Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

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. Chicopee vet picked to run Soldiers’ Home.  MassLive.com  He works as an administrative officer in the office of the chief of staff at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Northampton, he said. He is the son of a well-known organizer of veterans affairs, World War II veteran Delfo Barabani,
2. Despite Profound Skills, Veterans Struggle in the Job Market.  Patch.com  Tuesday’s event, which included Congressman Eliot Engel, D-NY-17, and state Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-NY-35, was the beginning of what Gillibrand called “a working group” dedicated to tackling the issue of veteran unemployment.
3. VETERANS AFFAIRS: The Women In Defense raises $10K for soldiers. Members of The Women In Defense Michigan Chapter recently presented the Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund with a $10,000 check to assist the nonprofit organization in its efforts to provide financial support to those who serve and protect this country and their families.
4. Roadblocks for ROTC? Inside Higher Ed  “If there were any doubts that a cultural rift exists between civilians and veterans, a number of students at Columbia have confirmed what has been known to many of us,” Alex Horton wrote on a blog maintained by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
5. Fair informs war veterans of their health options.  Amarillo.com  Kathleen Caldwell, social worker with the US Department of Veterans Affairs, speaks Thursday with Tousha Barnes during a Veterans Health Information Fair at the National Guard Armory.
6. CSC Wins $33 Million Department of Veteran Affairs Contract.  Live-PR.com   CSC (NYSE: CSC) announced today that the company was awarded a task order under the General Services Administration´s Schedule 70 contract to provide software development services to the US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). The task order, which was
7. Tenants move into new development for homeless veterans.  Providence Journal  The development, a joint effort by Omni Development and the Rhode Island Veterans Action Center, in Warwick, received an array of federal money from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and money from Rhode Island Housing, the Building
8. Lawmakers act on a variety of measures.  Bismarck Tribune  The House voted down a bill that would have changed the committee that oversees veterans affairs across the state. House Bill 1379 originally removed the 15 veterans from the Advisory Committee on Veterans Affairs. After much resistance from theAlabama Given Land For Vets Cemetery.
9. AP “Baldwin County has turned over 103 acres in Spanish Fort to the state” of Alabama “for a veterans cemetery.” State “leaders are hoping to get a $7.5 million grant from the federal government. State Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Frank Burt says acquiring the land will allow the state to apply for funding” for the cemetery, which “would be the first state-operated veterans cemetery in Alabama.”Louisiana Officials To Honor Vets.
10. Alexandria (LA) Town Talk “Veterans from Rapides Parish and surrounding areas were honored during a ceremony Thursday, Feb. 24, in the Christian Worship Center, 6101 Masonic Drive in Alexandria. Featured at the ceremony” was Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal “and state Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Lane Carson. Veterans were presented the Louisiana Veterans Honor Medal in appreciation of their military service.”

HAVE YOU HEARD?

CRIME PREVENTION TIP OF THE WEEK – ONLINE AUCTION FRAUD

Auction fraud involves fraud attributable to the misrepresentation of a product advertised for sale through an Internet auction site or the non-delivery of products purchased through an Internet auction site. Consumers are strongly cautioned against entering into Internet transactions with subjects exhibiting the following behavior:
• The seller posts the auction as if he resides in the United States, then responds to victims with a congratulatory email stating he is outside the United States for business reasons, family emergency, etc. Similarly, beware of sellers who post the auction under one name, and ask for the funds to be transferred to another individual.
• The subject requests funds to be wired directly to him/her via Western Union, MoneyGram, or bank-to-bank wire transfer. By using these services, the money is virtually unrecoverable with no recourse for the victim.
• Sellers acting as authorized dealers or factory representatives in countries where there would be no such dealers should be avoided.
• Buyers who ask for the purchase to be shipped using a certain method to avoid customs or taxes inside another country should be avoided.
• Be suspect of any credit card purchases where the address of the card holder does not match the shipping address. Always receive the card holder’s authorization before shipping any products.

