Hire Veterans First Proclamation - South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds (photo at left) signed a proclamation designating November as “Hire Veterans First Month” in South Dakota. Governor Rounds says the goal of the proclamation is to bring attention to the many skills that veterans offer prospective employers. Excellent news!

America Supports You - Have you heard about this nationwide program from the Department of Defense which recognizes citizens' support for military men and women? Learn more about the program at www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil.

Apple Pies and Transition - Did you know apple pies can help your transition workshops? Check out this pdf article and photo that CA EDD veterans' specialist Doc O'Boyle sent us for details.

DVOP of the Year - Alvin McGary of WorkForce Plant City, Florida was recently named that state's DVOP of the Year in recognition of his commitment to veterans. He credits the training he received at NVTI with some of his success. Great news, Alvin!

2006 Defense Authorization Benefits Guard & Reserve - The 2006 National Defense Authorization Act was signed into law on January 6, 2006 and will provide new or enhanced benefits for National Guard and Reserve members. Go to the Library of Congress for more information. Enter HR 1815 in the "Search Bill Text" box.

Idaho Statewide Veterans' Representatives Conference - Idaho's DVOP/LVER staff, along with over a third of the state's One-Stop managers met in Boise in early November. With 1,600 of the State's National Guard members returning from a year-long deployment to Iraq, the focus was on serving those returning soldiers.The Guard's Colonel Donna Woodby explained the demobilization process and Captain Dan Ashby, an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran and Vets Center counselor, helped the staff better understand what conditions the soldiers have experienced and how to best help them transition back to civilian life and jobs. Bill Adamek, Regional HireVetsFirst liaison and Jim Arrington, Washington State ADVET and REALifelines Coordinator at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, briefed on their programs. USDOL/VETS RAVET Rosendo "Alex" Cuevas attended the conference and praised the qualify of the information presented and the camaraderie and passion for service evident throughout the conference. ESGR Past state Chair Kip Moggeridge closed the conference witha patriotic and motivational conversation with the group.

Women's History Month Job Fair - Sal Canu, of the Washington State Employment Security Department tells us about a Women's History Month Job Fair, March 10, in which approximately 70 employers and over 1,000 job seekers are expected to attend. The event is aimed at women veterans, but others are welcome. We wish the event much success!

Brush up on Veterans Preference - Do you know what you need to in regard to veterans preference? To help you get up to speed, check out the 1999 pdf report, Veterans: Getting Their Preference and also review an OPM document detailing preference criteria and finally the updated Appendix A of the VetGuide.

Read VETS 2004 Annual Report - Have you read the 2004 Annual VETS Report? Have a look. VETS plans to have the 2005 report out very soon.

What's the Latest in Veterans' Legislation? - Curious to know what's happening on Capitol Hill concerning veterans' issues? Check out the press releases from The House Committee on Veterans Affairs and U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs for the latest news.

Tell us too! Did you recently change offices or job positions? Do you know that a co-worker left or retired? We want to know too! We'll update our database and make sure the DVOP/LVER Locator is made current. We don't know unless you let us know. Update here.

And what's YOUR good news? Tell us about it at vetsnet@nvti.cudenver.edu.