1.    OPM Owning Transparency: People, Processes, and Technology.  OPM Blog

2.    SMART Apps for Health.  Challenge.gov 

3.    VA's Tech Budget Takes Hit; Shinseki Says IT Still 'Key'.  Executive Gov 

4.    Team searching for Americans missing from Korean War. A specially trained team of U.S. and Chinese archeologists from the U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command are working in Guangdon province, China, to continue the search for Americans unaccounted for from the Korean War, according to a Navy release. 

5.    Gates finds troops optimistic, anxious on the front lines.  COMBAT OUTPOST KOWALL, Afghanistan undefined The next few weeks may be the most important period of the Afghanistan War.

6.    Texas agency says funding cuts would deny help to veterans.  Fort Worth Star Telegram  Those veterans are eligible for compensation from the US Veterans Affairs Department, but because it is such a complicated and confusing process, most veterans enlist the help of experts, including claims counselors from the state commission.

7.    R/X Automation lands $13 million deal.  Boulder County Business Report  The Longmont-based company will use its expertise in inventory management to deliver special machinery to a new US Department of Veterans Affairs facility in Charleston, South Carolina, the company said. The contract award is with the US Department of

8.    Placer County Veterans Service secures millions in benefits for local vets.  Placer County Online
Rick Buckman, Placer County Veteran Services Officer, was recently commended by the State Department of Veterans Affairs for the benefit payments he has secured for Placer County Veterans, according to a county spokesperson. In fiscal year 2009-10,

9.    Life After War: Perspectives on PTSD From Rhode Island Veterans.  Campus Progress  After six years of road rage and constant guilt Scirocco checked himself into the Veteran's Affairs Hospital in Providence and was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A childhood friend of Scirocco's, who was deployed at the same time

10.                       Political Notebook: Roch sales tax bills to be introduced.  Post-Bulletin  Tim Walz, Gross shared his ideas on how the US Department of Veterans Affairs can do a better job serving veterans. In particular, Gross talked about some of the bureaucratic barriers he faces while trying to serve local veterans. 

11.                       Australia Commits $3.3 Million For Vietnam Education Center In US.  Gov Monitor  Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Warren Snowdon, today launched the Australian Government's commitment of $3.3 million towards a world-first education centre in Washington DC honoring Vietnam veterans.

12.                       State Vets Home Bill Approved.  Hot Springs (SD) Star "Last week's passage of Senate Bill 52 by the S.D. House of Representatives starts the ball rolling on a new State Veteran's Home in Hot Springs." The legislation is now "on Governor Dennis Daugaard's desk, awaiting ...

13.                       Bill Would Ease Compensation For Sexual Trauma. Army Times "Veterans who are sexually assaulted, raped or harassed while in the service often find they are ineligible for post-service disability compensation and medical treatment if they ...

14.                       Report Reveals Steep Increase In War Amputations Last Fall. Washington Post "The majority of American soldiers undergoing amputation for war wounds last fall lost more than one limb, according to data presented Tuesday to the Defense Health Board, a committee of experts that advises the Defense Department on medical matters." Military officials had previously released data .....

15.                       GI Bill Battered. New York Post The Post-9/11 GI Bill, which was "intended to help veterans pay for college," is "about to have the opposite ...  

16.                       Meeting Shares Promising Veteran Reintegration Practices At College Campuses. Chronicle Of Higher Education "The Post-9/11 GI Bill has brought to colleges not only legions of veterans, but awareness of the need for dedicated services to help them reintegrate ....  

17.                       Wounded Veteran's "Dream House" Built Through Volunteer Effort. Tampa Tribune Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay designed and built a home for disabled Iraq veteran Waldemar Alameda. The "home was funded by Sears, designed by ....

18.                       Disabled Veteran: "Bring My Scooter Back!" WHAM-TV "Police in Newark and Lyons are investigating" the theft of a motorized scooter that the US Department of Veterans Affairs provided to disabled Vietnam vet Ed Tellier. Tellier "made this appeal to the thief: 'bring back my scooter ...

19.                       Health Care Goes Mobile, But Who Pays. AP The US Department of Veterans Affairs' "49,000-patient network is part of a quiet revolution in health care dubbed 'telemedicine,' aimed at improving care and lowering costs by keeping patients out of hospitals and nursing homes."

20.                       More Agencies Moving Paper Records Into The Digital Realm. Federal Times "The Veterans Affairs Department has stepped up its efforts to automate veterans' disability claims records and give vets electronic access to their health data." The VA, which "now boasts more than 185,000 persons who download their health records through VA's Blue Button," is "working with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Defense Department to make Blue Button technology available to all 8 million ...

21.                       First Do No Harm. Washington Monthly "In 2002, Dr. Rajiv Jain of the Pittsburgh Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center introduced a commonsense method used throughout Europe to drive down the number of hospital-acquired" methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) "infections: swab the noses of patients before they are admitted, and if they test positive for MRSA, isolate them from other patients.

22.                       Army Plans Vision Care EMR For Its Base Retailer Services. Government Health IT "The Department of the Army is gauging industry capabilities for an electronic medical records system (EMR) for its worldwide Army & Air Force Exchange vision care business." "EMR would have to integrate with clinical systems of the Defense and Veterans Affairs Departments,"

23.                       VA Tries To Clear Backlog Of Exams. Salisbury (NC) Post "The W.G. (Bill) Hefner VA Medical Center, as part" of the Veterans Affairs Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network, "will tackle the growing backlog of compensation and pension exams during three one-week sessions that began this week." VA hospitals in "North Carolina, Virginia and southern West Virginia have dedicated up to ...

24.                       Campaign Aims To Open Doors For The Homeless. NPR's "All Things Considered" San Diego has "joined more than 70 other cities - such as Phoenix, Tucson and Nashville - in a national campaign to get 100,000 chronically homeless people into permanent housing."

25.                       Event Showcases Vets Planning To Participate In Wheelchair Games. WPCW-TV "Hundreds of veterans from all over are expected...to attend" the "31st Annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games" this year in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney and "former Steelers Rocky Bleier will be honorary co-chairs".

26.                       Who Can Be Buried At Arlington Cemetery? Washington Times "Department of Veterans Affairs' Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs L. Tammy Duckworth" is "among the confirmed speakers at the Sea Service Leadership Association (SSLA)'s 24th Annual Women's Leadership Symposium. The symposium will take place March 15-16, 2011, at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina in San Diego, Calif. The conference is slated to be one of the largest gatherings of women in uniform nationwide."

27.                       Candrea To Host New Disabled Veterans Softball Team. Tucson Citizen

28.                       Twinsburg Veterans Mark Decades Of Service At VA Hospital. Willoughby (OH) News-Leader

29.                       Unique Bay Area Jail Caters To Veterans Serving Time. KGO-TV