1.     White House lauds veterans director. 

2.     Toledo to help ailing veterans. 

3.     Spots dwindling for veteran education assistance program. 

4.     Vietnam veteran has no house, but home finds him.

5.     The Week At A Glance: July 23-27, 2012. 

6.     House Votes To Ban Tricare For Life Fees. 

7.     Secretary Of Labor Visits Minn Veterans, Announces Grants. 

8.     Gov Sorry For Comparing NFL Players To Vets. 

9.     Baker Bill Designed To Help Children Of Fallen Soldiers. 

10.  Highway Signs For Veterans Approved. 

11.  Scocos Refutes Union Claims Regarding Veterans Home. 

12.  Documents Reveal New Details About Camp Lejeune's Toxic Water. 

13.  Burning Questions About Military Waste Disposal. 

14.  Smith: Iraq Vet Tells Her Story Of PTSD In An Effort To Shed The Stigma. 

15.  Zion House; Just For Female Homeless Veterans. 

16.  Costs May Stay High After Bariatric Surgery. 

17.  Project Improves Dental Care For Veterans. 

18.  Walgreens Reaches Deal With Express Scripts. 

19.  Medicine Lodge Hospital In A Pilot Program To Provide VA Health Services Closer To Home. 

20.  VA Innovation Initiative Project Aims For Fewer Adverse Drug Events. 

21.  Village Delays Resolution On Veterans Cemetery. 

22.  VA Benefits Portal At Nearly 1.7 Million Users. 

23.  Report Finds Mixed Progress On Plain Language. 

24.  DAV Mobile Service Informs Sioux Falls Veterans About Available Benefits. 

25.  Veterans Flocking To New Job Education Program. 

26.  AT&T Steps Up Efforts To Hire Veterans. 

27.  "Serial Infector" Worked In Maryland. 

28.  Big Spring VA Clinic May Cut San Angelo Group-Therapy Session. 

29.  Veterans' Squad Mentality Builds A House In Vietnam. 

30.  Vet Says Airline Kicked His Service Dog, Insulted Him. 

31.  VFW Directed To Remove Flags From Overpasses. 

32.  Slideshow: Wounded Warriors Receive Applause, Respect. 

33.  Volunteers Build A Home For A Wounded Soldier. 

34.  Seven Medal Recipients To Be Featured On The Bus Wrap. 

35.  VA / VSO-MSO Hearings as July 23, 2012:

36.  Today in History:

 1.    White House lauds veterans director.  AZ Central.com  He described Strickland as "masterful" during his presidency for making sure the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion understood the state director's role in helping veterans, Willis said.

 2.    Toledo to help ailing veterans.  Toledo Blade  Currently, in 36 states, 73 VA medical centers operate 436 medical foster homes that house 535 veterans. Seventeen such homes are available for veterans in Ohio, including the one in Toledo that was recently approved by the VA Ann Arbor medical foster home program; as of last week it had an opening for one veteran. ... The house must meet state and local regulations for adult foster care license. A foster care home that houses only veterans does not have to have a state adult foster care license. However, if a ...

 3.    Spots dwindling for veteran education assistance program.  The Newark Advocate  Fewer than 9000 spots remain open in a government program that pays for unemployed veterans to get retraining in high-demand jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Part of the federal VOW to Hire Heroes Act passed in 2011, the ...

 4.    Vietnam veteran has no house, but home finds him. Jennifer Walkenhorst hadn’t seen her father since her wedding day in 2004. She figured he wasn’t in the best of health: The last time anybody in the family had heard from him, Alan Dempewolf, 58, was homeless and an alcoholic. 

 5.    The Week At A Glance: July 23-27, 2012.   CQ Summary of forthcoming Congressional activity, reports that on Wednesday, July 25, the House Veterans' Affairs Committee and the House Armed Services Committee will hold a "joint hearing on service member transitions with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta" at 10:00 a.m. at 2118 Rayburn.

