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.   More women pursuing college with help of GI Bill.  Military veteran Sara Bergeron finished finals recently at California Lutheran University, one step closer to her goal of a bachelor’s degree. She partly credits GI benefits. “Without my post-9/11 GI Bill, I wouldn’t be able to go to school and support my family,” said Bergeron, 22, of Camarillo.
 
2.   Vets go from the front lines to the front of the class.  Stationed for 13 months along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border in 2007 and 2008, Brian Thompson had a lot of time to wonder what could come next for him. In charge of a mortar squad with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, Thompson often thought he’d go to law school once his three-and-a-half years were up.
 
3.   Marine Corps veteran finds his focus in photography.  For nine months, David Biernesser sought solitude. Like countless other returning veterans, the Marine corporal struggled to readjust to civilian life in late 2006 when he came home from a tour of duty in Iraq.
 
4.   Brain injuries still mysterious, but research is building.  For a problem that has no doubt been around as long as humans have been falling on hard objects and bashing one another’s skulls with clubs, brain injuries are still surprisingly mysterious.
 
5.   Gen. Allen offers troop level options for post-2014 Afghanistan.  The top American commander in Afghanistan has submitted military options to the Pentagon that would keep 6,000 to 20,000 U.S. troops in the country after 2014, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
 
6.   How The “Fiscal Cliff” Deal Affects Entrepreneurs And Small Businesses.  Washington Post “One day after the nation started sliding down the fiscal cliff, Congress on Tuesday approved a stop-gap measure to raise rates on the wealthy, extend unemployment benefits and avert a sweeping round of tax increases and government spending cuts.” In an analysis, the Post says one of the features of the deal that will “have the greatest impact on start-ups and small businesses” is that targeted breaks will be continued. According to the Post, the “Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), a tax incentive for firms that hire widely underemployed groups like youths and veterans, as well as breaks for renewable energy technologies and retail/restaurant improvements were extended through 2013.”

7.   Congress Passes Tax Credits For Vet Employers.  Military Times “The tax extender bill passed on New Year’s Day by Congress includes five work opportunity tax credits aimed at encouraging businesses to hire veterans.” President Obama “has promised to sign” the legislation. The Times adds, “All five tax credits are extended for one year, until Dec. 31, 2013, by the American Taxpayer Relief Act, as are other non-veteran work opportunity tax credits.”
 
8.   Time Running Short For Ohio US Military Veteran Bonuses.  Medina County (OH) Gazette  “Veterans of the Persian Gulf War have only until the end of this year to apply for a tax-free bonus” from Ohio “totaling between $150 and $5,700. If veterans miss the Dec. 31, 2013, deadline to apply, they will no longer be eligible, said Ed Zackery, director of Medina County Veterans Service Office.” Zackery added, “We ask that our veterans of other eras and our families let everyone they know who served in the Persian Gulf era to get busy and apply before it’s too late.”
 
9.   Vets Go From The Front Lines To The Front Of The Class.  USA Today  “Administrators are increasingly finding that many servicemembers make good teachers – and they’re pushing to bring veterans into the mainstream of teacher recruitment, with hopes that their grit and perseverance can both improve student performance and lower teacher turnover rates.” And as the US “military winds down two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, scores of young men and women are coming home to an uncertain job market. Amid the uncertainty, some are becoming teachers.”
 
10.  More Women Pursuing College With Help Of GI Bill.  Ventura County (CA) Star  “A 2010 National Survey of Veterans found slightly more than a third of female veterans used their education benefits, about the same percentage as male veterans. The percentage, however, was much higher with younger woman veterans” who had “served in recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The “‘new GI Bill benefits enacted in 2008 may help make this the most educated cohort of women veterans,’ a 2010 report from the US Census Bureau found.”

Have You Heard?

Resolve: Lose Weight in 2013

01/03/2013 08:00 AM EST

VA has a program that can help Veterans successfully lose weight and change their lives. It’s called MOVE! Find out how it can help you lose weight and keep it off.