Greetings good people. Apologize for the lateness of the VA News but business calls! :-)
Hoping everyone had a great weekend. Prayers and blessings to you and your loved ones and to our Troops and their loved ones everywhere.
Federal Report for Friday, March 5, 2010 is attached.
Best always........................Wayne
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VA News for Saturday, March 6, 2010
1. Reassured By Shinseki, American Legion Drops Call For Interim Agent Orange Regs. Tom Philpott's "Military Update" column (3/6), appearing in the Everett (WA) Herald and elsewhere, advises Vietnam veterans to file Agent Orange-related claims as quickly as possible, and not wait until the VA publishes a regulation officially linking exposure to the much-used herbicide to such diseases as ischemic heart disease, Parkinson's disease or B cell leukemia. The column notes that advocacy groups urge prompt filing of claims because veterans eventually found eligible for disability pay "will be able to receive compensation back to the date their claims were filed." It noted that the American Legion, Military Order of the Purple Heart and the National Veterans Legal Services Program jointly sent a March 1 letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki "demanding that VA publish by March 12 an interim regulation for adding these illnesses to its list of diseases presumed caused by Agent Orange -- or face a lawsuit," but that the American Legion, which within the next two days "had heard from Shinseki and disassociated itself from the letter" drafted by a law firm. American Legion executive director Peter Gaytan explained that ""We got reassurance from the secretary that they're moving as quickly as they can to clarify the regulations, and they understand the urgency behind making that happen," adding that "We're satisfied with the secretary's direct commitment to get that done." The column further noted that Shinseki "had delighted veterans' groups last October by announcing that VA would not challenge a July 24 report" from the Institute of Medicine "that found sufficient epidemiologic evidence to suggest a link between wartime herbicide exposure and Parkinson's disease, B cell leukemia and ischemic heart disease, also known as coronary artery disease."
2. Mobile Center Will Bring Healthcare Services To Combat Veterans. The Newport News, Virginia-based Daily Press (3/6, Salasky) reports that a Mobile Veteran Center, one of 50 equipped to provide combat veterans and their families with counseling and servoces, including screening for post-traumatic stress disorder, will be in Newport News next Tuesday.
3. Donation From State Veterans Affairs Department Will Bring Iraq-Bound Soldiers Home For Visits. The Bossier (LA) Press-Tribune (3/5, 12K) reports that the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs "announced today a $200,000 contribution from the Military Family Assistance Fund to help pay to charter buses to transport members of the Louisiana National Guard's 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from Camp Shelby, Mississippi to the soldiers' hometowns across Louisiana" before their scheduled deployment to Iraq later this month.
4. Florida Vet Connect Will Educate Veterans About Benefits, Services. The Treasure Coast Palm (3/5, Cranskshaw) reports that a joint program of the Florida of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, will, starting in July, provide state veterans with "a new way to learn about available benefits and services for themselves." The Florida Vets Connect initiative will let veterans receive information on veterans benefits by checking a block on their application for a new or renewal driver's license or state identification card. Motor vehicle department computers will keep the veterans' contact information and share it with the state veterans department. At present, Florida has contact information for only about 700,000 of its estimated 1.7 million veterans.
5. Florida Lawmakers Offer Bills To Combat Phony Veterans. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (3/6, Burdi, 212K) reports, "Beware the phony veterans. That was the message from some state lawmakers gathered at the VA Primary Care Clinic here on Friday." According to the paper, legislators identified "a growing epidemic in South Florida of men and women dressed in fatigues, standing at grocery stores and at intersections, asking for donations for military veterans. They are impostors, making up to $400 a day," who donate only about 15 percent of their proceeds to veterans. Bills have been offered in both chambers of the Florida legislature to make misrepresentation as a veteran a felony.
6. Washington State Begins Work On Its First Veterans Cemetery. The website of KREM-TV Spokane (3/5, Langeler) reports that the "first Washington State Veterans Cemetery is being built on land west of Medical Lake." A May 31 dedication is planned for the cemetery, whose first phase will have space for 100,000 veterans.