 6.    House Votes To Ban Tricare For Life Fees. Army Times  The House "voted Thursday to prohibit the Defense Department from spending any money to implement an enrollment fee on Tricare for Life, the Tricare health plan for retirees age 65 and older." The ban, passed by "voice vote as an amendment to the 2013 defense appropriations bill, is not actually necessary to prevent a fee hike." Although the Defense Department has "proposed a $200 annual fee for the healthcare benefit for Medicare-eligible military retirees and their families, Congress has not authorized the payment." Still, both the House and Senate "versions of the 2013 defense authorization bill omit the Pentagon's plans for Tricare fee increases, making it unlikely - but not necessarily impossible - for the new enrollment fee to be charged."

 7.    Secretary Of Labor Visits Minn Veterans, Announces Grants. KAAL-TV  US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis was in "Minneapolis Friday morning to meet with veterans and announce grants that will help them get jobs. She toured a facility at the VA Hospital that houses veterans, and there they talked about how the $34 million of grants will help in finding jobs and re-integrating into civilian life." Minnesota programs will receive "$420,000, and more than a quarter of that will go to help rural veterans programs, where they often face more challenges such as transportation."

 8.    Gov Sorry For Comparing NFL Players To Vets.  AP  Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton "apologized Thursday for comparing NFL players in trouble with the law to veterans returning from war. The first-term Democrat said in a statement that he made a poor analogy when he used the comparison in an interview Tuesday with Minnesota Public Radio." The governor says "some of the 'psychological dynamics' may be similar but he didn't mean to compare the NFL players' problems to the hardships experienced by war heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan." Dayton said he "reserves his highest respect for soldiers in uniform."

  9.    Baker Bill Designed To Help Children Of Fallen Soldiers. Hawley (PA) News Eagle Pennsylvania Sen. Lisa Baker (R-20) has introduced a "two-bill package" to ensure that the children of a Pennsylvania National Guardsman who moved out of state shortly before being killed in Afghanistan last year, and "children in similar circumstances," will qualify for a college tuition waiver. The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, which Baker chairs, approved SB 1488 and SB 1489 unanimously on June 5; and the bills are "now awaiting consideration by the Senate Appropriations Committee." At present, a service member "must be a Pennsylvania resident at the time of his death for his children to be given free college tuition." Baker's legislation says that a fallen service member "must have been a Pennsylvania resident at any time during his or her service."

 10.                    Highway Signs For Veterans Approved. Springfield (MO) News-Leader  A Missouri bill designating Interstates 44 and 70 as Purple Heart Trails was "signed into law last week by Gov. Jay Nixon, much to the excitement of Carl Dietrich, the organizer who's been working on getting the designation for about a year and a half." But Dietrich says donations from the community are "still needed to get the signage along the highways." He said the signs, which cost "around $1,100 apiece, are to honor veterans wounded in combat."

 11.                    Scocos Refutes Union Claims Regarding Veterans Home. Wisconsin Radio Network Wisconsin VA Secretary John Scocos is "refuting claims made by a state employee union, regarding the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King." Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 24 Director Marty Beil is alleging that currently, there are "over 40 vacant positions of direct care staff." Scocos says AFSCME Council 24's "allegation of chronic staff shortages that threaten the quality of care at the King are a hundred percent false." Scocos described employee morale at King "as 'very good,' and said that, as of July 30th, there will be only 18 direct care positions, or fewer than four percent, open at King, out of a total of 494." The union "should be ashamed of its repeated attempts to politicize" veterans' issues, Scocos added.

12.                    Documents Reveal New Details About Camp Lejeune's Toxic Water.  AP  More than 650 news outlets reports, "Thousands of newly released documents about water contamination" at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, add to the "evidence that the military long knew about tainted tap water blamed for deaths and illnesses of Marines and their families, and that officials covered up the information for years." On Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) released more than "8,500 Department of Defense documents relating to the water contamination that continued at the base for decades." Earlier in the week, the Senate "approved a bill to provide healthcare for Marines and their relatives" who lived or worked at the base "from Jan. 1, 1957, to Dec. 31, 1987."

