Top 10 News for Veterans from Around the Country – 07-24-08

1. Thousands Volunteer To Help At Wheelchair Games. 
2. VA Said To Take Unified Approach To Software Development.  
3. Lack Of Funding Said To Have Impeded Progress On Tracking IT Equipment.  
4. Military Systematically Screening Troops For Brain Injuries.  
5. Palo Alto VA Reconstruction Project Underway.  
6. VA, County In Kansas To Share Information On Available Services.  
7. Nearly 350 Businesses Said To Have Signed On With VetFran.  
8. Vietnam Veteran Receives Commendation Medal.  
9. Lottery Raises Funds For Illinois Veterans.  
10. Job Fair For Veterans To Be Held In Oregon.

1.      Thousands Volunteer To Help At Wheelchair Games.   The Midlands News Service (7/24, Stickney) reports, "More than 600 athletes are expected to arrive" in Omaha, Nebraska, "this week for the 28th National Veterans Wheelchair Games this week for the games," but it is "citizen volunteers…who will make the event happen. ‘We have an army of people,’ said Mike Wittrock, volunteer coordinator. ‘The people of Omaha have been fantastic.’" The News Service adds, "So far, 3,400 people…have signed on to help at the games, which start Friday and run through Tuesday at the Qwest Center Omaha and other" locations. Initially, "event officials hoped to find 3,000 volunteers. Still, more volunteers are needed." In its "Times Ticker" column, the Papillion (NE) Times (7/24) also said volunteers "are needed" for the games. 

2.      VA Said To Take Unified Approach To Software Development.   In his "Ask The CIO" column on the Federal News Radio (7/23) website, Jason Miller interviewed Dr. Paul Tibbits, the "Deputy Chief Information Officer for Enterprise Development" for the Veterans Affairs Department, one "of the few agencies that still develops much of its own software." In the past two years, the VA "consolidated all of its development work under one office" led by Tibbits, who "says this unified approach has pushed VA into a better position to implement standards, move to a service-oriented architecture and use common tools for development. He also says the consolidation might have had a bigger impact at the VA in terms of accountability" because it is now clearer than ever who is in charge of each project and what the cost and schedule is supposed to be. 

3.      Lack Of Funding Said To Have Impeded Progress On Tracking IT Equipment.   Government Executive (7/23, Nagesh) reported, "The federal government is taking steps to improve its management of information technology assets, but its efforts have been impeded by a lack of funding, according to survey results released" Monday. Seventy-three "percent of 154 federal information technology officials canvassed by CDW Government Inc. said they could account for all their agency’s IT assets." According "to the survey, the leading benefits of asset tracking are improved data security, reduction of theft and more efficient IT upgrades. IT asset management has been under greater scrutiny recently as agencies," including the Veterans Affairs Department, "have faced heat over the loss or theft of laptops containing personal information."

4.      Military Systematically Screening Troops For Brain Injuries.   USA Today (7/24, Zoroya, 2.28M) reports the Pentagon "debated for years whether to systematically screen troops for brain injuries," such as those caused by roadside bombs. A "recent study by RAND Corp., a research group, says such injuries could have affected 320,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. Uncertain how aggressively to identify a wound that is still largely a mystery, the Pentagon initially resisted calls to screen all servicemembers coming out of the battlefield." But in March, under "pressure from Congress," the Pentagon "ordered all military branches to screen for traumatic brain injury." By then, doctors at a "key Army hospital" in Landstuhl, Germany, "through which all war casualties pass on their way home," had already "begun to check each of the wounded for a brain injury in an effort that could set new standards for whether such troops ever return to duty."

5.      Palo Alto VA Reconstruction Project Underway.   Palo Alto Weekly (7/24, Dremann) reports, "A $750 million reconstruction project is underway at the Palo Alto campus Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System." The project "will consolidate services that are currently scattered around the 93-acre Palo Alto campus and will also replace aging buildings weakened or damaged by the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, according to Jason Nietupski, facilities manager for the Palo Alto VA. Additional projects are planned for the Menlo Park VA campus."

6.      VA, County In Kansas To Share Information On Available Services.   The Wichita (KS) Eagle (7/23, Mann) reported Sedgwick County, Kansas "and the Department of Veterans Affairs will begin to share information about services available to the county’s 40,000 veterans." VA and county "officials said Tuesday that the early focus will be employment services and jail diversion programs for veterans." The Eagle added, "The VA will help train law enforcement agencies, county departments and community agencies about resources and services available for veterans." The VA will also "assess veterans before they’re released from jail."

7.      Nearly 350 Businesses Said To Have Signed On With VetFran.   The Munster (IN) Times (7/23, Csepiga) reported "military veterans and reservists are putting the skills they learn in the service of their country to work as franchise owners." Almost "350 franchised businesses have signed on with VetFran, which is offered through the International Franchise Associations’ Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative. Four years ago, VetFran’s results were recognized" by the US Department of Veterans Affairs with its Champion of Veterans Enterprise Award.

8.      Vietnam Veteran Receives Commendation Medal.   The AP (7/23) reported 60-year-old Richard Lynch of Penfield, New York, a former Army combat medic, "has received a long-overdue medal for rescuing Marines wounded during a battle in the Vietnam War." Lynch "received the Navy Commendation Medal, with a ‘V’ device for valor, during a ceremony Monday at the Rochester Vet Center." Lynch "was honored for bravery during a helicopter rescue mission in South Vietnam on Sept. 19, 1969." Mary Anne Vitticore, a nurse practitioner at the Vet Center, "said Lynch was an Army soldier assigned to a Marine unit that usually used Navy personnel as medics. She said awarding the medal was delayed because of a paperwork mix-up between the three military branches."

9.      Lottery Raises Funds For Illinois Veterans.   On its website, WPSD-TV Carterville, IL (7/23) reported veterans in Illinois "are getting help from an unlikely source: gamblers." In 2006, the Illinois Lottery "launched a scratch ticket called Veteran’s Cash. Since then, it’s raised $5.9 million dollars for veterans’ programs," and more "than $180,000 is now helping programs for veterans in Southern Illinois." Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth "says…$100,000" generated by Veteran’s Cash will help veterans get assistance in filing their claims with the US VA. WPSD added, "Word out of" Washington, DC, "Wednesday indicates" the US VA "may be looking towards the TV airwaves to advertise for different veterans’ benefits. That has been forbidden for the past 38 years."

10.    Job Fair For Veterans To Be Held In Oregon.   The Oregonian (7/23) reported, "A free job fair for veterans will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at the Rose Garden" in Portland, Oregon. Among "the employers scheduled to be interviewing potential hires are… the Veterans Benefits Administration" and Walgreens. The event, which "comes as the Oregon Employment Department reports that 9 percent of veterans in Oregon are registered with the state as looking for a job but not working," is "sponsored by RecruitMilitary, a Cincinnati firm founded by a former captain in the Marines."