Some further tips to prevent becoming a victim of this type of fraud are the following:
• Before you bid, contact the seller with any questions you have.
• Review the seller’s feedback.
• Be cautious when dealing with individuals outside of your own country.
• Ensure you understand refund, return, and warranty policies.
• Determine the shipping charges before you buy.
• Be wary if the seller only accepts wire transfers or cash.
• If an escrow service is used, ensure it is legitimate.
• Consider insuring your item.
• Be cautious of unsolicited offers

IN OTHER NEWS

• Bill To Overhaul VA Administrative Committee Defeated In North Dakota. Grand Forks (ND) Herald “A bill that sought to overhaul the Administrative Committee on Veterans Affairs died” in the North Dakota “state House on Wednesday. The defeat of House Bill 1379 comes after weeks of opposition from veterans.”

• Study Finds Older Vets More Likely To Be Homeless Than Older Non-Vets. Senior Housing News “Veteran care is an important, growing part of America’s aging population challenges and new statistics” from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the US Department of Veterans Affairs “show the chance that senior veterans and those from the Baby Boomer generation to be homeless are significantly higher than non-veterans.” The two agencies, which “recently published a study on the extent and nature of homelessness among America’s veterans as an adjunct to the 2009 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress,” found that “39 percent of homeless veterans are 51–61 years compared with 19 percent of homeless non-veterans,” while “9 percent of homeless veterans are 62 years and older compared with 4 percent of homeless non-veterans.”

• VA Hosts Summit On Assisting Homeless Vets. Danville (IL) Commercial News “The Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System is partnering with local agencies to make sure veterans – especially the homeless – find an open door wherever they turn. The ‘no wrong door’ directive was explained Wednesday during the first homeless summit, ‘Closing the Gap,'” held “in the Bremer auditorium at Danville Area Community College.

• VA Operating Caregiver Support Line. Willoughby (OH) News-Leader The “Department of Veterans Affairs is increasing its support to caregivers with a new, toll-free telephone line for the caregivers of veterans of all eras. ‘The families and loved ones who care for severely injured veterans deserve the highest level of support,’ said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki.” The “National Caregiver Support Line…unofficially started Feb. 1, and in its first week logged nearly 600 calls.”

• VA Cuts Some Education Companies From Benefits Programs. Bloomberg News “The Department of Veterans Affairs began collecting information on for-profit colleges’ ‘questionable’ recruitment practices in October, according to a Feb. 10 letter VA Secretary Eric Shinseki sent to Democratic Senator Richard Durbin, who has held hearings on for-profit colleges in his home state of Illinois. The probe has led the agency to cut off some education companies from its benefits programs, the letter said.”

• Obama Awards Medals, Visits Wounded At National Naval Medical Center. AP “President Barack Obama awarded six Purple Hearts while visiting with wounded service members on Wednesday. The commander in chief met with 22 patients and their families during a midday visit to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., just outside of Washington, the White House said.” Obama, who “also met with medical center staff during his hospital stay of more than an hour,” has “made several trips to both the Maryland facility and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington to comfort the wounded and recognize their service to the country by awarding service medals.”

• Concern Expressed About Agent Orange Testing In Maryland. AP US Army “records are shedding new light on Agent Orange testing decades ago at Maryland military installations and raising new concerns about health hazards from the Vietnam War-era chemical defoliant.” Fort Detrick “released fresh details…on outdoor experiments with Agent Orange and similar compounds at the Army installation in Frederick.” The installation has been criticized by Randy White, whose “daughter who grew up near Fort Detrick and died of…cancer,” which also killed his ex-wife.

• Vets: Decades-Old Agent Orange Tests At Fort Detrick Have Made Nearby Residents Sick. WUSA-TV On Wednesday, a “dozen Vietnam Veterans protested outside Fort Detrick,” saying Agent Orange testing that took place on the base during World War II is now causing health problems for nearby residents. WUSA added, “The Frederick County Health Department is trying to determine whether there’s a cancer cluster around Fort Detrick.

• VA Taking Open Source Approach To Modernizing VistA. NextGov The Veterans Affairs Department “kicked off a project last Friday to modernize” the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA), its “decades-old electronic health record system,” with an “open source model that it said will benefit both VA and private health care providers, including doctors and hospitals.” Industry sources “said the collaborative approach toward development of the new VistA EHR also could spur development of a new single electronic health record to serve both VA and the Defense Department. Roger Baker, VA’s chief information officer, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee last Thursday he expects the two departments to reach an agreement on a single electronic health record within two months.”

