Top 10 Hot Spot News or Veterans from Around the Country – 07-09-08

1. Former VA Secretary Made Inquiries About Chantix.
2. VA Worker Concerned About Blinded Veterans’ Psyches.  
3. Report Examines Transition From Military To VA.  
4. Subsidies To Benefit Homeless Vets Program.  
5. VA Care Unit Wins Award.
6. Iraq Veteran Makes 2008 US Paralympics Team.  
7. Plans Announced For Veterans Cemetery In Arkansas.  
8. Veterans To Be Charged In-State Rates At Public Universities In Ohio.  
9. City Councilman Appointed To Chair Ohio Veterans Board.  
10. Dispute Arises Over Location Of Ohio War Memorial.

1. Former VA Secretary Made Inquiries About Chantix.   In a front page story, the Washington Times (7/9, Hudson, Haberkorn) reports, "Former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony J. Principi contacted colleagues at his old agency as the chief lobbyist for drug maker Pfizer Inc. earlier this year, looking for updates on whether his company’s smoking-cessation drug Chantix would remain on the VA’s list of approved prescription drugs amid new warnings of dangerous side effects." Pfizer’s "dealings with the VA have taken on new importance as Congress investigates why the veterans agency took months to alert its patients about" Chantix’s side effects, "such as suicide and psychosis, even when it knew veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder…were among those taking the drug." The first hearing Congress will hold on the matter "is set to open today before" the House Veterans Affairs Committee. The Times adds that after Principi left his post as VA secretary in 2005, he became the executive chairman for QTC Management, which "has won more than $140 million in competitively bid government contracts since 2007 to conduct disability medical examinations for the VA."
     
Congress To Question Peake About Drug Tests.   On its website, ABC News (7/8, Sauer, Walter) reports current VA Secretary James Peake "will appear before Congress" Wednesday "to answer questions about why his administration continued to recruit veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan for studies of pharmaceutical drugs linked to suicide and other violent side-effects. The controversial tests were the subject of an ABC News/Washington Times investigation last month." ABC added, "A representative from Pfizer will also be testifying before the committee tomorrow."

2. VA Worker Concerned About Blinded Veterans’ Psyches.   On its website, KTVK-TV Phoenix (7/8, Peña) reported that according to veteran Tom Hicks, who "coordinates help for blinded veterans at the" Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Phoenix, an alarming number of veterans are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan blind because of improvised explosive devices, which can cause traumatic brain injury and blindness. Hicks, who is himself blind, "said there are more blinded veterans today than in the last 100 years of wars combined." Hicks, who has dedicated his life "to helping young veterans deal with" the loss of sight, "is deeply concerned about the young veterans whose injuries lead them down a dark path of depression and in many cases suicide."

3. Report Examines Transition From Military To VA.   The AP (7/9, Jelinek) reports, "Some military retirees disabled in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan pay more for health care than other retirees, and a new report recommends waiving their insurance premiums to correct the inequity." The "report…by inspectors general of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs suggests waiving for life the Medicare Part B premiums for service members who have been medically retired and are unlikely to get another job." The proposed change "is among recommendations made after a review of services available for troops injured in Afghanistan and Iraq as they transition from active duty in the military to the responsibility of the VA." Some veterans "have complained bitterly about" that transition process.

Bloomberg (7/9, Waters) says, "The report is one of several government reviews triggered by a series of articles in the Washington Post describing the poor quality of care for wounded veterans at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center" in Washington DC. In addition to the insurance recommendation, the report "also urged the Defense Department to create an office to ensure that injured soldiers have a ‘seamless transition’ as they transfer out of the military health care system and into" the VA’s system. The report also recommended that the VA "propose legislation in Congress that would provide grants to help disabled veterans remodel their homes for wheelchair ramps, accessible showers and other needed amenities."

4. Subsidies To Benefit Homeless Vets Program.   The Tucson (AZ) Citizen (7/9, Kornman) reports, "A federal program that will provide permanent rental housing…for 70 chronically homeless veterans" in Tucson will "also…benefit landlords. Rental subsidies of $500,000 a year will be paid to landlords who rent to chronically homeless vets in the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, aka VASH, said Peggy Morales, administrator of Tucson’s public housing programs." Priority for the housing slots "will go to homeless vets with dependents and to homeless female vets of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to Charles Learned, a clinical social worker at the Southern Arizona VA Health System who will work with the VA housing program clients."

