Tuesday Morning Federal Newscast – March 22nd

The Morning Federal Newscast is a daily compilation of the stories you hear Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Amy Morris discuss throughout the show each day. The Newscast is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com users more information about the stories you hear on the air.

• Self service is coming to E-Verify, the system employers nationwide use to check workers’ eligibility. Now individual workers will have access to E-Verify, and the means to correct their records before applying for a job. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the system will be tested in five states plus the District of Columbia. She describes the service as voluntary, free and secure. Online instructions will appear in English and Spanish. E-Verify is operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The agency hopes to expand the self-check service nationwide by the end of next year.
• A former Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for accepting bribes in exchange for fake immigration documents. Constantine Peter Kallas was also ordered to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution. He was convicted of 36 counts of conspiracy, bribery, and fraud. Prosecutors say Kallas and his wife pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in an elaborate scheme between 2003 and 2008 by setting up two companies to file false paperwork claiming the immigrants had job offers to work in this country. Prosecutors described the scheme as an epic display of a public official’s greed.
• A U.S. Air Force F-15 Strike Eagle jet has crashed in Libya, the U.S. military said Tuesday. Both crew members ejected, have been recovered and are “safe.” Military officials say U.S. forces will take more of a back-seat and let international forces operate more of the missions over Libya in the coming days. They say the focus will be to widen the no-fly zone, while carrying out smaller-scale attacks on Moammar Gadhafi’s forces. A senior defense official says Libya’s air defense has been cut by more than half.
• The State Department is offering potassium iodide to its staff in Japan as a precaution against a possible radiation release from the tsunami ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In a travel warning released early Monday, the State Department advises its employees to refrain from taking the compound at this time. The government says it is making potassium iodide available “out of an abundance of caution” to its personnel and family members.
• Northrop Grumman has landed a billion-dollar deal with the Department of Homeland Security. It is a follow-on for the Enterprise Networked Services Support task order. Many agencies use it to share secure information. The original contract in 2004 also went to Northrop, which built and operated the secret classified network infrastructure. The Washington Business Journal reports that other firms are on Northrop Grumman Information Technology’s contract team include CACI International and Lockheed Martin.
• A new partnership could change the rocket business, and it could help NASA’s plan to use commercial carriers to take astronauts into space. The Wall Street Journal reports the deal is between United Launch Alliance and XCOR. ULA is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. XCOR is a California startup specializing in space tourism. The goal is to develop a low-cost, liquid fueled, upper stage rocket. It would attach to traditional Delta-four and Atlas-five launchers made by ULA. NASA administrator Charles Bolden has been encouraging industry to develop new players and new technologies in rocket propulsion.
• TASC has won a $97 million weapons support contract with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Washington Technology reports the deal is that TASC will provide contingency planning for weapons of mass destruction and the safety, security and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear deterrent. The main customer is the Combat Support and Nuclear Support directorates. Most of the work will be performed at Fort Belvoir, Kirkland Air Force Base in New Mexico, and the Pentagon.
• A group of citizen military members are under arrest in Alaska, charged with conspiring to murder a federal judge and an IRS employee. Accounting Today reports that the group also faces weapons and explosives charges. Lonnie Vernon and his wife Karen Vernon are also charged with threatening to murder the judge’s family. The indictment says that the couple wanted to murder the judge – and an IRS employee – because they were taken to court for not paying back taxes. The charge of conspiracy to murder a federal employee carries a maximum term of life imprisonment.

More news links

U.S. military considering mandatory evacuations in Yokosuka (CNN)

Texas man gets first full face transplant in US

Does the Government Printing Office need a name change? (WashingtonPost)

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