 18" and the "Gainesville VA Medical Center...on Tuesday, October 19, in their respective auditoriums."

26.    Numerous VA Facilities Schedule Free Flu Shot Clinics. The Leavenworth (KS) Times (10/15, 6K) reports that the VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System "will host free flu shot clinics for enrolled veterans at its medical centers and community based outpatient clinics in Kansas and Missouri." The Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times (10/15, 38K) reports that free flu shots will be available for eligible veterans at the Asheville VAMC and at the community-based clinics in Franklin and Rutherfordton. The Palestine (TX) Herald (10/16, Vernon, 8K) also announces free flu shot clinics for veterans.

27.    US Navy Association Director Indicted On Theft, Corruption. In continuing coverage, the AP (10/15) reports that a grand jury in Cleveland "has charged the director of a Florida-based charity that purported to raise money for U.S. Navy veterans with corruption and theft charges. The indictment issued Wednesday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court charges Bobby Thompson with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft and money laundering. The Ohio Attorney General's office says Thompson and an alleged co-conspirator, Blanca Contreras bilked at least 50,000 Ohioans out of at least $1.9 million."

28.    Ranger Memorial Will Dedicate Pavers.  WTVM-TV Columbus, GA (10/15) reports from Fort Benning that the Ranger Training Brigade along with the West Point Alumni Association "will host a paver dedication ceremony at the National Ranger Memorial, 10 a.m. Oct. 15. The pavers have been engraved with the names of West Point Rangers killed in action since the Vietnam War who are not otherwise honored. During the ceremony, a flag presentation is planned, retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey will deliver the dedication address and taps will be played."

29.    Army Veteran's Cross-Country Run Honors Fallen Heroes. The CBS Evening News (10/15, story 8, 0:25, Couric) reported, "For five months, Mike Ehrit has been on a mission to honor America's fallen heroes. The 49-year-old Army veteran set out from the Oregon coast on May 1 and since then he's run an average of 29 miles a day, stopping each mile to plant a flag for a service member killed overseas. Today he reached the coast of Maine -- 4,424 flags later."