Veterans! Here’s your Top 10 News stories of the day compiled from the latest sources

We encourage you to browse our list so that you can take what you want and keep what you need

1. Longmont American Legion offers hand to homeless veterans.  Longmont Daily Times-Call  The occasion was the post’s first-ever “stand down,” a helping hand to veterans who have hit hard times. That’s not a small population. Nationally, the US Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that about 107000 veterans are homeless on any given …
2. More veterans housing headed for VA Medical Center campus.  Chillicothe Gazette
An additional 310 permanent and transitional housing units for veterans will be constructed on Department of Veterans Affairs land at the Chillicothe VA Medical Center. The additional units are part of plans the US Department of Veterans …
3. Patriot Dorm at Good Samaritan gives homeless veterans chance to get on their feet.  The Bay City Times – MLive.com  The US Department of Veterans Affairs originally approached the Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan about setting up segregated rooms for veterans. Marcia Reeves, a spokeswoman for the Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan, said challenges homeless veterans …
4. Appeals Court In SF Will Reconsider Ruling Ordering Revamp In Mental Health.  The San Francisco Appeal  A federal appeals court in San Francisco announced Wednesday it will reconsider a ruling in which it ordered the US Department of Veterans Affairs to revamp its procedures for providing mental health care. An 11-judge panel of the 9th …
5. Employment of veterans ‘a great concern’ Wheeler on job 62 years.  The Daily Citizen
Wheeler is a walking encyclopedia of the state’s political history. He worked with the old Office of Price Administration until a friend, former governor and US senator Herman Talmadge — a Navy veteran, Wheeler pointed out — helped him get on with …
6. President Honors All Veterans at Ceremony.  The Epoch Times  The Obama administration had overseen “the largest single increase to the Veterans Affair Budget in over 30 years”, Shinseki told the assembled audience. The Office of Veteran’s Affairs (OFVA) offers services which include physical and mental …
7. Passage of vet jobs bill doesn’t mean immediate changes.  The House verwhelmingly passed legislation Wednesday offering a host of new job training programs for veterans and offering employers up to $9,600 for hiring them. But it could take months before veterans see any benefits.
8.    Food stamp use at military commissaries up sharply in four years.  Food stamp purchases at military commissaries have nearly tripled during the last four years, according to Defense Commissary Agency figures.
9.    Five years after being wounded in one war, amputee soldier re-enlists in another.  A little more than five years after a bomb blast took part of his right leg, Staff Sgt. Brian Beem was lucid and upright on a prosthetic limb as he re-enlisted at a remote base in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, extending his contract with the military. The decision to stay in the Army was easy, he said.
10.  Congress OKs Bill For Vets, Contractors.  AP  “Democrats and Republicans rallied on a rare patch of common ground Wednesday and Congress approved legislation helping government contractors and unemployed veterans, finally giving President Obama the chance to sign the first, tiny shred of his $447 billion jobs bill into law.” The legislation, approved in the House by an “overwhelming 422-0” vote, “creates tax breaks for companies hiring jobless veterans – a part of Obama’s jobs plan – and beefs up vets’ job-training and counseling programs.” The “veterans’ programs would be financed mostly by extending a fee the Veterans Affairs Department charges to back mortgages.”

Have You Heard?

VA for Vets, an outstanding new program to help Veterans find appropriate careers at the Department of Veterans Affairs, officially launched on Veterans Day. VA for Vets is a new program that takes a high-tech and high-touch approach to recruiting, hiring, retaining, and reintegrating Veterans into the VA workforce.  As part of its high-tech solution, the program offers state of the art online tools for Veterans as they seek employment or look to further career development opportunities.  The online Career Center includes:  a military skills translator that translates military skills into civilian language; a resume builder that tailors Veterans’ resumes so they can more easily compete for open positions in VA; and avatar-based technology that connects deployed service members back to VA during their operational missions. The high-touch solution comes in the form of career and reintegration coaches who are readily available to help Veterans and service members take full advantage of opportunities offered through the career center or to ensure a seamless transition into the VA workforce. The VA for Vets program represents a commitment to transforming the way VA hires and retains Veterans.

