1.      VA, Congress Focusing On Help For Female Veterans. The Washington Post (7/29, Rein) reports, "The Department of Veterans Affairs is turning its resources to women as the government braces for an increasing demand for services from female veterans." That, according to the Post, was the message delivered by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who spoke to a "crowd of 175 gathered at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery." Also on Wednesday, US Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), who chairs the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, "introduced legislation that would create a 'bill of rights' for female veterans."

2.      Vets Spending Bill Passes Easily In House, But Other Measures Face More Difficult Path. The AP (7/29, Taylor) reports, "House Republicans who have spent months demanding spending cuts blanched Wednesday at their first opportunity to actually make them, instead joining Democrats in treating a bill to pay for veterans programs in 2011 as politically sacrosanct in an election year." After noting that the bill "passed by a 411-6 vote," the AP says the "notoriously balky Senate has made it plain it doesn't have much time to burn on routine spending bills. As a result, House Democratic leaders appear to have little enthusiasm for taking difficult votes and taking weeks of debate to pass bills that the Senate doesn't have time for."
     Vets Measure Includes Money For New Agent Orange Claims. CQ (7/29, Mulero) also notes the passage of the legislation to fund veterans programs, stating, "The House on Wednesday gave strong support to a bill that would increase funding" for VA, in "part to help pay for new medical claims from thousands of Vietnam War soldiers found to have been sickened by the defoliant Agent Orange." The funds "would be provided in a $141.1 billion spending measure that would fund military construction projects, the Veterans Affairs Department and related agencies in fiscal 2011." CQ says VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has "noted that the cost to provide care for the new cases of Agent Orange could be as much as $42.2 billion over the next decade."
     CongressDaily (7/29, House, Sanchez), meanwhile, reports, "Three amendments submitted this week under the name of Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, to the House Rules Committee would have sliced proposed fiscal 2011" VA funding "by more than $52 million. But all three amendments were abruptly withdrawn Tuesday, just moments before the committee was set to approve them for consideration Wednesday by the entire House." According to CongressDaily, a "House Republican source said Boehner's amendments 'would have cut bureaucrats, not veterans' benefits.'"

3.      Life Insurance Company Profiting From Fallen Service Members. According to the CBS Evening News(7/28, story 6, 6:30, Couric) survivors of US service members killed in Afghanistan and Iraq are "entitled to a life insurance payment, and the government uses a private company to handle" such matters. CBS noted, however, that according to a report appearing in Wednesday's edition of Bloomberg Markets magazine, Prudential Financial Inc. holds survivors' money in its general corporate account, where it accrues interest, mainly for the company. CBS added, "The Department of Veterans Affairs told us it is deeply concerned and is conducting a full investigation." Bloomberg News (7/29, Leondis, Collins) also notes that VA said it will conduct an investigation.
     VA Official Calls Situation "Completely Unacceptable." The concern expressed by VA was also noted during an interview Bloomberg's Final Word(7/28, 4:23 p.m. ET) conducted with David Evans, author of the magazine article. According to Evans, VA's acting undersecretary for benefits said the "possibility that life insurance companies are profiting inappropriately from...service members' sacrifices is completely unacceptable." The New York Times (7/29, B6) runs Evans' magazine article, which he also discussed with NPR (7/29), while the Washington Post (7/29) puts the article on its website.
     Filner, White House Also Concerned. Bloomberg News (7/29, Capaccio, Evans) says, "Bloomberg Markets magazine reported what has become a standard practice for life insurance policies issued by companies including Prudential Financial Inc. and MetLife Inc." After pointing out that House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner "said VA officials should 'demand answers' about" the situation, Bloomberg adds, "The White House 'supports...VA's immediate investigation into these unacceptable insurance companies' practices,' spokesman Nick Shapiro said in a statement" issued on Wednesday.
     Prudential, MetLife Say They Are Helping Families. Politico (7/29, Allen) reports, "In a response to Bloomberg, Prudential spokesman Bob DeFillippo said: 'For some families,'" Prudential accounts mean the "difference between earning interest on a large amount of money and letting it sit idle," while "MetLife spokesman Joseph Madden told" Bloomberg Markets magazine that MetLife affords "beneficiaries...peace of mind and time to make an informed decision -- while earning interest."

