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

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1. $1 million grant a lifeline for vets.  Charleston Post Courier  Krowska’s circumstances are typical for a Vietnam-era veteran, according to shelter officials. And he is just the sort of person the US Department of Veterans Affairs expects to assist with its latest drive to address homelessness. …
2. French Camp selected for veterans’ clinic, nursing home. Lodi News-Sentinel  The US Department of Veterans Affairs selected the French Camp location after announcing two years ago that it would be somewhere in San Joaquin County, McNerney said in a news release. “I’m excited to announce that San Joaquin County’s new medical …
3. Veterans Affairs awards $56.7 million to hospitals for solar power.  Cooler Planet  Five hospitals have contracts from the US Department of Veterans Affairs to build solar power systems. About $56.7 million will be given to the hospitals. According to VA, this money is going toward a continued support of efficiency and renewable …
4. Preservation of historic buildings at national cemetery discussed.  phillyBurbs.com Officials from the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the state discussed with community members what could happen with the two historic sites and listened to community feedback. The vacant John and Timothy Scott Farm, a circa-1815 single-family …
5. The US Funds Solar Energy Projects at Five VA Hospitals.  Solar Novus Today  The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded $56.7 million (USD) in contracts to build solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in support of ongoing energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives. By the summer of 2012, the VA will install the …
6. CEO gets grant to help at-risk vets.  Wilkes Barre Times-Leader  According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, a person must meet three criteria to qualify for aid through the program: • They must be a member of a veteran family, defined as a single person or a family in which the head of household or the spouse …
7. VA embarks on national homeless prevention initiative.  MiamiHerald.com  The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has embarked on a national initiative that aims to financially support low-income veterans and their families. The funds will be distributed in the form of grants to non-profit …
8. Milwaukee nonprofit receives a $1 million grant from VA to help homeless. Greenfield Daily Reporter  — A Milwaukee nonprofit that provides veteran services has received a $1 million grant from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The money will help the Center for Veterans Issues assist veterans in central and southeastern Wisconsin. …
9. New GI Bill Tuition Protection Approved. Army Times “Congress has passed emergency legislation to prevent thousands of Post-9/11 GI Bill students from a drop in tuition payments next week when new policies will simplify the popular education program. President Obama is expected to sign the bill, and Veterans Affairs Department officials are trying to work out a way to apply the change to the GI Bill without delaying processing of claims for the fall term.” According to the Times, the bill headed to Obama “protects about 30,000 students in seven states…from the effects of a new nationwide tuition and fee cap of $17,500 that could leave some students paying thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to remain in school.”
10. Vets Groups Split On Therapy Dogs Legislation. Army Times “Proposed legislation requiring the Veterans Affairs Department to train and provide therapy dogs for former service members is drawing mixed reviews from influential veterans’ groups.” On Monday, “spokesmen for VA and the Veterans of Foreign Wars voiced their opposition before the House Veterans’ Affairs Commimttee’s health panel, while representatives from Disabled American Veterans and the Vietnam Veterans of America remained noncommittal or raised concerns about the program’s certification standards.” The Times adds, “VA estimates the pilot program, which would take place at three to five VA medical centers, would cost $10 million.”

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Advocating for Families of the Fallen

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In Other News

• Vets Groups Discuss Debt Talks At White House. AP “Leaders from veterans groups heard warnings from White House officials Tuesday about the potential impact on veterans benefits if a deal isn’t reached by the Aug. 2 deadline to increase the government’s borrowing limit. But they were offered few specifics at a White House meeting about exactly how veterans would be affected, participants said.” Paul Rieckhoff, the “executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said it’s frustrating to not have more information to give those who rely on the payments.” Rieckhoff stated, “There haven’t been clear messages from the White House and Congress about who will get paid and when. That’s why there’s so much anxiety and concern.”

• Walter Reed National Military Center Will Advance Military Healthcare. Fox News’ Fox & Friends  “After over a century of caring for US presidents, soldiers, and more than 775,000 patients annually, a government commission is forcing the closure of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.” Fox News aired an interview with the facility’s commander, Col. Norvel Coots, who said there are “a lot of mixed emotions that are going into the transition of Walter Reed,” which has a “102 years of service to the nation at our location. But, at the same time,” there is “great thought about the future for the military health system as we merge with the National Naval Medical Center to create the Walter Reed National Military Center.” The transition, Coots said, is “about advancements in military healthcare,” because “new techniques…require more modern facilities.”

• US Navy Vietnam Veterans Fight For Benefits. McClatchy 67-year-old Vietnam vet Doug DeWitt “suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and other ailments that he blames on exposure to Agent Orange, the main chemical the United States sprayed during the war.” DeWitt is “one of potentially thousands of so-called ‘blue water’ Navy veterans who have been excluded from easy approval of their Agent Orange-related disability compensation claims by the Veterans Affairs Department. He’s in a group of veterans who served on deep-water ships off the coast of Vietnam but didn’t touch land or serve on waterways inside the country.” According to McClatchy, the vets are trying to get Congress to force support from VA.

