Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 10-28-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans 

1. VA To Use Automated Tool When Processing New GI Bill Claims. 
2. Michelle Obama, Jill Biden To Honor Vets Prior To Game One Of World Series. 
3. Lawmaker Pushing For Joint DOD, VA Breast Cancer Study. 
4. Bay Pines VAMC Offering Family Education Series. 
5. Former CEO of the American Battle Monuments Commission To Be Awarded Silver Star.  
6. Organizers Hope Outreach Campaign Will Reverse Stand Down Attendance Slide. 
7. Iowa City VAMC Restricting Visitors To Control Spread Of H1N1. 
8. Former VA Nurse Sentenced For Stealing Narcotics. 
9. York VAMC Plays Part In Kidnapping Case. 
10. Following Review, Some VA Technology Projects Stopped, Others Restarted. 

1.      VA To Use Automated Tool When Processing New GI Bill Claims.  In continuing coverage, the eight item in the Federal News Radio (10/27, Norris, Gomez) website’s "The Federal Drive" column said, "Delays in processing" Post-9/11 GI Bill "benefits may be shortened soon," because next "month, the Veterans Affairs Department will begin using an automated tool to process" such claims. According to the column, NextGov "reports that VA Secretary Eric Shinseki says that the VA still has a ‘a slight backlog’ of claims for education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which led him to order emergency payments to veterans early this month, but the surge of waiting claims waiting has passed. The agency says they still are processing 30,000 certificates of eligibility for benefit."
      Duckworth Apologizes For Delayed Payments.  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (10/28, Kumar, 263K) says representatives of the US VA "apologized to college students waiting on their delayed checks to pay the rent and buy textbooks and said they are taking a number of steps to try to speed up the process. ‘I am here to say we are sorry,’ Tammy Duckworth, the assistant VA secretary, said at an event Monday afternoon at the University of Missouri at St. Louis." In "recent months, the department has been inundated with more than 290,000 applications" for the about the new Post-9/11 GI Bill program. The Post-Dispatch adds, "To help cope with the backlog, Duckworth said, the department has hired 700 people to help process claims, increased communication with colleges and paid out more than $175 million in $3,000 emergency checks for veterans who have not received payments."
      The Navy Times (10/28, Maze, 54K) reports, "Up to 14,000 students may not receive living stipends Nov. 1" as the VA "continues to dig out of a backlog of claims for the Post-9/11 GI Bill – but there will be no more emergency payments for those who don’t get paid on time." On Tuesday, "VA officials said…they have about 14,000 enrollment certifications pending final approval for tuition, book allowance and living stipends." Such "certifications are the final step for an eligible veteran enrolled in school to receive benefits. ‘It is possible, if we have not worked their case by the end of the month, that some may not receive their housing payment on the first,’ VA officials said in a statement, referring to Nov. 1. Payments not made Nov. 1 will be made to the student as soon as final approval is given so they do not have to wait until Dec. 1 to receive a living stipend, VA officials said."
      Meanwhile, in a Miami Herald (10/28, 210K) op-ed, Iraq veteran Linsay Rousseau Burnett, a current "student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism," writes, "No one seems to be talking about the interest that’s been accruing on the education loans some veterans were forced to take out while waiting for their GI Bill money. I doubt the VA will pay it." Burnett concludes by stating that as she and her "fellow student veterans" move on with their lives, "we are forced to once again resort to military tactic – we’ll suck it up and drive on."
  

2.      Michelle Obama, Jill Biden To Honor Vets Prior To Game One Of World Series.  In continuing coverage, the website for Major League Baseball (10/27, Newman) reported, "First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will attend Game 1 of the 105th World Series on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium in support of Welcome Back Veterans, Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday." This "will be the first of four consecutive games prefaced by overall themes pertaining to MLB’s Going Beyond campaign for community service and charitable involvement." The website added, "To date, WelcomeBackVeterans.org has awarded $5.8 million in grants to non-profit agencies across the country targeting veterans’ greatest needs, including mental health and job training/placement." The website also pointed out that prior to Wednesday’s game, "Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden…will join Major League Baseball and the New York Yankees in visiting patients" at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Bronx.
      Newsday (10/28, Shallwani) also notes that Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden will attend the game, as does the New York Daily News (10/28, Bazinet, 588K), which says both women "will salute veterans…during ceremonies at the opening game of the World Series." Major League Baseball invited them "to pre-game ceremonies honoring a group called Welcome Back Veterans, which supports troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. Yankees legend Yogi Berra," World War II vet, "and Tony Odierno, a decorated West Point hero who lost his left arm in…Iraq," will "escort the wives of the President and vice president onto the field at Yankee Stadium."
      Meanwhile, "The Caucus," a New York Times‘ (10/27, Swarns) blog, said news about Wednesday’s planned activities "comes one month after the two women appeared in a public service announcement – focused on military families – that was broadcast in baseball stadiums across the country." ABC News‘ (10/27, Travers, de Nies) "Political Punch" blog also covered this story, as did The Hill‘s (10/27, Fabian) "Blog Briefing Room." 

