Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

By the VA:

Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1.      Shinseki Addresses VFW Convention, Announces Pilot Medical Records Program. According to the WIBC-FM Indianapolis, IN (8/24, Parker) website, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki recently spoke to the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, telling the group it is a key partner in making sure vets receive proper VA medical care. Shinseki also “helped announce a new pilot” medical records program to be run out of Indianapolis, Indiana.
     The Indianapolis Star (8/25, Lee, 239K) says the pilot program, announced by Shinseki “during a Tuesday news conference at the Roudebush VA Medical Center,” will “use the Indianapolis-based Indiana Health Information Exchange, known as IHIE, to securely make veterans’ health information accessible to physicians at VA and non-VA facilities alike.” After quoting Shinseki, who during the news conference said, “With the ability to share health information between VA and non-VA providers, the care of our veterans and the community at large will undoubtedly be improved,” the Star adds, Dr. Stephen Ondra, VA’s “senior policy adviser for health affairs, said…VA plans to use the Indiana pilot program in its efforts to create a national program to link VA and non-VA medical records by the end of 2012.”

 2.      VA Asking Mortgage Companies To Help Vets Impacted By Oil Spill. The Jackson-based Mississippi Business Journal (8/25, Northway) reports, “Veterans in the Gulf States impacted by the recent oil spill may qualify for delayed mortgage payments if their mortgages are already guaranteed” by the Department of Veterans Affairs. According to the Journal, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki “said that several mortgage companies have already announced plans to waive late payment charges and suspend negative reporting to credit bureaus on affected borrowers. VA is asking all mortgage companies to follow this example.”
     Broker Praises VA Mortgages. In his advice column for the San Angelo (TX) Standard-Times (8/2424K, 24K) broker Peter G. Miller says that if readers “qualify for VA financing,” they are likely to get the “best mortgage out there. For specifics, speak with a VA lender.”

 3.      Arizona Man Sentenced To Prison For Stealing VA Benefits. The AP (8/25) says a 59-year-old “western Arizona man” named Francis Lamken is “headed to prison for 18 months for stealing nearly $200,000” in Veterans Affairs benefits. Lamken was “also ordered to pay nearly $174,000 in restitution.” The KPHO-TV Phoenix, AZ (8/24) website publishes a similar story.

 4.      New Vets Cemetery Dedicated In Maine. The Maine Public Broadcasting Network (8/25, Huang) reports, “Nearly 10 years after the idea was first conceived, Maine got its fourth cemetery for veterans and the very first for southern Maine.” On Tuesday, hundreds of veterans “gathered in the Springvale village of Sanford to dedicate the Southern Maine Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery.” The Portland (ME) Press Herald (8/25, Murphy) also takes note of Tuesday’s ceremony, as did the websites for WMTW-TV (8/24) and WCSH-TV (8/24, Kmack), which are both based in Portland, Maine.

 5.      Louisiana VA On Facebook, MySpace. According to the Baton Rouge (LA) Advocate (8/24, Millhollon), the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs “now is on Facebook and MySpace. The social networking is part of an effort to increase public outreach although the agency’s secretary, Lane Carson, confessed to the Press Club of Baton Rouge Monday that he still is coming to grips with the technological tools.” In “addition to Facebook, Carson said he is trying to reach out in other ways,” including through the Veterans Readjustment Counseling program.

 6.      New Hampshire Governor Signs Bills Naming Two Bridges After Iraq Vets. According to the AP (8/25), New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch “has signed two bills naming bridges after” Sean M. Powers, a “Hopkinton police officer who served in Iraq and died in a traffic accident,” and Alan J. Burgess, an “Army National Guard specialist who was killed in Iraq.”

 7.      Wheelchair Games Winner Nominated For California’s Woman Veteran Of The Year. The Bakersfield Californian (8/25, Goodman, 57K) notes that 46-year-old veteran Martha Barnett, who “won five first-place medals” at this year’s National Veterans Wheelchair Games, has been nominated for California’s “second annual Woman Veteran of the Year award.” The Californian adds, “The two award recipients, who will be announced in October, are chosen based on their military achievements, support for veterans and commitment to their communities, said Barbara Ward, state Deputy Secretary of Women and Minority Veteran Affairs.”

 8.      Grant To Fund New VA Homeless Assistance Program. In continuing coverage, KGWN-TV Cheyenne, WY (8/25, 5:37 p.m. MT) broadcast that Denver, Colorado, is “one of five cities where the Department of Veterans Affairs is developing a new program to help homeless veterans.” The program, which is “being funded with a $33 million grant over the next five years,” will “create a 40-bed program for chronically homeless veterans.”

9.      Planned Louisiana State Veterans Cemetery Approved For VA Grant. The Shreveport (LA) Times (8/25) reports, “The planned Louisiana State Veterans Cemetery at Leesville has been approved for a $6.14 million Department of Veterans Affairs grant covering the full cost of the proposed burial ground, a release from the state organization says. ‘I am extremely gratified to announce that funding has been secured from VA for our state’s newest veterans cemetery location in Leesville,'” Louisiana VA Secretary Lane Carson said in the release. The Times adds, “The new cemetery will provide for the burial needs of the approximately 59,500 veterans and their families who live in or near central Louisiana.”

 10.    Task Force Says Pentagon Should Create Suicide Prevention Office. The AP (8/25, Jelinek) reports, “Rushing to stem historically high rates of military suicides, the service branches set up prevention programs that lacked strategic planning and so don’t work as well as they could, a report said Tuesday. The Pentagon should create a new high-level office to set strategy and coordinate prevention programs across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, said a task force report ordered by Congress last year.” The report, written “by a 14-member panel of military and civilian doctors as well as other civilians involved in suicide and family issues,” was sent to “Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday.”
     McClatchy (8/25, Barrett) says a “Defense Department task force devoted to preventing suicide in the military presented a grim picture of the trend Tuesday, with suicides rising at a near steady pace even as commanders apply various balms to soothe a stressed, exhausted fighting force” waging battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US military “has nearly 900 suicide prevention programs across 400 military installations worldwide, but in” its report, the task force “describes the Defense Department’s approach as a safety net riddled with holes.” The task force, however, which “suggests either growing the size of the military or reducing mission demand,” also “gave a message of hope: Prevention efforts can work, members said, and suicidal behavior after combat deployment isn’t normal.”