• VA Finds Many Vet-Owned Businesses Not Eligible. Army Times The Veterans Affairs’ Inspector General (IG) has “discovered massive problems with small businesses claiming to be owned by veterans or disabled veterans. After a spot check found that 76 percent of businesses did not meet eligibility requirements, VA officials now believe a minimum of 1,400 small businesses are falsely receiving sole-source or set-aside contracts” from the VA “valued at more than $500 million. Without tighter controls, up to $2.5 billion in contracts that are supposed to go to veteran-owned businesses will end up in the hands of ineligible businesses over the next five years, according to a report” from VA’s IG.

• 10,000 Veterans At Risk Of Homelessness. UPI “More than 10,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are homeless or at risk of losing housing, the US Department of Veterans Affairs says.” UPI adds, “Troops returning from multiple deployments, often suffering mental stress from combat, are coming home to a bad economy, said Pete Dougherty, an adviser on veteran homelessness at the VA.” According to UPI, VA and the “Department of Housing and Urban Development are putting an additional $46.2 million into” a program that provides housing vouchers to homeless vets.

• Homewood Veteran Tells US Senate, Veterans Affairs About Waits For PTSD Illness Help. Birmingham News “Members of a Senate committee and US Department of Veterans Affairs officials who listened” at a recent hearing to Daniel Williams’ story of trouble getting Veterans Affairs treatment agreed that he should not have had the trouble. Williams, a “former Army biochemist who served in Iraq in 2003-04, had personal experience with what new data is showing: the VA system makes people with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder wait too long to see a psychiatrist or other mental health professional. Williams testified earlier this month to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, which also heard from the VA’s inspector general evidence of long waiting lists and slow responses to patients in crisis.”

• VA Hospital In Roseburg To Remain Open. Eugene (OR) Register-Guard “The Department of Veterans Affairs will keep the medical complex open – and even expand its cardiology and ophthalmology capabilities, the agency announced Tuesday.” According to the Register-Guard, more “than $55 million in improvements are planned” at the Roseburg VA, “including a new $4.6 million dental clinic and a $9.7 million acute psychiatric ward replacement. The department, however, will not reopen the intensive care unit and instead will send veterans to community hospitals for that level of care.”

• US Gives $1.59 Million For Michigan Vets Programs. AP On Tuesday, the US Department of Veterans Affairs “said…it is giving $1.59 million for programs helping homeless Michigan veterans and their families. Two Michigan nonprofit agencies will help about 545 homeless veteran families, Department Secretary Eric Shinseki said,” adding in a statement that the program “expands our capacity to act before a veteran becomes homeless and to target the problem of family homelessness.” The AP adds, “The program is called Supportive Services for Veteran Families, and the nationwide initiative is awarding about $60 million to 85 agencies in 40 states and the District of Columbia.”

• VA To Offer Free Child Care For Veterans At Appointments. Buffalo News “The VA Western New York Healthcare System will offer free child care for veterans going to medical appointments at its Buffalo facility at 3495 Bailey Ave., beginning this fall.” The US VA’s secretary, Eric Shinseki “says that Buffalo will be one of three pilot sites for the child care centers across the nation.” The News adds, “A VA survey found that more than a third of veterans were interested in getting child care services and more than 10 percent of them had to reschedule VA appointments because they did not have someone to look after their children.”

• VA Hospitals Doing More For Women’s Health. Providence (RI) Journal A “special supplement of the journal Women’s Health Issues, published July 13, details the growth and diversity of women’s health research” by the US Department of Veterans Affairs in recent years. The publication of the supplement “coincides with the VA recognizing July as Women Veterans Month. ‘VA has had a longstanding commitment to improving women’s health,’ VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said in a news release,” adding, “This supplement shows the tremendous progress we’ve made by making that commitment to women veterans a top priority across the department.”

• Healing Garden Comforts Patients, Families. Danville (IL) Commercial News Patients at “Danville’s Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System are enjoying all the beauty and health benefits of one of the first ‘healing gardens’ of its kind in the country.” The “tranquil garden area, which was officially dedicated last November, is located between the patient library and the Community Living Center. It provides access to nature in a therapeutic setting for the Alzheimer’s and Community Living Center (nursing home) residents.” The Commercial News quoted VA spokesperson Doug Shouse, who said, “We are so fortunate to be one of the first hospitals in the system to be able to offer our patients and their families such a beautiful outdoor setting that can enhance healing, health and well-being.”

• Unclaimed Remains Of Veterans, Including Those Of A Civil War Soldier, Buried With Honors.Kansas City Star

• National Organization Lays To Rest Civil War, 13 Other Veterans Whose Cremains Went Unclaimed.AP