More Veteran News

•  Miami VA Hospital Chief Out In Colonoscopy Scandal.  Miami Herald   “Mary Berrocal, head of the Miami Veterans Administration hospital when more than 2,500 local veterans were told the colonoscopies they had there might have been performed with improperly cleaned equipment, was removed from her position Wednesday” by US Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Berrocal “had been under fire since May 2009, when the national VA revealed that as many as 11,000 US military veterans at VA facilities in Miami, Georgia and Tennessee might have had colonoscopies with equipment that had been simply rinsed between uses rather than sterilized by steam and chemicals as required by the manufacturer.” Leadership with VA “‘decided that even though Miami is making great strides to improve clinical care, too much attention had been focused on the current director to let” Berrocal do her job, said Florida VA spokeswoman Mary Kay Hollingsworth.

•   Appeals Court Puts Its Order To Overhaul VA Health Care System On Hold, Will Rehear Case.  AP  The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has “put on hold its ruling that ordered a dramatic overhaul of the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system, because it wants to reconsider the earlier decision.” According to the court, “a special 11-judge panel will reconsider the appeal of two veterans group who accused the VA of shoddy medical treatment and ignoring rising mental health problems, including an increase in suicides.” The piece notes that Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who dissented from the original ruling, “was automatically assigned to the new panel.”

•     Make The Connection. KTNV-TV  Dr. Sonja Batten, VA’s Deputy Chief Consultant for Specialty Mental Health, is heading VA’s “Make The Connection” campaign, which Dr. Batten said is VA’s “effort to really reach out proactively to veterans around the country” and make sure that VA is providing the “best information, resources, and support” to them. She said a website, MakeTheConnection.net, “provides personalized, confidential access to the information that we think veterans need to be able to move forward with their lives. And the heart of the campaign is that dozens of veterans have come forward and been willing to tell their stories, and…videos of them talking about their challenges, their treatment, and their treatment are featured on the website.” KTNV also interviewed a veteran named Bryan Escobedo, who had high praise for VA’s new campaign, saying the website “helps to educate people about what” vets are going through and educated vets about “where to get help.”

•   “Blue Button” Technology Takes Off In Government And Private Sectors.  American Medical News  “Since the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched its ‘blue button’ program more than a year ago, the concept has caught on, not only for other government agencies but private sector organizations as well.” The “concept refers to patients clicking on a virtual button and downloading their medical records in a format that can be sent and exchanged. The VA, the Defense Dept. and CMS teamed up with a group convened by the Markle Foundation in January 2010 to discuss ways to give patients on-demand access to their medical records,” and nine months later, the “blue button” “concept was launched.”

•  Nearly 25 Percent Have Diabetes.  Off The Base  The US Department of Veterans Affairs “estimates that nearly 1 in 4 veterans being treated at the VA has diabetes,” which is higher than the approximately eight percent of the general population with diabetes, “according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The higher rate among veterans is attributable, in part, to the older average age of veterans being treated by the VA.” Because obesity “is one of the risk factors for diabetes,” VA “offers veterans a weight management program, MOVE.”

• Some Vets May Get Multiple Clothing Allowances.  Army Times  “Starting next year, some disabled veterans will be eligible for a larger clothing allowance than the $716 they now receive.” On Wednesday, the Department of Veterans Affairs “announced…that veterans with multiple prosthetic devices or skin conditions caused by medications could receive two allowances a year – for a total of $1,432 – if they qualify. The new regulation is aimed at those whose multiple garments wear more quickly – say, a shirt and trousers – because of rubbing, snagging or catching on multiple prosthetic or orthopedic devices, or become damaged or stained as a result of a widespread skin condition.”

•  VA’s Acquisition Overhaul A “Firm Commitment.”  Federal News Radio  “The Veterans Affairs Department has been undergoing as much change over the last few years as any federal agency,” including in its “use of contracts and its industry partnerships.” Glenn Haggstrom, the executive director of VA’s Office of Acquisition, Logistics and Construction, told Federal News Radio that his agency is committee to elevating “acquisition to the level that it needed to be as a result of the Services Acquisition Reform Act.”

•   Local Group Aims To Help Veterans With PTSD.  Atlanta Journal-Constitution  “With thousands of men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and veteran suicide a growing problem, Decatur psychotherapist Kaye Coker decided something had to be done — and fast.” Four years ago, Coker “and 11 other volunteers — including several vets with PTSD — got together and formed Veteran’s Heart Georgia, which aims to help returning vets and their families find ways to work on their war-caused problems, free of charge, starting with a website.” The founders of Veteran’s Heart Georgia, “who earn their livings from their own therapy practices, support the non-profit organization from donations, and fees from other psychologists, mental health professionals and clergy who attend the group’s workshops, where they are taught about the unique needs of veterans and their families.”

