Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GPOs are subject to certain federal laws that HHS, DOJ, and FTC are responsible for enforcing. According to HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) officials, since 2004, the office has not routinely exercised its authority to request and review disclosures related to GPOs’ contract administrative fees, but it has collected information on GPOs’ contract administrative fees while conducting audits of hospitals’ cost reports. While HHS-OIG is responsible for enforcing the Anti-Kickback statute, the law and regulation do not require routine monitoring of GPO written agreements and disclosures. HHS-OIG officials told us that even if they requested this information from GPOs, it would not necessarily be sufficient to determine whether a GPO violated the Anti-Kickback statute. Officials from HHS-OIG also told us that, since 2004, it participated in two case investigations with DOJ that involved allegations that certain GPOs did not comply with safe harbor requirements and violated the Anti-Kickback statute. Officials told us that HHS-OIG has not imposed administrative penalties on any GPOs since 2004. DOJ and FTC have investigated complaints related to federal antitrust laws, and we identified one lawsuit filed by DOJ against a GPO in …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The following is a list of the specific data elements that we requested DOD provide an updated status as of December 31, 2011, for each of the ERPs."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Among the tribes that responded to our survey (109), none reported that they were exercising TLOA’s new sentencing authority, and, in open-ended responses, many tribes (86 of 90, or 96 percent) reported challenges to exercising this authority due to funding limitations. Tribes were relatively evenly split among those that reported that they have plans to exercise the new authority (36 of 101, or 36 percent); that they did not know the tribe’s plans to exercise the new authority (34 of 101, or 34 percent) because, for instance, the tribal council has not yet made a decision; and that they did not have plans to do so (31 of 101, or 31 percent). In addition, 64 percent of selected tribes (70 of 109) reported implementing at least half of the requirements necessary for exercising the new sentencing authority, but reported challenges in implementing other requirements. Specifically, these tribes most frequently reported implementing the requirement to maintain a record of the criminal proceeding, and least frequently reported providing the defendant a licensed defense attorney. For example, 8 tribes that described challenges to exercising the new sentencing authority reported challenges with …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO’s prior work on sexual assault in the military has resulted in 25 recommendations on various aspects of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) program. DOD concurred or partially concurred with all of GAO’s recommendations and has since begun or completed action on each of them. To date, GAO’s analysis shows that DOD has fully implemented 13 recommendations and has partially implemented the remaining 12 recommendations, which GAO will continue to monitor."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "VA estimates the amount of collections and reimbursements it expects to receive each year by using a projection model and other methods. These estimates have varied when compared with actual amounts for various reasons. VA used a projection model to estimate its collections for fiscal years 2005 through 2012 based on data reflecting the amount of health care—known as workload—VA has provided in the past and the amounts VA has collected in the past. To estimate its collections in fiscal year 2013, VA began using a second projection model, known as the Integrated Collections Forecasting Model (ICFM) to estimate collections. The ICFM relies on many of the same data sources as VA’s previous collections model, but it also incorporates forecasts related to future workload. For fiscal years 2005 through 2011, VA both overestimated and underestimated its collections. For example, for fiscal year 2011, VA overestimated the amount of its collections by about $582 million, or 17 percent. VA officials attribute this difference to several factors, such as overestimating the amount of collections VA would receive when it billed veterans’ third-party insurance plans. To estimate the amount of reimbursements …

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Government Accountability Office is responsible for, among other things, assisting the Congress in its oversight of the federal government, including agencies’ stewardship of public funds. To use public funds effectively, the government must meet the demands of today’s changing world by employing effective management practices and processes, including the measurement of government program performance. In addition, legislators, government officials, and the public want to know whether government programs are achieving their goals and what their costs are."