 13.                    Burning Questions About Military Waste Disposal.  CQ Weekly Four years ago, Congress banned the practice of burning "trash and human waste" in open pits within "combat zones but allowed the armed forces a broad exemption for when 'no alternative disposal method is feasible.'" However, the House Veterans Affairs Committee recently approved legislation that would "require the Veterans Affairs Department to compile a database of all those who have been exposed to smoke or fumes from open burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan - a list that would help identify veterans who might qualify for medical benefits if the fumes are found to be hazardous." The House is expected to vote on the measure "before the August recess."

 14.                    Smith: Iraq Vet Tells Her Story Of PTSD In An Effort To Shed The Stigma. Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat  Veteran Sarah Paterson, who has recently started talking about the "dark days of her struggle with post-traumatic stress." Paterson said she and a comrade, with whom she served in Iraq, decided to start sharing the details of their struggles after reading the cover story, "One a Day," in the July 23 issue of Time magazine. According to the article, there were "154 US military suicides in the first 155 days of 2012 - 50 percent more deaths than were suffered in combat in Afghanistan during the same period."

 15.                    Zion House; Just For Female Homeless Veterans.  WUHF-TV  The Zion house in Avon, New York, the "first transitional housing in New York State for female veterans who are homeless." The program, which is a partnership between the Zion Episcopal Church and the American Legion, has "room for seven women. They get help from veteran's agencies and service providers" while they stay there. The Director is Reverend Kelly Ayer, who is also a veteran and knows what it's like to be homeless. Ayer "says all the ladies they have served at Zion House have been touched by Military Sexual Trauma. 'And that's why we have individual rooms. Because that gives them safety and that gives them healing.'"

 16.                    Costs May Stay High After Bariatric Surgery.  New York Times  Older men who "undergo bariatric surgery to lose weight may not see any reductions in medical costs," according to a study in the Archives of Surgery. The researchers recruited 847 male patients who underwent bariatric bypass surgery at 12 VA medical centers and "compared them to a control group of 847 obese men who did not undergo weight-loss surgery." During the first few months after surgery, the bypass patients' medical expenses were "about $4,400 more" than the controls' costs. But three years post-surgery, the bypass patients' costs were "no lower than those of the obese men" who did not undergo surgery.

 17.                    Project Improves Dental Care For Veterans. Grand Island (NE) Independent  "Two providers from the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare facility in Grand Island completed a national geriatrics scholars program and project that directly improved" 81 local veterans' access to healthcare. "Janelle Brock, a licensed independent clinical social worker, and Dr. Majrie Heier completed a quality-improvement project that improved access to dental care for veterans in Central Nebraska." The project is now "being expanded to other rural VA clinics within Nebraska."

18.                    Walgreens Reaches Deal With Express Scripts.  Army Times Express Scripts and Walgreens have "struck a deal that brings the retail giant back into Express Scripts' pharmacy network." The companies announced a "new contract Thursday that will allow Express Scripts-managed health plans to fill prescriptions at Walgreens starting Sept. 15." But whether Tricare beneficiaries "can return to filling prescriptions at Walgreens has yet to be decided." Walgreens spokesperson Michael Polzin "said it is ultimately up to the individual healthcare plans - for military families and retirees, that's Tricare - to determine whether Walgreens returns to their networks." Meanwhile, the DOD announced on its "Tricare website that it is exploring its options."

 19.                    Medicine Lodge Hospital In A Pilot Program To Provide VA Health Services Closer To Home.  Alva (OK) Review-Courier  Medicine Lodge Memorial Hospital CEO Kevin White said Veterans Affairs has "implemented a pilot program to provide healthcare services through contractual agreements with non-VA case providers." The Review-Courier noted that "Project ARCH (Access Received Closer to Home)...intends to improve access for eligible veterans by connecting them to healthcare services closer to their residences." White said the service is "immediately available at the Medicine Lodge Hospital."