•  Wounded Warriors Get New Home.  Clarksville (TN) Leaf Chronicle  “Fort Campbell and local civilian dignitaries turned out in large numbers for the opening of the new $24.6 million Warrior Transition Battalion Complex on Tuesday morning.” Stimulus funds were used on the complex, which was “built to replace older barracks facilities not designed to be accessible for those with severe disabilities.” The complex’s “main building can house up to 206 WTB soldiers, with additional buildings set aside for soldier leaders and a battalion headquarters group.”

• Study Examines Dwell Times, Mental Health Issues.  American Forces Press Service  “Service members who spend more time at home between deployments may have a greater chance of being diagnosed with a mental health disorder than those with briefer dwell times, a Defense Department analysis has revealed, but officials urge further research.” According to authors of the study, “service members who are home for a brief time may not fully adjust” to being home, “and, as a result, are better able to psychologically handle subsequent deployments.”

•  VA Reveals Plans For Additional 1,000 Units.  CityBizList.com  “The Department of Veterans Affairs has disclosed plans to develop another 1,000 residential units on 13 VA medical center campuses” across the country. The “news falls less than a week after it unveiled plans for 3,000 units at 25 VA medical campuses.” In a news release, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said the “1,000 housing units underscore VA’s commitment to providing for the housing needs of veterans. This housing will help put Veterans on the path to self-sufficiency.”

•  Vigil To Honor Suicide Victims Saturday At Poplar Bluff VA Hospital.  Southeast Missourian  “More than 90 people across the United States will take their own life today, according to the most recent information from the Centers for Disease Control.” The Missourian adds, “Recognizing the grief and isolation felt by those left behind, John J. Pershing VA Medical Center will hold a candlelight vigil on Saturday, which is International Survivors of Suicide Day. It will begin at 6 p.m. with a speaker in the facility’s main lobby, and close with the lighting of candles outside.”

•  Friday “Stand Down” Offers Military Veterans Help.  Greater Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin   “On the heels of Veterans Day, when the calendar paid silent tribute to those who served, comes a Stand Down on Friday when the community speaks with actions instead of words.”  WIVT-TV  “The Binghamton Vet Center says homelessness among veterans is a problem.” On “Friday, the stand down will be held at the American Legion Post 1645 on Robinson Street in Binghamton from 11 am until 5 pm. There will be free clothing, food, hygiene kits, information and referrals for shelter, healthcare, legal services, financial advice, employment and education.”

• Native American Veteran’s Powwow On Friday.  Topeka Capital-Journal  “A Native American Veteran’s Powwow is slated Friday at the Colmery-O’Neil VA Medical Center, 2200 S.W. Gage Blvd., according to a news release. The powwow, hosted by the Department of Veterans Affairs and sponsored by the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Kansas, will begin at 11 a.m.” Flu “shots and veterans program enrollment will be available at the celebration.”

• VA Reaching Out To Rural Vets In Iowa. KGAN-TV  The US Department of Veterans Affairs is “increasingly worried that many rural veterans…don’t have access to the care and services they need and have earned.” In eastern Iowa, VA is “meeting the problem head-on.” KGAN added that VA Director Chuck James said his agency wants to “deliver the benefits. We want to see these guys get everything they’re entitled to.”

•  VA Serves Rural Veterans’ Health Needs.  Visalia (CA) Times-Delta   Dr. Wessel Meyer, chief of staff for the VA Central California Healthcare System, notes, “On Thursday, Veterans Administration Central California Healthcare System will celebrate National Rural Health Day.” Meyer continues, “VA Central California’s innovative use of rural clinics, telehealth technology and transportation services…meets the unique health care needs of the Valley’s rural veterans.”

•  Norfolk Sheriff Holds Workshop For Jailed Veterans In Dedham.  Boston (MA) Globe

•  History Of Civil War Veteran And Former Slave Unveiled At South Laurel Church.  Baltimore Sun

•  VA Launches Website To Help Veterans Find Jobs. Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News