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.   Leaders ask public’s help in pushing for budget compromise.  Congressman Sanford Bishop calls it “the sword” once poised over a special congressional budget “super committee” charged with cutting $1.2 trillion in federal discretionary spending.

2.   As returning veterans transition to civilian life (and college) UTA there to help.  MidCitiesOnline.com  That figure represents a little more than a 50 percent increase over the 525 veterans that enrolled at the University during both the fall and spring 2009 semesters. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says many veterans returning from the war zone …

3.   More Latino Veterans Suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Center For American Progress  The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently reported that 15 percent of veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq currently suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The situation is even more severe for Latino veterans. There are more than 1.2 million …
 
4.   $600M VA Hospital Dedicated In North Las Vegas.  AP  “Officials say opening a $600 million Veterans Affairs medical center in North Las Vegas keeps a promise with almost 165,000 veterans in and around Las Vegas and another 70,000 veterans in other parts” of Nevada. On Monday, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki “and other dignitaries christened” a building that will “serve the 46,000 people currently enrolled in the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System.” Officials “say it’ll start treating patients next week.”  Las Vegas Review-Journal  During Monday’s dedication ceremony, Shinseki said the new hospital is “about promise making and promise keeping, and in this country that counts for a lot.” Las Vegas Sun  The new VA hospital in Las Vegas “will transform the way veterans receive health care in the valley, consolidating services that were once scattered across some 20 medical offices in the valley. It will be the first-ever VA hospital in Southern Nevada and the first new VA hospital to open since the 1990s.” Similar VA facilities are “under construction in New Orleans, Denver and Orlando, Fla.”
 
5.   Governor Requests Audit Of Veterans Affairs Department. Tulsa (OK) World “In light of the recent resignation of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs executive director, Gov. Mary Fallin is calling for an audit of the organization. That is standard procedure after the head of an agency retires, according to a press release” from Fallin’s office. The Oklahoma VA, according to the World, “has been in the spotlight recently after reports of abuse and neglect at the veterans centers in the state.”

6.   Growth Hormone May Stem Cognitive Decline In Elderly.  Bloomberg News  “Healthy older adults and those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) given a drug that spurs hormones important to normal brain function had improved concentration, decision-making skills and verbal memory,” according to a study published online August 6 in the Archives of Neurology. The “healthy adults given Theratechnologies Inc. (TH, 705K)’s Egrifta [tesamorelin], a drug that spurs the release of human growth hormone, had executive function improvements that were more than 100 percent greater than those in a placebo group, while verbal memory improvements were 50 percent greater,” said the study’s lead author, Laura Baker. Bloomberg News adds, “The results show that the treatment ‘has benefits in cognition not only for healthy older adults, but also for adults at increased risk for Alzheimer’s dementia,’ she said.” According to Bloomberg News, the “study was supported by the US National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Veterans Affairs.”
 
7.   Too Much Fat In Your Diet Equals Worse Sleep. Fort Wayne (IN) News-Sentinel “Diet Detective” column, Charles Stuart Platkin said researchers from the University of Minnesota and the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis “found that prolonged exposure to a high-fat diet reduces the quality of sleep.” The “researchers believe that the disruptive sleep cycle results from a decrease in sensitivity to a brain chemical called orexin, which is important for stabilizing sleep and wake states.”
 
8.   Gaps In Health Care For Native American Vets. Army Times “Native Americans, who serve in the military at higher proportional rates than any other ethnic group, report unmet health care needs at four times the rate of other veterans, according” to US Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), who serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and “leads the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. To better serve this population, the Veterans Affairs Department and Indian health Services must collaborate to improve access to care, advocacy groups told senators during” a late May hearing. The Times adds, “VA and IHS have signed an agreement to improve outreach and care for Native American veterans.”
 
9.   Bill Curbs Bonuses At VA. Government Executive “Legislation that would limit the amount of bonuses the Veterans Affairs Department can pay its top employees would save $13 million during the next four years, according” to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). An amendment to the bill, which the House Veterans Affairs Committee approved in July, “requires the VA secretary to provide caskets or urns for veterans with no next of kin and insufficient resources to cover burial and funeral expenses.” The bill also “aims to improve outreach to service members and veterans on the education benefits available to them and create a registry to track military members exposed to toxic chemicals caused by open burn pits.”

10.  Report Card: VA Fails To Speak Plainly.  Army Times “The Veterans Affairs Department has received failing grades from the Center for Plain Language for not complying with Plain Writing Act of 2011.” That act “requires federal agencies to take certain steps toward making their rules and policies easier for the general public to understand.” In a statement, Josephine Schuda said VA is “confident that future ‘report cards'” on Plain Writing Act compliance will have better grades for VA.