3.      Lawmaker Pushing For Joint DOD, VA Breast Cancer Study.  The Army Times (10/28, Maze, 104K) reports US Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA), a Vietnam veteran, "is pushing for a joint Defense Department and Veterans Affairs Department study of breast cancer rates in service members and veterans to determine if there is a link to military service." Boswell, "the chief sponsor of a bill ordering the study, said the 18-month effort he is proposing would be a ‘first step to determining if breast cancer is service-connected.’" Boswell’s "legislation comes as lawmakers and the government are looking into claims of an unusual incidence of breast cancer among men who once served at Camp Lejuene, N.C.," but "Boswell’s press secretary, Jane Slusark, said the congressman’s interest in the bill came…from" an Iraq veteran on his staff.
  

4.      Bay Pines VAMC Offering Family Education Series.  The Seminole (FL) Beacon (10/27, 28K) noted that the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Medical Center "is offering a family education series for the loved ones of those who have served in Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom." Sessions for the series, which "focuses on reintegration and adjustment issues," are "from 6:30 to 8 p.m." on November 19th and December 17th in the hospital’s "Domiciliary, Building 102, A Wing, Room 131."  

5.      Former CEO of the American Battle Monuments Commission To Be Awarded Silver Star.   The Washington Times (10/28, Billups, 77K) notes that "on Wednesday morning at Fort Myer," the US Army will give Vietnam veteran Jack Nicholson "a long-delayed Silver Star in recognition of the 13 lives he saved…in the Mekong Delta" in 1963. Nicholson "was appointed…in 2005 as chief executive officer of the American Battle Monuments Commission, a post he held until June.   

6.      Organizers Hope Outreach Campaign Will Reverse Stand Down Attendance Slide.  The Yakima (WA) Herald-Republic (10/27, Morey, 35K) reported, "For nearly 10 years, Yakima Valley military members and veterans have had an annual opportunity to learn about housing, medical and other services available to them," but "attendance at the Stand Down event has been on a downward slide in recent years, despite the ongoing wars in the Middle East." Organizers of the event "blame that on a lack of advance publicity, a trend they hope to reverse this year with an extended outreach campaign." The Herald –Republic added, "Jessie Santos, who works" at the Yakima Vet Center, "serves on the organizing committee for the Stand Down."  

7.      Iowa City VAMC Restricting Visitors To Control Spread Of H1N1.  On its website, WOWT-TV Omaha, NE (10/27) reported, "The people who are supposed to help us get well if we get" the H1N1 flu "are taking steps to make sure they can do the job. To control the spread of the virus, University of Iowa hospitals, Mercy Hospital," and the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Hospital are "restricting visitors." 

8.      Former VA Nurse Sentenced For Stealing Narcotics.  On its website, WTNH-TV Hartford, CT (10/27, Kroha) noted that on Monday, Agavie Osbey, a "former nurse" at the Veteran Affairs hospital in West Haven, "was sentenced…to one year of probation" and ordered to pay a $500 fine "for stealing narcotics." The "matter was investigated" by the US VA, "Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigations Division," and the "VA Police." 
 

9.      York VAMC Plays Part In Kidnapping Case.  The Murfreesboro (TN) Post (10/27, 24K) reported, "Charges were filed Friday against a husband accused of kidnapping his wife from Alabama and driving her to the York VA Medical Center in Murfreesboro, a sheriff’s deputy reported. Husband James Brown, 61, of Rainsville, Ala., allegedly grabbed his wife, Patricia, from her home in Flat Rock, Ala., and forced her to ride with him to the medical center, Deputy Michael Romans reported. VA Police took" Brown "into custody at the emergency room. He was charged with being a fugitive from justice and held on charges of aggravated kidnapping his wife and violating an order of protection she obtained against him." Brown "was expected to be extradited back to Alabama."  

10.    Following Review, Some VA Technology Projects Stopped, Others Restarted.  Federal Computer Week (10/28, Beizer, 90K) reports, "A review of 45 suspended information technology projects at the Veterans Affairs Department has caused 15 projects to be stopped or have funding cut, according to W. Scott Gould, deputy secretary" of the Department of Veterans Affairs, who made his comments on Monday, "at the Executive Leadership Conference in Williamsburg, Va." Federal Computer Week continues, "Leaders of another 17 projects have committed to meeting milestones to deliver new functionality to customers, Gould said. … The remaining 13 projects have been re-planned or restarted, Gould said." Federal Computer Week noted that Monday’s conference was "sponsored by the American Council for Technology and the Industry Advisory Council."