7. Joliet's Silver Cross Site Will Become New Clinic. The "Breaking News" blog of the Chicago Tribune (3/5, Fabbre, 534K) reports that "Joliet may be losing Silver Cross Hospital, but it will gain a community health center on the grounds of the old hospital, officials announced today." IL11 Rep. Deborah Halvorson (D) "today unveiled plans to award Aunt Martha's Youth Service Center and Health Center $6 million to build a health center on the hospital grounds, located on Joliet's east side. Silver Cross Hospital is building a new facility about three miles east in New Lenox. The new hospital is expected to open in 2012."
8. Ten Colorado Women WWII Pilots Will Receive Congressional Gold Medals. KXRM-TV Colorado Springs (3/5) reports, "Ten women from Colorado will be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal for their service during World War II as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) at a March 10 ceremony at the United States Capitol. Nearly 70 years since their WW II service, the WASPs will be honored by the United States government for the first time in recognition of their trailblazing efforts as the first civilian female pilots to fly military aircraft under the direction of the United States Army Air Forces. Of the group of 1,102 WASP, fewer than 300 survive today."
9. HBO Will Send 250 Veterans To Visit WWII Memorial. The AP Dallas (3/5, Bauder) reports that HBO "is paying to send 250 veterans to Washington next week to visit the World War II memorial, coinciding with the networks' premiere of a miniseries about the war. The 10-part series, 'The Pacific,' starts on the network March 14," and focuses on US Marines fighting the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. The entertainment network "said Friday it is working with the Honor Flight Network, an organization that pays to transport veterans to the nation's capital," which says it has over 9,000 veterans on its waiting list.
10. Japan, US, Japanese Veterans Join Memorial On Iwo Jima. The AP (3/6) reports, "Dozens of U.S. veterans, now in their 80s and 90s, returned to the remote volcanic island of Iwo Jima this week to mark the 65th anniversary of one of World War II's fiercest battles. The veterans, some in wheelchairs, flew to the island, officially called Iwoto in Japan, on a chartered airliner Wednesday and fanned out across its famous black-sand beaches, where the US invasion began on Feb. 19, 1945, and lasted 36 days. All told, the battle claimed nearly 28,000 lives."
11. Former Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi Laid To Rest. KHON2-TV Honolulu (3/6) reports that former Honolulu mayor Frank Fasi "was laid to rest Thursday. A hearse carrying the casket of Fasi was part of a motorcade that slowly drove by Honolulu Hale and the Frank F. Fasi Municipal Building. Dozens of city workers and even a few school children waved aloha to Mr. Mayor one last time before the motorcade made its way to Punchbowl." A Marine veteran of World War II, Fasi was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific with full Marine Corps Military Honors.
12. Computerworld Softens Yesterday's Story On VA eHealth Problems. IDG /Computerworld (3/6) softens yesterday's story reporting that the VA had closed eHealth data exchange, due to errors in data from the Department of Defense. The correction says that the story which ran yesterday "overstated the problems with the VA's electronic heath record system. The story on the wire has been corrected with a new headline, a new lead, and the addition of a new paragraph above the current fifth paragraph." The revised headline says that "VA closes Web portal to eHealth records, cites data errors," lead to the story now reads, omitting an earlier mention of "medical record errors." The new story lead reads: "The electronic health record (EHR) network portal for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was shut down this week after the VA found errors in some patients' medical data that clinicians downloaded from the defense network, according to a patient safety alert." In addition, the revised story adds spells out the functions of VistAWeb.
13. Veteran's Mother Praises Care He Received At Durham VAMC. A letter to the editor of the Raleigh News & Observer (3/6, Mills, 164K), headlined "a Veteran Well Served," comes from the mother of a veteran who entered the Durham VAMC on February 16. Noting that she has "many negative things about Veterans Administration hospitals in the past," the woman reported that her son received his tests promptly before surgery, which came "with great results." Although scheduled for release on the 18th, the veteran was kept in the hospital because his white blood cell count had not dropped sufficiently. The writer concluded that, "I have visited many hospitals throughout the years and never have I seen a place run so well. The cleaning crews were constantly cleaning, and everything ran very efficiently without any speed bumps. What can I say about the team of doctors? They visit the patients twice daily and more if necessary."