4.      Four VA Facilities Successfully Returning Comatose Patients To Consciousness. USA Today (7/29, Zoroya) reports that at "four special Department of Veterans Affairs 'emerging consciousness' programs...across" the United States, "brain-damaged patients reduced to vegetative states by illness, accidents, or wounds are waking up." In fact, VA "reports nearly a 70% success rate at seeing once-comatose patients return to consciousness" at VA facilities located in Florida city of Tampa, Minnesota's "Minneapolis, Minnesota, Richmond, Va., and Palo Alto, Calif."

     After Awaking From Coma With VA's Help, Iraq Vet On Verge Of Going Home . In a related story, USA Today (7/29, Zoroya) notes that Iraq veteran Tony Senecal awoke from a coma after being receiving VA care in Tampa. According to the paper, Senecal has done well enough in his recovery that he will leave Tampa next week and return to his home in Alaska.

5.      Education Director Touts VA Efforts To Assist Students. In its July cover story, headlined "Benefits Wizard: Advancing The Capacity Of Educational Programs," Military Advance In Education (7/29, Fitzgerald) magazine interviews veteran Keith M. Wilson, the "director of education service" for the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Wilson told the magazine that while the "Post-9/11 GI Bill has received a lot of interest," his agency administers other education benefit programs, so the "direction...VA has taken on this is to make sure that we can help individuals answer questions" regarding what program is "best...for them." Wilson, who noted that as "part of a pilot project," VA "has begun placing some of our vocational and rehabilitation counselors at campuses to help veterans with their transitional needs," went on to say that VA is "confident" it has "overcome the hiccups" that went along with implementing the Post-9/11 GI Bill, though he did stress that VA wants to make the "program...even better."

6.      Mother Of Soldier Killed In Iraq To Lose Home. After noting that "Patricia Roberts lost her son," Jamaal Addison, in the Iraq war, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/28, Emerson) said Roberts is now "going to lose her home" to foreclosure. Roberts and her mother, who "is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease," will "vacate their home" on August 2nd, a day that DeKalb County "set aside" two years ago "to honor" Addison. Steve Westerfeld, a spokesman for the US Department of Veterans Affairs, "said his group is examining the case, but said if the mortgage loan is not VA-guaranteed, there is 'less leverage we might have with the mortgage folks.'"

7.      Congressional Investigators Detail Extent Of Problems At Arlington National Cemetery. In continuing coverage, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (7/28, Lambrecht) reported, "Investigators believe that problems at Arlington National Cemetery may be more extensive than previously reported, with millions of dollars wasted on contracting and thousands of graves - rather than hundreds - unmarked, wrongly identified or mislabeled on maps." On Tuesday, documents "released...by the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight identified failures that include spending between $5.5 million and $8 million for a grave-tracking system that was never completed." The "growing scandal" at Arlington "will be the subject" of a Thursday hearing conducted by US Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), "chairwoman of the contracting subcommittee," which "said that the Army insisted on a plan to create its own automated burial management system even though the Department of Veterans Affairs already had developed one of its own."

     Fox, McCaskill Note VA's Good Work On Cemeteries. While interviewing McCaskill, Fox News' Fox And Friends(7/28, 8:37 a.m. ET) noted that the kind of problems found at Arlington have not been found at the "131 cemeteries across the country that are operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs," which digitizes records. McCaskill then said it was "really dumb" for the Army to have rejected an offer from VA to use its software at Arlington.

8.      Unveiling War Memorial In Mississippi. The Jackson (MS) Clarion Ledger (7/29, Pettus) reports, "On Wednesday, a group of legislators, military VIPs and lawmakers gathered in the state Capitol to unveil the design for Mississippi's Persian Gulf War Memorial," which will include the name and likeness of deceased Iraq veteran Marc Tucker. The memorial is "set to open next spring adjacent to the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Cemetery being built" on US 80 "between Newton and Hickory." The Jackson, Mississippi-based WLBT-TV (7/28, 10:06 p.m. CT) and WAPT-TV (7/28, 6:06 p.m. CT) also aired reports on this story.