5. VA Care Unit Wins Award.   The second story in the New York Daily News (7/8, Dewees) "Faces & Places" column reported, "The Combined Intensive Care Unit of the Brooklyn Campus of the Veterans Affairs New York Harbor Healthcare System has won" the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence, a "prestigious" honor from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses." The award "was presented by the nurses’ organization in recognition of the ‘highest quality’ standards in nurse recruitment and retention, patient outcomes, staff training and healthy work environments. It is the association’s highest award for an intensive care unit."

6. Iraq Veteran Makes 2008 US Paralympics Team.   The Washington Post (7/9, E8, Tyson) profiles Army Staff Sgt. Joshua J. Olson, a 28-year-old Iraq war veteran who will compete on the 2008 US Paralympics team in the 50-meter rifle prone event. Making the team is "the latest achievement in a shooting career that has led to a personal resurrection after" Olson lost a leg in Iraq. The Post adds, "As an Iraq veteran, Olson says he still struggles with nightmares and post-traumatic stress disorder," but "as a soldier," he "realizes that despite his injury, things could be worse. ‘On their second deployment [to Iraq] the guy who took my job in my squad was killed,’ he said." The Washington Post (7/9, E1, Tyson) also profiles six Army marksmen preparing to compete in next month’s Olympics.

7. Plans Announced For Veterans Cemetery In Arkansas.   KARK-TV Little Rock, AK (7/8, 11:04 p.m. CT) broadcast that on Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe announced plans for another veterans cemetery in Arkansas. KARK added that "$5.7 million is needed from the federal government for design and infrastructure" on the cemetery, but there is "no word yet on when those funds will be available." KNWA-TV Fort Smith, AK (7/8, 10:12 p.m. CT), KTHV-TV Little Rock, AK (7/8, 6:07 p.m. CT), and KAIT-TV Jonesboro, AK (7/8, 6:04 p.m. CT) all aired similar reports.

The AP (7/8) reported, "A 99-acre plot of land in northeast Arkansas has formally been sold to the state to serve as the state’s fifth veterans cemetery." Of the "four current veterans cemeteries in Arkansas, only three are open for new burials — national cemeteries at Fayetteville and Fort Smith and a third being developed by the state at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. The Little Rock National Cemetery has no more room for gravesites."

8. Veterans To Be Charged In-State Rates At Public Universities In Ohio.   The New York Times (7/9, Lewin) reports, "In an effort to attract more veterans to Ohio’s public universities," Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland "announced Tuesday that the state would charge in-state tuition to all veterans attending college" on the GI Bill. The "Ohio plan, the first of its kind in the nation, makes all veterans ‘honorary Ohioans’ for the purpose of a college education." President Bush recently signed into law a new GI Bill that doubles college benefits for eligible troops and veterans, "essentially guaranteeing full scholarships at their in-state public colleges or universities, as well as providing monthly housing stipends. But generally, veterans can attend college under the law only in their home states."

9. City Councilman Appointed To Chair Ohio Veterans Board.   The Warren (OH) Tribune-Chronicle (7/8, Selak) profiled, Bob Dean, who "is heading up the state board that oversees the two nursing care facilities for veterans in Ohio." Dean "is chairman of the Ohio Veterans Home Agency Board, a position he’s held since April. The city councilman was appointed to the board in June" by Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. Soon, "however, the board won’t exist. In August, a new law creating the Ohio Department of Veterans Services, the first cabinet-level veterans department in the state, will consolidate the veterans home agency, the Ohio War Orphans Scholarship Board and the Governor’s Office of Veterans Affairs." Dean "said he plans on staying on an advisory committee" for one of the state’s veterans homes.

10. Dispute Arises Over Location Of Ohio War Memorial.   On its website, WKRC-TV Cincinnati (7/8) reported, "Land where a local war memorial sits could be sold to a developer," but opponents "want the deal to be put to a vote." The city of Blue Ash, Ohio, wants to move the Blue Ash War Memorial and have "condos, shops and restaurants built in its place." Opponents, however, "want the deal to be put to a vote." A Vietnam veteran "is collecting signatures to keep the memorial from being moved." The city, meanwhile, "will hold an open house on the downtown development plan next Thursday at the municipal building."