14. Chiropractic Faculty Named to VA Teaching Positions. The March 12 issue of the Dynamic Chiropractic newsletter reports that "Jean-Nicolas Poirier, DC, DACBR, CCPS, director of New York Chiropractic College's (NYCC) Master of Science in Diagnostic Imaging Residency Program, and Chad Warshel, DC, DACBR, assistant professor in the college's department of chiropractic clinical sciences, recently earned clinical teaching privileges at the Canandaigua Veteran Affairs Medical Center in New York." The two "will teach radiology to chiropractic students and residents as part of the college's master's of science degree in diagnostic imaging residency, and are the first doctors credentialed by the VA to do so."
15. VA Has Begun Construction Of Southern Nevada Clinics. The Las Vegas Sun (3/6, Gibson, 41K) reports, "Dirt has been tossed and construction will soon begin on a new outpatient veterans health care clinic in Southern Nevada. U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, Mayor Oscar Goodman and Councilman Steven Ross all attended a ground-breaking ceremony Friday at the clinic site at Rancho Drive and Alexander Road." The Las Vegas clinic will be one of four that the VA is scheduled to build in southern Nevada, which are all expected to open in 2011. A full-service VA hospital is planned for 2012.
16. Carrollton, Georgia Reportedly Will Get VA Clinic. The Times-Georgian (3/6, Boan) reports that "Sources with the Atlanta branch of the US Department of Veterans Affairs say a new clinic for veterans is scheduled to be built in Carrollton. The clinic will be funded by a donation from the Trinka Davis Foundation of $17 million, which will help create a facility capable of "expanding care to vets in Haralson, Douglas and Paulding counties" in addition to Carroll County, said Greg Kendall, public affairs officer with the Atlanta VA Medical Center. The Birmingham-based foundation has ties to the Carrollton area, and wants to establish a clinic there to serve veterans who now must travel to Birmingham or Decatur.
17. Center With Housing To Veterans With Special Medical Needs To Open In Gainesville. RealEstateRama (3/5) reports that Rep. Cliff Stearns (R), a leader on House Veterans Affairs, "will join in the opening of the HONOR (Hope, Opportunities, Networking, Outreach and Recovery) Center in Gainesville on March 8th." The facility will be able to house 45 veterans, providing special services to those who are disabled or recovering from surgery or with special medical needs.
18. Non-Profit Entertainment Group Performs For North Carolina Veterans. The Salisbury (NC) Post (3/6, 21K) reports that Re-Creation USA, a non-profit group that for 30 years has travelled the nation to put on performances at VA medical centers and veterans homes, appeared recently at the North Carolina State Veterans Home at the Hefner VA Medical Center.
19. Washington, DC VAMC Holds Winterhaven Job Fair. The Capital Flyer (3/4, Teufel) reports that the Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center had scheduled its Winterhaven Job Fair for veterans, that would bring representatives of over 40 employers.
20. Today in History:
- 1454 – Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of the Prussian Confederation pledge allegiance to King Casimir IV of Poland who agrees to commit his forces in aiding the Confederation's struggle for independence from the Teutonic Knights.
- 1521 – Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Guam.
- 1788 – The First Fleet arrives at Norfolk Island in order to found a convict settlement.
- 1820 – The Missouri Compromise is signed into law by President James Monroe. The compromise allows Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state, but makes the rest of the northern part of the Louisiana Purchase territory slavery-free.
- 1834 – York, Upper Canada is incorporated as Toronto.
- 1836 – Texas Revolution: Battle of the Alamo – After a thirteen day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 187 Texas volunteers defending the Alamo are defeated and the fort is captured.
- 1840 – Baltimore College of Dental Surgery Opened, the first Dental school.
- 1853 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata receives its premiere performance in Venice.
- 1857 – Supreme Court of the United States rules in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case.
- 1869 – Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society.
- 1899 – Bayer registers aspirin as a trademark.
- 1921 – Portuguese Communist Party is founded as the Portuguese Section of the Communist International.
- 1945 – Communist-dominated government under Petru Groza assumes power in Romania.
- 1945 – Cologne is captured by American Troops.
- 1946 – Ho Chi Minh signs an agreement with France which recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state in the Indochinese Federation and the French Union.
- 1951 – The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins.
- 1953 – Georgy Maksimilianovich Malenkov succeeds Joseph Stalin as Premier of the Soviet Union and First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
- 1957 – United Kingdom colonies Gold Coast and British Togoland become the independent Republic of Ghana.
