Tuesday Afternoon Federal Newscast

Authorities have released a census worker's body to his family nearly a month after he was found dead with a rope around his neck in rural eastern Kentucky. His son tells The Associated Press investigators have released the body but are still telling him little about the case. Josh Sparkman says he's making arrangements to have the body cremated as his father requested. Bill Sparkman's body was found with a rope around his neck, his hands and feet duct-taped. The coroner confirmed the word "fed" was scrawled on his chest. The state medical examiner's office has established the cause of death as asphyxiation, but police have not said it was a homicide.

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a nearly-billion-dollar contract to seven companies to support its technology infrastructure. The agency awarded the "blanket purchase" agreement worth 955-million dollars over seven years. Vendors now will compete for task orders the agency issues under the deal. Click here for the complete list.

The company that makes booster rockets for the space shuttle is laying off 550 engineers, factory workers and others at three Utah locations. ATK Space Systems says today's pink slips mark the phase-out of the space shuttle, as well as the end of production for the government's Minuteman III ballistic missile program. ATK alerted workers to the reductions in July. More than 130 of the employees voluntarily accepted a layoff. Along with others, they will get a severance package of up to a half-year's wages. (AP Wire)

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced new initiatives as part of DHS' ongoing immigration detention reform efforts. The reforms are designed to not only focus on federal oversight, but pay specific attention to detainee care. Among other things, ICE will centralize all contracts under their headquarters' supervision. They'll also have a new assessment tool to identify aliens who don't need to be detained. ICE is also going to develop a new classification for detainees to ensure they're placed in the appropriate facility.

Other News Links
Performance chief promises to help managers overcome challenges (GovExec)

Homeland Security to bring 3,200 contractor positions in-house (GovExec)

Agencies will be expected to measure transparency results (NextGov)

SSA needs better information security, IG says (FCW)