1.      Baker: VA Can Benefit From "Open Source Community Based Around VistA." FierceGovernmentIT (10/26, Walker) reports, "Public debate over the electronic road ahead for the Veterans Affairs Department is often informed by a series of high-profile information technology project failures at the department," whose "Chief Information Officer Roger Baker has told Congress and other officials...VA is changing its ways for the better." FierceGovernmentIT publishes a transcript of an interview it conducted with Baker "at the Executive Leadership Conference in Williamsburg, Va. on Oct. 24." Among other things, Baker told FierceGovernmentIT that "our thought is that by being part of an open source community based around VistA," VA "can encourage private sector folks to either directly contribute the open source-you know, make improvements," or "integrate their products with the open source, so we can very easily buy a working product, instead of having to go down the government route."

2.      Louisiana Governor Awards Medals To Vets. The KATC-TV Lafayette, LA (10/25) website noted that on Monday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal "awarded 324 veterans from St. Mary Parish with the Louisiana Veterans' Honor Medal," during a ceremony held at the Patterson Civic Center in Morgan City. Jindal was joined at the ceremony by "Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs (LDVA) Secretary Lane Carson."

3.      Report Says VA Would Benefit From Open-Source Software Development Program.  Modern Healthcare (10/25, Conn, 72K) reported, "The Veterans Affairs Department-and quite possibly the world-would benefit from establishing an open-source software development program to carry forward with the 33 years of software development that created the VA's VistA electronic health-record system, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh have concluded" in an "86-page report, 'The VistA Ecosystem: Current Status and Future Directions.'"

4.      VA Awards Medical Records Consolidation Contract. The AP (10/26) notes that on Monday, data management company Caci International Inc. "said...it has won a $91 million contract to with the Department of Veterans Affairs to help consolidate the medical records of Armed Forces members." According the AP, work on the five-year contract "involves developing a database for use by all health providers in the veterans and defense systems and in civilian medical offices that military personnel might use." Government Health IT (10/26, Mosquera) and Modern Healthcare (10/26, Conn) publish similar stories.

5.      VA Awards Grant To Homeless Shelter For New Facility. The KECI-TV Missoula, MT (10/25, Iannetta) website said the Poverello Center, a "homeless shelter in Missoula," is the "recipient of a half a million dollar grant" from the Department of Veterans Affairs "for a new veterans facility." Poverello's "director of operations, Eran Fowler Pehan, tells NBC Montana" that news of the grant is "incredibly exciting."

6.      Defense Department Funding Chip To Constantly Monitor TBI Patients. The current issue of the Army Times (11/1, 104K) reports, "Rather than constantly monitoring patients' vital signs, the military hopes to provide a constant flow of information for troops with severe" traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) "through a 'lab on a chip.' To that end, the Defense Department just awarded a $ million grant to the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and the University of Cincinnati to continue research on a drive they've developed." Raj Narayan, "chairman of neurosurgery at North Shore University in New York, which will be helping to create the device," said, "When soldiers are injured in battle, there is a great need for this kind of monitoring, and it would be critically important during transport."

7.      Injured US Soldiers Being Treated At NATO Hospital In Afghanistan. In its current issue, the Army Times (11/1, Kennedy, 104K) says that when "patients arrive – 250 to 400 a week, including about 275 trauma patients a month – everything else disappears in the cacophony of noise, action and emotion" that is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) "Role 3 multinational hospital" located at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. According to the Times, injured US soldiers are treated at the hospital.

8.      Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic Operating In Afghanistan. According to the current issue of the Army Times (11/1, Kennedy, 104K), the US military "has stood up a new traumatic brain injury clinic" at the Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan. The clinic is a "response to a requirement that all service members be assessed for concussions after potential injuries."

9.      In Sign Making Reference To Caprio Comment, Vet Urges Obama To Do More For Vets. In its "Projo 7 To 7 News Blog," the Providence (RI) Journal (10/26, Naylor) notes that on Monday, as "President Obama's motorcade passed on its way to a fundraiser at the East Side home of Buff and Johnnie Chace," 67-year-old veteran Peter Stelljes "held a sign that said, 'He meant $hov IT $ R $ way, Mr POTUS.'" Stellies "referred in his sign to General Treasurer Frank Caprio's angry dismissal of the president's neutrality in the governor's race." The Journal points out that while Stelljes "said he didn't think Obama was doing enough for veterans," he also "said Caprio's telling Obama to 'shove it' embarrassed him."

10.    National Association For Uniformed Services Calls For New COLA Calculation Formula. The current issue of the Army Times (11/1, 104K) reports, "The Oct. 15 announcement there will be no" cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) "this year in military retired pay – the second consecutive year with no increase – has prompted" the National Association for Uniformed Services (NAUS) to "renew its call for a new formula for calculating retirement expenses that puts more weight on things such as health care, which is a bigger expense for seniors than for younger people. With retirees facing double-digit increase increases in health care costs, the revised formula would provide a fairer and more accurate Social Security COLA each year, NAUS said in a statement."

11.    WWII Vet's Remains Buried 66 Years After His Death. In a story syndicated by McClatchy (10/26), the Charlotte (NC) Observer (10/25, Perlmutt, 179K) noted that on Monday, "120 far-flung members" of World War II veteran John Simonetti's family were scheduled to "gather at Arlington National Cemetery...to bury his remains -- miraculously found" in France in "late May 2009, days before the 65th anniversary of D-Day."