- 1964 – Nation of Islam's Elijah Muhammad officially gives boxing champion Cassius Clay the name Muhammad Ali.
- 1964 – Constantine II becomes King of Greece.
- 1967 – Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva defects to the United States.
- 1970 – Blast at Weather Underground safe house in Greenwich Village kills three.
- 1975 – For the first time, ever, the Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination was shown in motion to a national TV audience by Robert J. Groden and Dick Gregory.
- 1975 – Algiers Accord: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement of their border dispute.
- 1981 – After 19 years of presenting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
- 1983 – The first United States Football League game is played.
- 1987 – The British ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes in about 90 seconds killing 193.
- 1988 – Three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers are killed by Special Air Service on the territory of Gibraltar in the conclusion of Operation Flavius.
- 1992 – Michelangelo computer virus begins to affect computers.
- 2006 – South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signs legislation banning most abortions in the state.
- 2007 – Former White House aide I. Lewis Libby, Jr. is found guilty on four of five counts of perjury and obstruction of justice.
- 2008 – A Palestinian gunman shoots and kills 8 students and critically injures 11 in the library of the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva, in Jerusalem, Israel.
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VA News for Friday, March 5, 2010
1. Senator Encouraged By Steps On VA Claims Processing. The AP (3/4) reported that Sen. Daniel Akaka and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki agree "that reforming the VA disability claims system must be a top priority," and in a release, Akaka said "that he is encouraged by the administration's commitment to add thousands of staff to process veterans' disability claims." However, the senator also believed "the situation will get worse before it gets better, because it will take years and significant resources to fully train new VA claims staff."
2. VA To Review Gulf Veterans' Disability Claims. Truthout (3/2, Littlepage) reported that VA Secretary Eric Shineski promised "to review Gulf War veterans' disability claims." The VA's Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses Task Force will soon complete "a comprehensive report that will redefine how the VA" deals with ill veterans who deployed during the Gulf War in 1990 and 1991. The task force is seeking "to identify gaps in services as well as opportunities to better serve veterans of the Gulf War." AllGov (3/4, Brinkerhoff) also covers this story.
3. VA Urged To Allow Using Marijuana To Treat PTSD. The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (3/4, Gierer) reports that the Marijuana Policy Project is advocating that Department of Veterans Affairs be allowed to "use marijuana in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder." The Project "says the VA forbids its doctors from recommending medical marijuana to veterans even in the 14 states where medical marijuana is legal," base on advice from the DEA.
4. Company Using Technology To Help With PTSD. On its website, KXRM-TV (3/4, Prince) reports that Great Life Technologies "has been at the forefront of integrating bio-energetic testing, wave interference, and sophisticated electronic technology," and they "are using this technology to assist veterans with PTSD -- free of charge."
5. Retreat Helps Veterans, Families Deal With PTSD. KBJR-TV Duluth, MN (3/4, 7:04p.m. EST) broadcast, "One in eight veterans returning from war suffers posttraumatic stress disorder. Grim statistics show a significant percentage of those men and women end up with severe emotional distress, and more often than you might think, end up killing themselves." Now, "Project New Hope, a military family retreat" This "first of its kind, weekend-long family get away gave the families a chance to share painful experiences with each other." The program is now expanding. "Jeff Hall with the US Department of Veterans Affairs says this provide the right psychological tools for support." Bruce Billington the founder and executive director of Project New Hope was shown saying, "We work to provide them with the education, training and skills necessary to manage their lives after war-time service."
6. Forty-Three Vermont Towns Increase Disabled-Veterans Property-Tax Exemption. The Brattleboro (VT) Reformer (3/5, Garofolo) reports that 43 towns in Vermont increased their property tax exemption for disabled veterans. The moves are the result of three years of campaigning by Veterans activist Lou Lertola, who is "seeking the maximum property tax exemption allowed under state law," $40,000. His "movement has run into little opposition." To qualify, a veteran with at least 50 percent disability must get from the VA a letter to go "to the town clerk's office, then finally to the Listers to appropriate the correct amount from the property tax bill."