9.      VA Facility In New York Hosting Vets Resource Forum. The Poughkeepsie (NY) Journal (7/28, Woyton) noted that on Thursday, a "forum aimed at telling veterans and families what benefits are available to them" will be "held from 4 to 6 p.m." at the "Castle Point campus" of the Veterans Affairs Hudson Valley HealthCare System. According to the Journal, the director of the Dutchess County Veterans Service Agency said his group is sponsoring the Veterans Resource Forum, which is open to all veterans, although it is specifically designed for vets who are 60 or older.

10.    Vet's Morale Built Up By Golden Age Games. The Longview (TX) News-Journal (7/29, Alford) says that while 79-year-old veteran Dorsay Nelson is "not a professional athlete, he competes nationally in sports like shot put, for which he won a silver medal this year at age 79." Nelson, who won his medal at the National Veterans Golden Age Games, "started competing after he had prostate surgery in 1994." According to the News-Journal, Nelson "said competing in the games helped cure him and build up his morale."

11.    Vietnam Vet, VA At Odds Over PTSD Claim. According to the WTAE-TV Pittsburgh, PA (7/28) website, Vietnam vet Dan Holland "told Channel 4 Action News' Paul Van Osdol that he has spent the past decade trying to convince the Veterans Administration" that he has post-traumatic stress disorder. WTAE, which noted that Dennison's case is "pending before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims," pointed out that Stephen Dennison, "of the American Legion, said...VA has always been tough on Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress claims, but that new rules announced by President Barack Obama should make it easier." Dennison "said veterans who have been denied post-traumatic stress claims, but have not gone to court, should re-file their claims with...VA."

12.    Legislation Aims To Secure Burial Rights For Hmong Veterans. In continuing coverage, the AP (7/29) reports, "Members of the...Hmong community who fought" with US "forces during the Vietnam War would be eligible for burial in national cemeteries under a bill introduced" Tuesday by US Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA). Thousands of Hmong, an "ethnic minority from the mountains" of Laos, "fought under CIA advisers -- an effort that was not acknowledged publicly by American officials for years -- during the war to back a pro-American Lao government. A communist victory in 1975 forced them to flee, with many going to Thailand and the United States."

13.    Medical Marijuana Advocate "Elated" By VA's New Policy. In continuing coverage, the Colorado Springs Independent (7/29, Crawford) says Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access Executive Director Michael Krawitz "was drawn to advocacy to take on 'pain contracts' - sets of conditions that patients must meet in order to continue getting their medicinal prescriptions. Krawitz says they're often unclear and don't serve patients' best interests, which has been especially obvious when dealing with military veterans." So, when the Department of Veterans Affairs recently said it would allow patients at its care facilities to have access to medical marijuana in the 14 states where it is legal, Krawitz, who is himself a veteran, "says he was elated."

14.    VA Hospital: Remaining Vets Have Been Notified Of Colonoscopy Exposure Risk. The Miami Herald (7/29, Tasker) notes that on Wednesday, the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Miami, Florida, "said...it has reached all 79 local veterans it failed to contact last year when it learned that colonoscopies performed at the facility between 2004 and 2009 might have exposed them to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV." After noting that testing "over the past three weeks has revealed one veteran who is positive for hepatitis B and none for the other two conditions," the Herald adds, "Forty-eight of the veterans have been notified of test results, with other results pending, according to an unsigned news release posted on the VA's website."

15.    VA Clinic Expands Size, Services. The Lafayette (IN) Journal And Courier (7/29, Scott) reports, "The Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in West Lafayette has expanded in size and in services offered." On Wednesday, an "open house...in Dewey Hall at the Indiana Veterans' Home included tours for veterans and their families. The VA Illiana Health Care System has added more than 1,400 square feet," 10 exam rooms, a "centralized check-in area," and an on-site nutritionist to the clinic.

16.    Site Work Begins For New VA Clinic In California. The Oakhurst, California-based Sierras Star (7/29, Wilkinson) reports, "Site work began July 21 for the long-awaited 8,500-square-foot Department of Veteran Affairs Community Outpatient Clinic near Kaiser Permanente Medical Center on Highway 49." The clinic is "expected to open in mid-December."