• Fee Basis Payment System To Be Headquartered At Louis A. Johnson VAMC. WBOY-TV The Louis A. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Clarksburg “has won the grand opportunity to help nine other hospitals just like it.” The hospital will be the “headquarters for the Fee Basis Payment System,” which means “all private sector and community hospital claims for all ten” VA hospitals in the same region as Louis A. Johnson will be sent to the latter facility, which “will organize, sort, file, and pay all claims to the clinics the veterans visit.” Louis A. Johnson “will receive about $1 million and hire 15 to 17 employees to oversee the program,” which “should be operational by the end of the summer.”

• Veterans Action Coalition To Meet Thursday In Louisiana. Baton Rouge (LA) Advocate (2/24) The Veterans Action Coalition of South Louisiana meet yesterday, “at the Clifton Chenier Center” in Lafayette, Louisiana. While the US Department of Veterans Affairs “plans to expand clinic space and services available in Lafayette,” the coalition, which “has said the planned expansion is not large enough to meet the needs” of veterans, “continues to advocate for a full-fledged hospital in Lafayette.”

• VA Eligibility Determination Website Making Life Easier For Vets. Blue Mountain Eagle “Veterans Affairs has an interactive PDF website to help veterans determine eligibility and apply for VA healthcare.” Any veteran with access to a “computer can fill out the materials in the privacy of their own home, making the process more confidential, and allowing the veteran access to his/her own personal information at any time.”

• Disabled Vet Grateful To VA For Assisting In His Recovery. KWWL-TV US Army Sergeant Ian Ralston, a disabled vet who “suffered a spinal injury during his second deployment to Iraq.” Noted that Ralston spent three weeks at Walter Reed and six months at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis, following his injury, KWWL said Ralston’s “family is optimistic he’ll walk again.” As for Ralston himself, he told KWWL that he “can’t thank the people at the Minnesota VA enough” for helping him learn “how to operate his ‘sip’ and ‘puff'” wheelchair, which gives him some measure of independence by allowing him to sip or puff on a straw in order to make his chair go in the desired direction.

• Impressive Work At VA Hospital. Concord (NH) Monitor “For the past six months I have had the privilege of working” at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Manchester. Perencevich adds, “In this time of mistrust of government-controlled medical care, the VA system seems to be an example of the government doing its job right.”

• Company Donates Money To Organizations Serving Wounded Vets.Orlando (FL) Business Journal Harris Corp., an “international communications and information technology company,” has “donated $10,000 to The Mission Continues and $5,000 to the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, two nonprofits that serve US veterans. The Mission Continues…gives returning veterans, many wounded in combat, the chance to continue serving their community as civic leaders,” while the “National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic” helps vets “learn adaptive alpine and Nordic skiing.” Nearly “400 disabled veterans are expected to attend” this year’s clinic, which is “co-sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

• Nonprofit Hoping To Turn Old Hospital Into Apartments For Disabled Vets. AP The “owner of the former Whittaker Memorial Hospital” in Virginia is “hoping to renovate the building and transform it into apartments for disabled veterans. The nonprofit Key Components wants to invest $9 million” to transform the “abandoned building into the Whittaker Heritage Veterans Facility.” Key Components is “seeking a developer to sign on to the project.”

• Singer, Restaurant Team Up To Help Wounded Vets. CNN Country music “star and actor Tim McGraw is teaming up with Outback Steakhouse to support American men and women in uniform. McGraw is helping kick-off Outback Steakhouse’s annual ‘Thanks for Giving’ campaign by visiting the Texas National Guard Armory in San Antonio.” According to the blog, when “patrons of Outback Steakhouse order from its special Red, White and Bloomin’ menu, $1 million of proceeds will go towards Operation Homefront, a non-profit organization that provides financial and other emergency assistance to families of troops and wounded warriors.” KENS-TV San Antonio, TX (2/23, 5:05 p.m. CT) aired a similar report on this story.