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. Democrats ask DOD to allow ousted gays to appeal for honorable discharge. A group of House Democrats want troops previously dismissed under the dont ask, dont tell law to be able to apply for honorable discharge status, opening the door for them to receive veterans benefits.
2. Phoenix-area homeless veterans receive help at ‘StandDown’ event.  Arizona Republic
   Joey Strickland, director of the state Department of Veterans’ Services, estimated that 20 to 25 percent of the homeless in Phoenix are veterans.
3. Lawmakers seek action on Cochran VA Medical Center.  St. Louis Beacon … Center in St. Louis, several members of Congress are demanding action from the US Department of Veterans Affairs to clear up problems at the hospital.
4. Funding for VA cemetery now available.  WALA-TV FOX10 So state leaders are applying for a grant through the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to fund the state of Alabama’s first Veterans cemetery.
5. Veterans get a champion who’s not new to the fight.  Mid Columbia Tri City Herald
   And they shaped Murray, a Democratic US senator who has many years of successful experience on the Veterans Affairs Committee.
6. Sen. Murray vows to be ‘top advocate’ for veterans.   plenty of fans in her home state, too. “She’s great,” said Beau Bergeron , of Steilacoom, Wash., a former head of the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs. “She’s absolutely great.
7. Moore pushes benefits for gay veterans.  Milwaukee News Buzz Last week, Moore sent letters to Gates and Eric Shinseki, secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs, co-signed by the four openly gay members of
8. Main Line CNO Joins Nursing Spectrum Advisory Board.  Nurse.com Among her numerous achievements in nursing leadership, Valentine served in a CNO role from 1993-2001 for the US Department of Veterans Affairs in the
9. Vicenza NCO receives Soldier’s Medal for river rescue. Spc. Justin Paquet was six hours into a patrol up and down a mountain in Afghanistan, carrying almost half his weight in gear under a steady drizzle.
10. After Opposition From Vets Groups, Bachmann Backs Off Plan To Cut Benefits. Minneapolis Star Tribune US Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) “backed off a plan…to cut $4.5 billion in benefits to veterans, after strong opposition from several veterans groups. The cut was one of dozens Bachmann suggested recently to slash $430 billion from the budget over five years.” In a “statement posted to her website,” Bachmann said, “The problem of government spending must” not be “solved…on the backs of our nation’s war heroes.”

VA Secretary Announces Innovation Awards

VA is committed to finding new technologies, processes, and solutions emerging from dynamic companies in the private sector that can help us better serve our Veterans. Through VA’s Innovation Initiative (VAi2), Secretary Shinseki announced four projects that will do exactly that.

IN OTHER NEWS

11. Congress: VA Budget Increases Unlikely.  CQ Weekly Lawmakers in Congress have “made it clear that despite two wars,” the Veterans Affairs Department “won’t be getting the kinds of increases it’s gotten used to – and the department will be lucky to hold its budget near current levels.

12. Vets Court Operating In San Diego County. San Diego Union-Tribune “Veterans with emotional scars from the battlefield have a new hand out to them when they break the law,” because the “San Diego County veterans court” has begun processing cases. Veterans “courts are on the rise nationally, and in California, in acknowledgment of the combat stress of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

13. Some Vets Concerned About Golf Course Refurbishing. Los Angeles Times “For more than six decades,” a nine-hole golf course “at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus” has “drawn a loyal clientele of veteran duffers.” Now, “however, some longtime users fear that a planned $6-million renovation of Heroes Course and a new relationship with UCLA could forever alter its character and perhaps even limit access for vets.

14. Teleconferencing Network To Assist Vets With Benefits. Glenwood Springs (CO) Post Independent “Veterans who have questions about their service benefits can now use the teleconferencing network at the Veterans Administration office in Glenwood Springs to talk with a benefits counselor at the VA office in Denver. It will be like having a face-to-face meeting with a benefits counselor, who will have the full resources of their office at their fingertips, but without the drive to Denver, said Paul Sweeney, chief of customer relations” for the VA hospital “in Grand Junction.

15. Many New Faces In Key Senate Spending Positions. CQ Weekly “The Senate Appropriations Committee has named its subcommittee chairmen and ranking members for the 112th Congress.” According to CQ, US Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) will chair “Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies,” while US Sen. Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL) will be its ranking member.

16. Opportunity Knocks For Small Companies In Mobile Computing Market.  Washington Post “As the government increasingly focuses on mobile computing, smaller, local companies say the newness of the market has lowered the barriers to entry.” Columbia-based “BoxTone provides software and services that help government users manage their cell phones — from making sure data is kept secure to guaranteeing reliable service.

17. Government Contracts Awarded.  Washington Post

18. 2012 Opening Planned For Expanded VA Clinic. Toledo (OH) Blade

19. Local Activities Planned For Veterans Week. Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times-Leader

20. Reno Area Crimes Highlight Seniors’ Vulnerability To Exploitation. Reno (NV) Gazette-Journal

21. Judge Gets Award For His Work With Vets. Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune

22. Depot On Track To Restore Veterans, Building Alike. Grand Junction (CO) Sentinel

23. Ohio Soldier To Get Proper Burial 66 Years After Death. AP