Florida House of Representatives Representative Gayle Harrell, from Stuart, Florida, was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000 where she proudly served for 8 years and was later re-elected back to the…
Former Veterans Affairs CIO Roger W. Baker was nominated by President Obama to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology for the Department of Veterans Affairs and subsequently confirmed by the Senate on…
How Health IT Enables Better quality at lower cost. Adapting IT processes to meet evolving public policy requirements is essential to delivering efficient, quality healthcare. Government, health IT professionals, and providers are racing to meet the changing federal and state regulations, while struggling with tightening budgets, sequestration, and mandates to improve care and reduce cost — all while expanding access to millions of new patients. Join us as we explore the many nuances to improving healthcare outcomes through IT policy with our esteemed panel of nationally-recognized experts in the field of healthcare outcomes and IT policy. Join the conversation on these topics and more…at the 9th Annual Government Health IT Conference & Exhibition. Register today. Registration is now Complimentary for Any Federal Employee or Hospital/IDN/Ambulatory Practice Employees! Just announced Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM and Stephen Warren, Acting CIO of the VA have been added to the speakers for the Government Health IT Conference & Exhibition.
Russia's Rosaviatsiya aviation agency has banned its airlines from flying over Syria, after a plane with 160 passengers detoured to avoid danger from fighting on the ground. Syria's civil war has severely impacted airline traffic to and from the country. Reuters reports, most Russian airlines had heeded a recommendation issued in February not to cross Syrian territory but some had ignored the risk and continued to do so on flights to and from Egypt, among other destinations.
The Pentagon says one of four Air Force members killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan was a pilot from northern Virginia. Capt. The Associated Press reports Brandon Cyr, 28, of Woodbridge, Va., had been stationed at Scott Air Force Base in southwestern Illinois. Cyr died in Saturday's crash of an Air Force MC-12. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The Pentagon says there were no reports of enemy activity in the area at the time. Cyr was an instructor pilot and member of the 906th Air Refueling Squadron within the 375th Air Mobility Wing based at Scott. The base also says Cyr flew with members of the Illinois Air National Guard's 126th Air Refueling Wing.
An Army helicopter pilot from northern Virginia is one of two soldiers killed in Afghanistan by enemy fire. The Pentagon said Friday that 26-year-old 1st Lt. Robert J. Hess of Fairfax died Tuesday in the Pul-E-Alam district of Logar province in eastern Afghanistan, from wounds suffered as a result of indirect fire. Also killed was 32-year-old Capt. Aaron R. Blanchard of Selah, Wash. Both soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Aviation Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, at Fort Drum, N.Y.
Jenny Mattingley will host a roundtable discussion of the events during Public Service Recognition Week. April 26, 2013
Some military chaplains trying to access the Southern Baptist Convention website this week were surprised to find it blocked with a message that it contained "hostile content." The problem left military officials having to explain to leaders of the nation's largest Protestant denomination that it was an unintentional software glitch. A Defense Department spokesman said the problem seemed to be with the commercial software the military uses to protect its network. The software blocks access to prohibited sites, like those for pornography or gambling, as well as sites that might have some type of malware associated them.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the U.S. effort to determine whether Syria has used chemical weapons is a "serious business" that cannot be decided in a rush just because several countries believe evidence supports that conclusion. Wrapping up a visit to Egypt, he told reporters, "I think we have to be very careful here before we make any conclusions (and) draw any conclusions based on real intelligence. That's not at all questioning other nations' intelligence. But the United States relies on its own intelligence."
This week on AFGE's "Inside Government" Chris Hayes, host of MSNBC's "All In with Chris Hayes," discusses workplace safety issues and the value of public employees. GovLoop Community Engagement Director Andrew Krzmarzick and AFGE FAA Local 2282 President Greg Brooks address federal government furloughs while AFGE Small Business Administration Council 228 President Elaine Powell-Belnavis details the union's labor agreement with SBA.
Secretary of State John Kerry urged NATO to prepare for the possible use of chemical weapons by Syria. This came on Tuesday, the same day that a senior Israeli military intelligence official said Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad had used such weapons last month in his battle against insurgents. It was the first time Israel had accused the embattled Syrian leader of using his stockpile of nonconventional weapons. The assessment was based on visual evidence, could raise pressure on the U.S. and other Western countries to intervene in Syria. Britain and France recently announced that they had evidence that Assad's government had used chemical weapons.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined to rule out the possibility of providing arms to Syrian rebel groups. Although he did not make a clear commitment, his comments on a BBC News program indicated that he is considering a shift away from two years of neutrality on the Syrian civil war. He said that the decision of whether to intervene in the neighboring civil war is a "complicated question." The U.S. is already assisting some Syrian rebel
Buchholz has stewardship responsibility for NASA's workforce. Jeri L. Buchholz Chief Human Capital Officer NASA