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. Parsons’ plight typifies angst of many families.  Review Times  Shane’s treatment is paid for by the US Department of Veterans’ Affairs, but the scope of financial cost involved in providing his care reaches beyond his rehabilitation. Cindy was forced to give up her career to provide his full-time care and has

2. Proposed State Budget Falls Short Of Meeting Veterans Needs.  WISC Madison
Black said doing that is essentially managing money that is only veteran’s affairs revenues, and that the re-estimates aren’t accurate. “We have looked at the budget; we did crunch the numbers,” said Black. “Nobody came to us and asked us about the

3. Investigation at center confirmed.  Daily Ardmoreite  By Marsha Miller, News Editor The Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs officially confirmed Thursday reports the agency is conducting an investigation of the Ardmore Veterans Center. A week ago local sources reported ODVA investigators were on the

4. Dental Conditions; Federal Register Extracts.  Dentistry IQ  The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend its adjudication regulations regarding service connection of dental conditions for treatment purposes. The regulations currently state several principles governing determinations by

5. Editorial: Modest hike in cost for Tricare.  Denver Post  It also would not affect those wounded during service, who are cared for by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The small hikes are part of a broader cost-cutting exercise that Gates is engaged in, an effort that is both contentious and necessary.

6. Chatham resident receives Veteran of the Month award.  The State Journal-Register
The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) celebrated, in conjunction with Women’s History Month, US Air Force Veteran Rosemary Connolly, of Chatham, as the March 2011 Veteran of the Month on Friday at the American Legion Post 32 in

7. CalVet Signs Agreements With Homeless Veterans Service Providers. By VT  Los Angeles – California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) Acting Secretary Rocky Chavez today signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with several Southern California homeless veteran service providers, giving “ graduates” from their … The open house included a presentation on CalVet’s findings on where gaps exist in state services that effect homeless veterans. Upon conclusion of the presentation many of the local area organizations signed MOUs or finalized

8. Disabled vet tax exemption clears hurdle. Southwest Virginia Today  Legislation passed a final hurdle this winter to exempt from state real estate taxation those veterans rated by the US Department of Veterans Affairs as 100 percent disabled. The General Assembly sent the

9. Bill to make Veterans Day a Georgia school holiday fails again.  Florida Times-Union
“I can’t understand why a veteran wouldn’t do this for veterans. All we’re asking is that the day be recognized as the national holiday that it is,” Hart said. The fact that it isn’t should be a point of embarrassment for the state, and Atwood is

10. Westwood Hills residents want sound wall next to Los Angeles National Cemetery.  Los Angeles Times  Her goal, she said, is “to maintain the cemetery as a place of beauty and serenity where loved ones can reflect on the service” of veterans. The cemetery dates to the late 19 t h century. According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs,

HAVE YOU HEARD?

Registration is now open for the 4th National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic, a week-long rehabilitative program to teach recently-injured Veterans how to surf, kayak, sail, cycle and participate in track and field activities. The sports clinic, sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), will be held Sept. 18 – 23 in San Diego. The goal of the sports clinic is to introduce recently-injured Veterans to various adaptive sports while training their caregivers, coach or recreational therapist in how to assist Veterans. With this approach, Veterans can continue these newly-learned activities with their friends and families back home. Participants will also have the opportunity to bond with fellow Veterans with disabilities and work together to overcome challenges. Participation is open to Veterans who are eligible for VA medical care and have orthopedic amputations, traumatic brain injuries, burn injuries, psychological trauma, certain neurological conditions, visual impairment, spinal cord injuries or other injuries incurred during the past six years. For more information about the National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic, visit www.summersportsclinic.va.gov,

IN OTHER NEWS

• Legislation would allow service dogs in VA hospitals.  Kevin Stone and his service dog, Mambo, have been inseparable for three years. So the disabled Army veteran was shocked last fall when officials told him Mambo wasn’t allowed inside his local Veterans hospital.

• Friends of slain airman conducting online auction to benefit his family. Two friends close to the family of slain Senior Airman Nicholas Alden created an online auction shortly after his March 2 shooting death at Germanys Frankfurt international airport to raise money for his widow and two young children.

• Oklahoma Bills Would Shield Some Military Benefits From Divorce, Child Support. KWTV-TV A proposed Oklahoma law limiting the ability of litigants to tap military retirement in divorce or child support actions “is getting national attention.” Two bills (SB 528, SB 917) passed by the state Senate last week, some opponents say, “would turn Oklahoma into a military divorce mecca.”