7. Texas College System Opens Veterans Center. The Atascocita (TX) Observer (3/4) reports that Lone Star College System held a grand opening event for its new Veterans Affairs Center, with Rep. Michael T. McCaul, amongst others speaking at the event. McCaul commended the college system, saying, "This center is of particular importance." LSCS chancellor Dr. Richard Carpenter said, "We want this center to be a model, not just for the facility but for the people." The center will provide "financial guidance, disability services counseling, free tax assistance, Veterans-Helping-Veterans support groups, education benefits support, career counseling and many other services geared specifically to the returning veteran."
8. Congress Hears From Veteran Service Organizations. The Imperial Valley (CA) News (3/4) reports that the House Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee held a joint hearing Thursday to receive the legislative presentation of various veterans groups. Wounded Warrior Project Board Member Andrew Kinard "called upon the VA to provide more coordinated care for America's wounded warriors," saying that "far more fundamental changes are needed to provide the kind of help wounded warriors need and deserve," and calling for "a holistic, coordinated approach to help a severely injured veteran to thrive again." House Veterans' Affairs Chairman Bob Filner said, "Today the veteran service organizations have provided important insight as the Committee analyzes the budget and looks to meet the urgent needs of veterans."
9. Company Donates To National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. TMCnet (3/4, Adkoli) reports that Harris Corporation donated $10,000 to help sponsor the upcoming 24th Annual 'National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic'," which is co-sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs. "Veterans with an inpatient or outpatient status with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and active duty military servicemen and women are eligible to participate," if they have "qualifying disabilities." Jim Traficant, vice president of Harris Healthcare Solutions, said, "Harris is very proud to offer our encouragement and gratitude for their incredible service by sponsoring the Winter Sports Clinic."
10. VA Shuts Down Electronic Health Records Exchange Due To Glitch. Nextgov (3/4, Brewin) reports that the VA shut down the Bidirectional Health Information Exchange, which lets that agency access AHLTA, the Defense Department's electronic health record system, when "it found errors in some patients' medical data clinicians downloaded from the Defense network," with requested health records sometimes including no, partial, or incorrect information. Jean Scott, director of the Veterans Health Administration's Information Technology Patient Safety Office, in a departmental patient safety alert, said that while the glitch discovered "did not cause harm to any patient...'the potential exists for decisions regarding patient care to be made using incorrect or incomplete data.'" Roger Baker, chief information officer at VA, said that the agency has fixed the bug and the BHIE will go back online on March 9.
11. VA Sees Fewer Delays Issuing GI Bill Benefits For Spring Semester. The Chronicle of Higher Education (3/4, Nelson) reports, "Department of Veterans Affairs reports that it has issued the majority of spring-semester benefits to veterans in college under the Post-9/11 GI Bill." Given the previous "fall semester plagued by delays and backlogged payments," colleges "have noticed the improvement." Meanwhile, the VA will begin a two-month ad campaign explaining how veterans can receive education benefits. Also, bills proposing changes in the Post-9/11 GI Bill are in Congress. Keith Wilson, the VA's education-service director, said the agency doesn't support changing the bill to allow using the benefit for nondegree programs, as it "would make paying benefits even more complicated."
Colorado Students Haven't Received Benefits, But VA Demanding Emergency Loan Repayment. However, the Colorado Daily (3/5, Bryen, 15K) reports that "some students at the University of Colorado have seen little or none of" their post-9/11 G.I. Bill money. Officials at CU's Veterans Educational Benefits Office said that "a system change in the national VA operations" caused "recording and accounting mistakes and late payments." Now, even though some of the veterans have not yet been paid their assistance, the VA is demanding the repayment of emergency fund loans.
Veterans Organization Head Praises "Big Changes," Calls For More. In a blog on the Huffington Post (3/4), Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), writes, "We've seen two big changes" in the administering of the bill "that are victories for veterans nationwide." The GI Bill hotline will be open five days a week, and the VA will run an ad campaign on the benefits. However, IAVA is calling for "expanding benefits to those who served in the National Guard, in distance learning programs or attending vocational schools."