17.    Vets Hospital Co-Hosting Homeless Health Fair. According to the fifth "Community Calendar" item in the Newport Richey, Florida-based Suncoast News (7/28), the "2010 Stand-down and Homeless Health Fair will be hosted" this Friday "by James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, Social Work Service Health Care for Homeless Veterans Program and St. Jude's Homeless Veterans Resource Center." The fair runs from "9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Holiday United Church of Christ, 4826 Bartelt Road, Holiday."
     Haley Nurse Named AANP Fellow. The Tampa, Florida-based Northeast News & Tribune (7/28) noted that Patricia A. Quigley, the "associate chief of nursing service for research at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital," has "been named a fellow" of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). Quigley "received the honor June 23 at the AANP national conference in Phoenix."

18.    Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center Response To War. In a letter to the editor of the Katy (TX) Times (7/28), Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center Director Adam C. Walmus, writes, "Since 2003, more than 1.5 million military personnel have served and returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. Roughly 40 percent have enrolled for care in a high-tech, quality-focused VA system, including more than 8,500 southeast Texas sons and daughters." Walmus added, "The DeBakey VA will continue expanding and changing to meet the needs of returning service members."

19.    The Closing Of The Legendary Blue Cube. In his San Jose (CA) Mercury News (7/29) column, Scott Herhold writes, "Before a color guard and the wife of a hero, they said good-bye Wednesday to a famous artifact of space and the cold war - Sunnyvale's 'Blue Cube,' the windowless blue box that housed secret operations for four decades." According to Herrold, the "Blue Cube" is formally called the Onizuka Air Force Base, "named for pioneering Asian-American astronaut Ellison Onizuka, who was killed in the 1986 Challenger crash." Herrold notes that one of the buildings on the base has been "claimed by the Veterans' Administration."

20.    A Faster Track To PTSD Treatment. An op-ed in the Westchester (NY) Journal News (7/28) by Jerry Donnellan, director of the "Veterans Service Agency of Rockland County."

21.    VA Accounting System Deserves An F. The Air Force Times (7/29, Maze).

22.    Congress Clears War Funding. Politico (7/28, Rogers) reported, "Tens of billions of dollars in new Afghanistan war funding cleared Congress late Tuesday, even as the House easily upended a liberal challenge to the increased" US military "presence - and drone attacks - across the border in Pakistan." Politico noted that the war funding bill includes 13.4 billion for the "Department of Veterans Affairs to cover the cost of largely retroactive payments for about 86,000 disability claims now assumed to be service-connected because of exposure to Agent Orange."

23.    Heroes And Villains Have Always Been There. While being interviewed by the "On Leadership" blog for the Washington Post (7/29), "best-selling author" Marshall Goldsmith calls Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki a military hero.

24.    Just One Lesson. The Conroe (TX) Courier (7/28, Roden) profiled Sarah Parks, a former Conroe resident who "hasn't let a spinal cord injury...thwart her progress" in skiing. Parks "has worked as a certified adaptive downhill ski instructor in Winter Park, Colo., since 2002. She also taught disabled veterans at the Disabled American Veteran Winter Sports Clinic in Colorado this spring."

25.    Fire Destroys Modesto Home. In a story on the mental health problems of 60-year-old veteran Jamie Atwater, the Modesto (CA) Bee (7/29, Austin) notes that Atwater's cousin, Frank Watson, said he has "been trying to get" Atwater "committed for months" because she once drove to Utah and thought she was still in California. According to the Bee, Watson said he was able to have her seen at a Veterans Affairs hospital but she was released.

26.    Disabled Sports USA, Challenged Athletes Foundation Sponsor First All Amputee Team. The Osseo-Maple Grove (MN) Press (7/28).

27.    Azusa Korean War Memorial Honors Veterans On Anniversary Of Conflict's End. The West Covina, California-based San Gabriel Valley Tribune (7/28, Tedford).

28.    Korean War Veterans Honored In Armistice Day Event. The Kokomo (IN) Tribune (7/28, Fletcher).

29.    Veterans Remember WWII With Spirit Of '45. The KGTV-TV San Diego, CA (7/28) website.

30.    In Shipshape Condition. The Indianapolis Star (7/29, Wang).

31.    Hiroshima Anniversary Ceremony Gains US Recognition 65 Years After Bomb. Bloomberg News (7/29, Green).