Veterans! Here’s your Top 10 Newsstories of the day compiled from the latest sources

We encourage you to browse our list so that you can take what you want and keep what you need

1.   States struggling to meet deadlines for delivering absentee ballots.  Nearly three years after Congress passed a law to guarantee military and overseas voters receive their absentee ballots at least 45 days before a federal election, several states are still failing to comply with the law.
 
2.   Soldier’s remains returned to North Korea during repatriation ceremony.  Military officials from both sides of the Demilitarized Zone put their differences on hold for 10 minutes Thursday for the ceremonial return of a North Korean soldier whose body was found south of the line dividing the two Koreas.
 
3.   Sequestration’s threat to commissaries; Retiree COLA set.  Taxpayer support of base grocery stores this fiscal year would fall by $130 million, or 9.4 percent, if Congress fails to reach a debt-reduction deal by Jan. 2, its deadline to avoid arbitrary budget cuts mandated by the sequestration mechanism in last year’s Budget Control Act.
 
4.   Veteran questions UNC tuition policy, starts online petition.  A former Army sergeant stationed at Fort Bragg has started an online petition calling for the UNC Board of Governors to end what she says is discrimination against student veterans.

5.   Innovation in Open Source EHRs and Health IT to be Focus.  Sacramento Bee  More than 30 eminent panelists and speakers, including the Honorable Scott Gould, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Todd Park, US Chief Technology Officer, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President …

6.   Performance pilot launching at Veterans Affairs.  GovExec.com  The Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration is joining a growing list of agencies signing on to a pilot program that aims to change performance appraisal procedures. … The U.S. Coast Guard will launch its program in April 2013.

7.   Commentary: Rural outreach for veterans services.  Elko Daily Free Press  Every year, the federal Department of Veterans Affairs releases data showing the amount of money distributed to each state, broken down by category and by county. Over the last few years, since we opened our veteran services office in conjunction with …

8.   State representatives tour Veterans Court in Dedham.  Wicked Local  Meaning that, during that 18-month time, the veteran will be subject to drug tests, be required to report to the Department of Veterans Affairs, remain gainfully employed and attend Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. The idea is …

9.   Homeless Veteran Stand Down helps veterans prepare for winter.  SunHerald.com  Volunteers hand out supplies at the 2012 Homeless Veteran Stand Down at the V.A. Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System in Biloxi on Wednesday Oct. 17, 2012.

10. Military veterans with hearing or speech loss now eligible.  Daily Press (blog)  The Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (VDDHH) and Virginia Relay have announced that military veterans living with a hearing or speech loss are now automatically eligible for telecommunications equipment through Virginia’s Technology …