Tuesday Afternoon Federal Newscast

UPDATE: The Department of Agriculture has signed a massive new lease at a new office building in Southwest D.C. The Washington Business Journal reports that, at 330,000 square feet, the agency will nearly fill Patriots Plaza III, a 380,000-square-foot building developed by Multi-Employer Property Trust, Kennedy Associates Real Estate Counsel L.P. and Trammell Crow Co. GSA negotiated and signed the deal on behalf of USDA, which is consolidating five other locations throughout the District and Northern Virginia.

Soldier suicides this year are almost sure to top last year’s numbers, but the Army says it has made progress in stemming the problem in recent months. Army Vice Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli says, as of Monday, 140 soldiers are believed to have died of self-inflicted wounds. That’s the same as were confirmed for all of 2008. But Chiarelli says that huge monthly numbers reported in January and February have tapered off and that the trend is mostly downward since March.

The Internal Revenue Service says more than 14,700 taxpayers with offshore accounts in 70 foreign countries have come forward to settle their tax debts. IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman says a flood of people came forward as an Oct. 15 deadline approached for the amnesty program. The program generally allowed people to avoid criminal prosecution if they agreed to pay taxes, interest and penalties. Shulman says those taxpayers represent billions of dollars in taxes returning to the U.S.

Astronauts aboard the shuttle Atlantis have begun a close inspection of the craft’s thermal shield, checking for any possible damage during yesterday’s launch. They’re using a 100-foot, laser-tipped inspection boom, which was first focused on Atlantis’ right wing. The job is expected to last into the afternoon. NASA officials say a quick look at launch images suggests there is nothing to be concerned about. Atlantis, on an 11-day voyage, is scheduled to dock tomorrow with the International Space Station. It’s delivering nearly 15 tons of big spare parts. (AP Wires)

A one-day flight training exercise starts tonight and continues into the early morning hours throughout the D.C. metro region. The North American Aerospace Defense Command will hold the exercise with a series of training flights designed to hone NORAD’s intercept and identification operations, as well as test their Visual Warning System. It’s called Exercise Falcon Virgo, and includes Civil Air Patrol aircraft, Air Force F-16s and Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters.

Other News Links

Defense measure likely to carry unfinished spending bills (Congress Daily/GovExec)

What’s Brewin’: The (VA) Checks Aren’t in the Mail (NextGov)

GAO says it saved taxpayers $43B in fiscal 2009 (FCW)

20 percent of Americans hold positive view of government (Federal Times)

Obama said to be close again to naming cybersecurity chief (computerworld)

Enabling Citizen Engagement Conference with Keynote David McClure (Digital Government Institute)

Which browser is the riskiest? The answer may surprise you (FCW)

On the Dorobek Insider

The era of social media is over – long live collaboration tools

Also! A 2.0 event: Social Networking: the Two Dirtiest Words in Gov 2.0 (Sweets & Tweets)

Watching the Networx transition – or lack there of – at AFFIRM on Wednesday

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