12.    FBI Investigating Threat Made Against Dayton VA Hospital. The Dayton (OH) Daily News (10/26, McAllister, Beyerlein) reports, "Two men were being questioned after federal agents and local officers learned the men planned 'to show up at the VA Center and basically shoot a bunch of people up,' police said Monday." Michael Brooks, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), "confirmed that the agency is investigating a threat made to the Dayton VA Medical Center either late Sunday night or early Monday morning, but he would not say how the threat was made." The News adds, "Federal agents found a rocket launcher and other weapons at the Miami Bluffs apartment Monday, according to Miami Twp. Deputy Police Chief John DiPietro." The Hamilton (OH) Journal-News (10/26) runs the same story.
     The Dayton (OH) Daily News (10/26, Beyerlein) notes, "A man whose apartment contained a small arsenal of assault weapons and ammunition and who allegedly plotted to attack the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center was 'an excellent resident, very quiet, very polite, very gentlemanly,' his landlady said Monday." According to the Daily News, police and "FBI agents Monday found two assault rifles, ammunition and a rocket launcher" at the Miami Bluffs apartment complex "after the resident and another man were taken into custody in connection with an alleged plot to attack the VA center. Miami Twp. Deputy Police Chief Maj. John DiPietro said both men had been receiving services from...VA."
     WKEF-TV Dayton, OH (10/25, 11:07 p.m. ET) broadcast that the FBI, which is "not releasing the names of the two men" being investigated, "say...no one has been criminally charged in this case," a point also made by WRGT-TV Dayton, OH (10/25, 10:07 p.m. ET). WDTN-TV Dayton, OH (10/25, 11:04 p.m. ET) also aired a report on the investigation, which was also noted by the websites for WHIO-TV Dayton, OH (10/25) and WHIO-FM Dayton, OH (10/25, Keinath).

13.    VA Opening New Clinic Today In Alaska. In continuing coverage, KTUU-TV Anchorage, AK (10/25, 6:26 p.m. AKT) broadcast, "The Department of Veterans Affairs will open a new clinic this week in Juneau that will give southeast Alaska veterans a healthcare option closer to home." The "clinic opens Tuesday, on the first floor of the Juneau Federal Building."

14.    Portland VAMC Hosting Drive-Through Flu Shot Clinic. The Portland-based Oregonian (10/26, Navas, 271K) reports, "Enrolled veterans won't even need to get out of their cars for flu shots at a drive-through clinic hosted" by the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center "from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. The event will be held at the East Portland VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic located at 10535 N.E. Glisan St., Portland. Veterans must show their military identification to obtain the free shot.."

15.    Congress Given "C" By Vets Group. In continuing coverage, the current issue of the Army Times (11/1, Tilghman, McGarry, 104K) reports, "If Capitol Hill were a school, the average lawmaker would get a 'C' for failing to pass important pieces of legislation for troops and veterans, according to a report released" on Wednesday, October 20th, "by a veterans advocacy group. 'One of the biggest things to take away from this Congress is that nobody did very well this year,' said Tom Tarantino, senior legislative associate" for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), which released the report. The group's "scoring system was based on lawmakers' formal support for a handful of proposed laws related to issues on IAVA's agenda, " including "improving the Post-9/11 GI Bill and streamlining" the Veterans Affairs disability process.
     Cost Issues Delay GI Bill Improvement Package. A related story in the current issue of the Army Times (11/1, Maze, 104K) says, "Tens of thousands of student veterans would benefits from a GI Bill improvement package that is pending before Congress, if only lawmakers can overcome cost issues." Supporters "said the package could be modified to cut costs or congressional sponsors may wait until next year to pass the measure, giving them time to try to secure funding." The Times points out, however, that a "delay is risky because it is unclear whether the new Congress that convenes in January will consider veterans education benefits a budgetary priority."

16.    New Law Closes Traumatic Injury Insurance Coverage Loophole. The current issue of the Army Times (11/1, 104K) reports, "About 700 people who sustained severe injuries between Oct. 7, 2001, and Dec. 1, 2005, will be eligible for retroactive payments of traumatic injury insurance as a result" of President Obama's recent signing of the Veterans Benefit Act of 2010. The law "includes a provision aimed at closing a loophole in coverage for the special insurance," one that "left people who received severe injuries outside of a combat zone ineligible for the benefit. Now, payments will be provided regardless of where injures occurred."

 17.    Surescripts Aims To Expand Medical Data-Sharing. The AP (10/26) notes that Surescripts, the "country's largest network for paperless prescribing," is "expanding so that doctors around the country can choose to share medical reports, X-rays and other health data over its network much as they send e-prescriptions to drugstores today, regardless of what competing brand of computerized health records they use." The "move is among the largest of a growing number of efforts to connect electronic medical records-including work to link Veterans Affairs hospitals with private physicians in certain cities."

18.    Building Renovations Could Complicate Things For Veterans. The WSET-TV Roanoke, VA (10/25, Tate) website.

19.    War-Zone Burn Pits Still Breaking Law. The current issue of the Army Times (11/1, Kennedy, 104K) runs a very similar version of a story that first appeared on the Times' website, under the headline "War-Zone Burn Pits Violate Laws, GAO Says."

20.    Veterans Group Has New Home. The Tuscaloosa (AL) News (10/25, Avant) noted that on Sunday, the American Legion Post 123 opened the "doors to its new home on University Boulevard in Alberta, less than a mile from where the organization began." The News adds, "The American Legion is a veterans organization that supports veterans at the Tuscaloosa Veterans Affairs Medical Center and area nursing homes."

21.    San Diego Veteran Undertakes Year-Long Pilgrimage To NY's Ground Zero. The Yuma (AZ) Sun (10/26, Romero, 24K) notes that 68-year-old veteran "Tony The Vet, or Anthony A. LoBue," a resident of San Diego, California, is in the "process of walking from San Diego to the Ground Zero site in New York City. LoBue is participating in Walkathon Across America; an event he created to promote the Support Our Veterans Association, an association that assists all veterans, their families, friends and communities, according to LoBue."