12. Heart Transplant Program's 25th Anniversary Celebrated. The website of KSL-TV Salt Lake City (3/4, Boal) reports, "One of the nation's top collaborative transplant programs," the Utah Transplant Affiliated Hospitals Cardiac Transplant Program "celebrated more than one thousand heart transplant success stories" on the 25th anniversary of the program. One of the four hospitals in the program is the George E. Wahlen VA Medical Center. Dr. Matthew Movsesian, the heart transplant director at the Center, "said the dedication of the people involved enables the program to excel."
The website of KTVX-TV Salt Lake City (3/4) reports, "The program has one of the highest survival rates in the nation, and it's now being used as a model elsewhere in the country."
13. Analysis: Federal Employees Earn More Pay, Benefits Than Private Sector. USA Today (3/5, Cauchon, 2.11M) reports that, according to its analysis, "federal employees earn higher average salaries than private-sector workers in more than eight out of 10 occupations." Furthermore, federal employees averaged $40,785 in health, pension, and other benefits that year, while private workers averaged $9,882 according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In one of the article's examples, the salaries of "the federal government's 57,000 registered nurses - working for the Veterans Administration and elsewhere - were" compared to those of private-sector nurses. However, some say that comparisons are flawed because federal workers tend to be older and "perform work that has more complexity and requires more skill."
14. New VA Clinic To Open In Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune (3/4, Shuda, 10K) reports that construction has finished on the new Veterans Affairs clinic in Wisconsin Rapids and Joanne Gernhart, the community-based outpatient coordinator at the Tomah VA Medical Center, said that VA officials "are installing equipment, furniture and decor before the clinic's expected April 1 opening." The facility "will offer expanded primary care and mental health services" as well as "psychiatry services via Web conferencing technology and a new audiology department."
15. "Mysterious Substance" Briefly Shuts Down Palo Alto VA Hospital. Palo Alto (CA) Online (3/4) reports that fire officials closed part of the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital Tuesday night when "a mysterious substance" was brought to the hospital Linda Clerkson, Palo Alto communications officer, said "fire crews determined that the material was not hazardous, [and] the scene was released to VA Police."
16. Shreveport VA Center To Hold Fundraiser. The Shreveport Times (LA) (3/4, 49K) reports Overton Brooks VA Medical Center will hold its first Warrior Run at Clyde Fant Memorial Parkway on Saturday. The event "will raise money for the medical center's volunteer service programs, including homeless veteran services, rehabilitation equipment, social service assistance, comfort items and transportation."
17. Virginia VA Center Holds Joint Exercise With DHS. WTKR-TV Norfolk, Virginia, (3/4, 11:10 p.m. EST) broadcast, "You may have heard a lot of noise tonight near the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. It was all part of two day joint exercise with Homeland Security. And it will continue tomorrow from eight in the morning until one in the afternoon."
18 .Michigan Man Sentenced For Defrauding VA. The Grand Rapids (MI) Press (3/4, Agar) reported that Jeffrey Redmond received almost $94,000 from the Veterans Administration to treat his prostate cancer. However, he hadn't served in Vietnam like he claimed. On Wednesday, Redmon was "sentenced to 13 months in federal prison, followed by three years on supervised release," and ordered to pay $93,764 in restitution. Redmond said, "I realize and accept that I received the VA payments wrongly, and that I dishonor those veterans who truly qualify," adding, "When I was diagnosed with cancer, I was very afraid, and I had no money, savings, employment or other source of income."
The AP (3/4) and the website of WOOD-TV Grand Rapids, Michigan, (3/4) also cover this story.
19. Zaxby's To Donate 10 Percent Of A Day's Sales To Vet Center. The website of WIAT-TV Birmingham, Alabama, (3/4, Jackson) reported, "Zaxby's and the Vet Center of Birmingham are teaming up to help local veterans by raising money for the Vet Center at 9 locations throughout the Birmingham area." On March 6, the company "will donate 10% of all sales to the Vet Center."
20. New York School Children Make Valentines For Hospitalized Veterans. The Garden City (NY) News (3/5) reports that Garden City, New York, public school children "created hundreds of handmade cards for the Valentines for Veterans program." The cards were given "to the Veterans Hospital in Northport for display and distribution to veterans who spent Valentine's Day in the hospital."