Interview with Carolyn Barta,a journalist and professor in Dallas, Texas. The interview includes biographical information about her educational background and her career writing for The Dallas Morning News about features and covering political campaigns.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Authority of Type A general-law municipality with a population of less than 900,000 to enact an ordinance setting either a 300-foot "Alcohol-Free School Zone" or a 1,000-foot zone around a school in which the sale of of alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption would be prohibited (RQ-1028-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether, in determining the market value of a residence homestead, a chief appraiser is required to consider the value of previously sold foreclosed residential property (RQ-1029-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a mental health professional is required by chapter 261, Family Code, to report abuse or neglect that occurred during the childhood of a now-adult patient (RQ-1030-GA)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the Angleton-Danbury Hospital District is authorized to sell a hospital facility to a third party and lease care for the District's needy residents (RQ-1033-GA)

The objective of this grant was to further the development of Montana’s vast wind resources for small, medium, and large scale benefits to Montana and the nation. This was accomplished through collaborative work with wind industry representatives, state and local governments, the agricultural community, and interested citizens. Through these efforts MT Dept Environmental Quality (DEQ) was able to identify development barriers, educate and inform citizens, as well as to participate in regional and national dialogue that will spur the development of wind resources. The scope of DEQ’s wind outreach effort evolved over the course of this agreement from the development of the Montana Wind Working Group and traditional outreach efforts, to the current focus on working with the state’s university system to deliver a workforce trained to enter the wind industry.

This publication offers information on the waste heat to power (WHP). The WHP is the process of capturing heat discarded by an existing industrial process by using heat to generate energy.

Interview with Arthur Lee Wallace, Olan Raley, and Charles Hagood, all cedar choppers.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with George W. Meyers. Meyers worked as a welder and on an oil rig prior to joining the Navy just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Meyers was eventually assigned to a naval construction battalion and recalls assembling massive oil tanks, a hospital and a radar installation in the Solomon Islands. He also shares anecdotes about welding pontoons together at the Admiralty Islands. Meyers was discharged in November, 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Edwin Jennings. Jennings enlisted in the Army Air Forces around 1942. In November of 1943 he was commissioned second lieutenant. He served as a math instructor. He completed training in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey on how the weather affects the radar of the enemy. He traveled to New Guinea and then to Leyte in October of 1944. He was assigned to a radar station in Leyte and the Apo Reef in the Philippines, and he provides details of these experiences, and their radar equipment.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with William DeFrates. DeFrates entered the Navy in May, 1943 with his parent's consent. He went to boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois, as well as signal school. He was ultimately placed in the amphibious force after training at Norfolk, Virginia. DeFrates was assigned to the 7th Naval Beach Battalion. DeFrates describes training in LCVPs (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel). DeFrates recalls several anecdotes from his training days and riding the troop ship to England, where he arrived in January, 1944. He also discusses training in England prior to the Normandy invasion. DeFrates describes going across the English Channel aboard an LST en route to the Normandy beachhead for the D-Day invasion. He discusses going over the side of an LST (Landing Ship, Tank) into an LCVP and heading for the beach. DeFrates was in the seventh or eight wave and landed close to noon on 6 June 1944 at Omaha Beach. His group immediately began setting up signal stations on the beach to communicate with incoming ships. DeFrates and crew signalled incoming ships until August at Normandy before being relieved and returned to England and then the US. He …

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Harry I. Tannehill. Tannehill was drafted into the Marine Corps in November, 1943. After basic training in San Diego, Tannehill moved to Hawaii and went through amphibious force training. Tannehill was attached to the 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division. Tannehill served as a crewmember aboard an LVT (Landing Vehicle, Tracked) and ferried Marines to the beaches at Iwo Jima. His LVT ran out of gas and sank on the first night. He was rescued from the water and resumed hauling supplies (food, water, ammunition) via LVT to the Marines on Iwo Jima the next day.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with John J. Keenan. Keenan joined the Army in June 1941. He served as a bugler and runner and was quickly promoted due to circumstances and luck. Keenan became a master sergeant in less than 2 years. He served with the 7th Armored Division and landed in France in August 1944. Keenan describes some of the incidents he remembers as his unit advanced across Europe including meeting the Russians at the Elbe River. He was discharged in July 1945.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the H.P. Luckett House, in Bastrop, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, maps, and photographs.

News release about a series of community meetings hosted by DART to acquire public input on DART's proposed fare changes.