• Alaska Veterans Affairs Supports Limit On Environmental Lawsuits. KJUD-TV Members of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs testifying in state legislative hearings supported a bill “clarifying environmental rules for the military. The 1972 Clean Water Act includes …

• In Raritan, New Homes Planned For Disabled Veterans. New York Times “A new apartment building designed to suit the needs of disabled veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is to rise in Raritan Borough. But first, peace had to be negotiated between borough officials and developers. The concept of veterans’ housing grew out of a compromise, reached during …

• Horn Applauds Veteran’s Coalition. San Diego Union-Tribune The San Diego Veterans Coalition and partners “gathered Friday to discuss the needs of veterans and their families.” The chairman of its board, supervisor Bill Horn, called the Coalition “the perfect example of how collaboration can better serve our community.” Speakers at the sold-out forum included …

• Oneida VFW Ceremony Honors Female Veterans. Green Bay (WI) Press-Gazette A Friday ceremony at a local VFW Post “honored members of a fast-growing segment of America’s military veterans: the sisters, wives and mothers who served their country during war and peace.” The post, affiliated with the Oneida Indian tribe, honored 28 former …

• Veteran Forum Hopes To Attract More Women Vets. Suisun (CA) Patch A state assemblywoman “is reaching out to female veterans during this year’s Second Annual Veteran Forum at the Joseph A. Nelson Community Center on April 2 forum “will have a special focus on women veterans and the challenges they face,” including PTSD, military sexual trauma and readjusting to civilian life.

• Senate Must Stop Name That’s No ‘Goode’ For Bridge. St. Louis Post-Dispatch A city’s new bridge across the Mississippi should not be named after two sitting Congressmen, as voted by the Missouri House, and also takes issue with a suggestion that it be named the “Women Veterans Memorial Bridge,” saying that, “I think a veteran is a veteran. It’s like one big union. …

• A Vet’s Battles Continue. Los Angeles Times‘s Iraq and Afghan veteran Greg Valentini, who’s living in a Volunteers of America dorm in Hollywood and “fighting for his life against meth and other demons. He wins some and loses some.” Enrolled in Los Angeles City College, Valentini tries to deal with his post-traumatic stress disorder and resist backsliding into substance abuse. He says that coming home from combat overseas “he met only alienation upon his return,” and spent years homeless and getting high.

• House Is Gift Of Thanks For Wounded Carson Soldier. Colorado Springs Gazette The progress of volunteers building a house for Sgt. Jeff Adams, a former Fort Carson soldier who lost his legs in Afghan combat, who was “nearly speechless as Homes for Our Troops embarked on Day 2 of its latest project. The Massachusetts-based organization has built 70 houses for wounded veterans in 26 states and has 28 more — including the one for Adams — in progress.”

• Arizona Vet Donates Purple Heart Coin To Giffords. AP “An Arizona veteran who received a Purple Heart after being wounded in Iraq has given part of his award to US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Al Lee said the Arizona congresswoman, who is recovering after being shot in the head outside a Tucson supermarket two months ago, was wounded in the line of duty — just like he was in 2003 when he was an Army National Guard sergeant.” Lee presented the coin to Pam Simon, a staffer in Giffords’ Tucson office who was one of 13 people wounded in the January 8 shooting rampage.

• New Hartford Legion Reaches Out To Vets With Project Healing Waters. Utica (NY) Observer Dispatch Project Healing Waters, “a program developed through the Veterans Administration with chapters in many areas of the country.” The fly fishing program, which aims to help combat veterans, dates back to World War II; the New Hartford American Legion Post is the only American Legion post in the nation to sponsor the program.

• Free Van Service Linking Veterans With VA Care. Associated Press A van service run by a Disabled Veterans of America post in Alabama that shuttles veterans from the Shoals to medical appointments at the Birmingham VAMC. Run by a coordinator, and frequent driver, who uses a prosthetic for the arm he lost in military service in Vietnam, the program uses only volunteers and donations.

• Volunteer Drivers Needed For Canton-Area Veterans. Canton (IL) Daily Ledger The Iowa VAMC in Iowa City “is currently recruiting drivers from the Canton area to transport patients to Iowa City,” according to the hospital’s chief voluntary service officer.

• Veteran Indicted In Theft Of Credit Cards. San Francisco Chronicle A veteran, his ex-wife and a friend “have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that they stole purses from Veterans Administration and hospital employees and then used the victims’ credit cards to go shopping.” Veteran Thurman Douglas Smith allegedly used his access to Palo Alto VAMC facilities to steal wallets and purses of female employees there on four separate occasions between March 2009 and January 2010, according to the indictment handed down Wednesday by a San Jose federal grand jury. The case, investigated by the VA’s Office of Inspector General, charged the three with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.

• VA To Hold Enrollment Event For Eligible Veterans. Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram Durham VAMC “will sponsor a veteran enrollment event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday at Braswell Memorial Library. Representatives from the medical center will be on hand to answer veterans’ questions about Veterans Affairs health care and prescription drug benefits.”

• VA Fair To Feature Veterans’ Services. Tuscaloosa (AL) News Tuscaloosa Partnership for Veterans Services will host a Veterans Resources Fair Tuesday at the Tuscaloosa VAMC, featuring 25 organizations offering services for veterans.