21. DAV Coin Sales Brisk. NumisMaster.com (3/4).
22. Drugs Stolen After Tryst. The Michigan City (IN) News Dispatch (3/4, Sederberg).
23. American Legion Auxiliary Holds Monthly Meeting. The Clarinda (IA) Herald-Journal (3/4, 2K).
24. Public Lines Roadside For Tribute To Knoxville Army Pilot. The website of WATE-TV Knoxville, Tennessee, (3/4).
25. Mother Of Killed Army Pilot: 'He Was A Hero'. The Knoxville (TN) News Sentinel (3/4).
26. Public Lines Roadside For Tribute To Knoxville Army Pilot. The website of WATE-TV Knoxville, Tennessee, (3/4). Also on the website of WBIR-TV Knoxville, Tennessee, (3/4, Bailey).
27. Eagle Scouts Earn Palms. The Garden City (NY) News (3/5).
28. Marine Slain In Afghanistan Is Laid To Rest In Arlington. The Washington Post (3/5, Goodman, 684K).
29. War Comes To Endicott. The Salem (MA) News (3/5, Burke, 26K).
30. On the Hill for March 5, 2010:
The Senate continues to consider a bill to extend several expired tax provisions and other programs, including unemployment insurance, flood insurance and COBRA health care subsidies.
No votes are expected in the House, and there are no markups in either chamber.
House: Convenes 9 a.m. No votes expected.
Senate: Convenes 9:30 a.m.
No roll call votes expected.
HR 4213 — Extending tax provisions and other programs
Hearing Highlight
Joint Economic hearing to receive the unemployment statistics for February. 9:30 a.m., 106 Dirksen
31. Today in History:
- 363 – Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
- 1766 – Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans.
- 1770 – Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including a black man named Crispus Attucks, and a boy, are killed by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War five years later.
- 1824 – First Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
- 1836 – Samuel Colt makes the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.
- 1868 – A court of impeachment is organized in the United States Senate to hear charges against President Andrew Johnson.
- 1872 – George Westinghouse patents the air brake.
- 1912 – Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, using them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
- 1933 – Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a "bank holiday", closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions.
- 1940 – Members of Soviet politburo sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs, known also as the Katyn massacre.
- 1942 – United States Navy Seabees established.
- 1946 – Winston Churchill uses the phrase "Iron Curtain" in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri.
- 1958 – The Explorer 2 spacecraft launches and fails to reach Earth orbit.
- 1960 – The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis originates when Alister Hardy publicly announces his idea that ape-human divergence may have been due to a coastal phase.
- 1965 – March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence.
- 1970 – The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
- 1973 – Donald DeFreeze, the future Symbionese Liberation Army leader, escapes from Vacaville Prison.
- 1974 – Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.
- 1975 – First meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club
- 1978 – The Landsat 3 is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
- 1979 – Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the American solar satellite Helios 2 all are hit by "off the scale" gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.
- 1979 – Voyager 1's closest approach to Jupiter, 172,000 miles.
- 1982 – Venera 14, a Soviet satellite, arrives at the planet Venus.
- 1984 – 6,000 Miners in the United Kingdom begin their historic strike at Cortonwood Colliery.
- 1988 – Constitution of Turks and Caicos Islands is restored and revised.
- 1999 – Paul Okalik is elected first Premier of Nunavut.
- 2001 – In Mecca, 35 Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death during the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
- 2003 – In Haifa, 17 Israeli civilians are killed by a Hamas suicide bomb in the Haifa bus 37 massacre.
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Following received from Katie Sonntag at State of Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs. Given the outstanding support Maryland provides its Vets, I encourage all Maryland Vets to complete the attached survey.
Maryland’s Commitment to Veterans wants to hear from you! The program has developed a short online survey to provide much needed feedback about veterans health services in Maryland. The survey does not collect names, birthdates or other personal information; all collected responses are anonymous. Please follow the link below to take part in this important survey and share with other veterans.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VeteransMCV
Maryland’s Commitment to Veterans is an outreach and referral initiative designed to serve those that have served our country. The program aims to connect veterans to behavioral health services in a timely manner, and also provides referrals for other important issues such as housing, educational assistance and VA benefits. Lt. Governor Anthony Brown chairs the Veterans Behavioral Health Advisory Board, which is tasked with overseeing the actions of the program. For more information, visit www.veterans.maryland.gov
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Semper Fi all...........................Wayne