 20.                    VA Innovation Initiative Project Aims For Fewer Adverse Drug Events.  FierceHealthIT "Three new platforms to help providers prevent adverse drug events were developed as part of a recently completed Department of Veterans Affairs Innovation Initiative project." The platforms, which are being "piloted at five VA Medical Centers," were developed to "boost interoperability between departments and include an outpatient pharmacy interface that lists both active and inactive prescriptions; a problem list interface; and a bar-coded medication administration interface containing dosage records." The platforms also helped ensure "integration of surveillance software," with the VA's VistA program. Notably, the software was "at the heart of project after helping prevent more than 250 adverse drug events at San Antonio-based South Texas Veterans Healthcare System in 2010."

  21.                    Village Delays Resolution On Veterans Cemetery.  East Aurora (NY) Advertiser The East Aurora Village Board is "holding for the moment to determine how it might support a national veterans cemetery within Knox Farm State Park." Over the past few months, the towns of "Aurora, Elma and Marilla" either have "passed a resolution in support or are considering such a measure"; and Sen. Charles Schumer, during a visited to the region in May, "said he would look into the idea." Veterans Affairs would maintain the cemetery, which would "encompass 100 acres." Notably, the VA has been looking to install a "national cemetery in the Western New York region" for the past several years. At present, the closest veterans' cemetery is in "Bath, about two hours east of East Aurora."

 22.                    VA Benefits Portal At Nearly 1.7 Million Users.  FedScoop  Veterans Affairs announced it has "nearly 1.7 million veterans and service members registered for its eBenefits portal that provides online information and access to a wide variety of military and veteran benefits resources." VA Undersecretary for Benefits Allison Hickey said, "'We know that three out of four veterans who use VA services want to connect online, so we must be there for them with the information they need."  Washington Business Journal  The VA has surpassed its "2012 fiscal year goal of having 1.65 million users on the site" and is now working towards meeting meet its FY2013 goal of "2.5 million users."

 23.                    Report Finds Mixed Progress On Plain Language. Federal News Radio  The Center for Plain Language "released a scorecard" earlier this week, "marking agency progress meeting requirements under the 2010 Plain Writing Act. The Agriculture Department came in with the highest score - an 'A' - of the 12 large agencies and departments graded." In contrast, the Veterans Affairs Department "earned an 'F' for its spotty record implementing the law. 'They have named an official, so they get 10 points for that,' the report card stated. 'That is apparently all they have done...There is no website, apparently no plan or compliance report.'"

  24.                    DAV Mobile Service Informs Sioux Falls Veterans About Available Benefits. KSFY-TV   "Dozens of veterans and their families are taking advantage of services being provided by the Disabled American Veterans. The DAV mobile service is at J&I Harley-Davidson in Sioux Falls, where counseling, pamphlets and other informative packets were set up for military veterans today. The goal is to get veterans informed about the services that are available to them -- like compensation and medical benefits." DAV spokesperson Eric Vanemmerik said, "A lot of vets have no idea what is available to them from the VA, so we try to get the word out." KSFY added, "Since 2007, the program has been sponsored by the Harley-Davidson Foundation."

 25.                    Veterans Flocking To New Job Education Program.  AP  Unemployed veterans "may be heading back to school in mass under a Federal program to get out-of-work veterans trained and back in the job market." Veterans Affairs officials "say there has been an enormous response to a new skills-based program that pays for up to a year of education toward an associate degree or a non-college-degree or certificate." According to VA spokesperson Randal Noller, since the agency began accepting applications on May 15 for the Veteran Retraining Assistance Program, "27,080 unemployed veterans have applied." Although that's "more than half the maximum amount" the VRAP program will allow during the first year, Noller said the VA would "continue to promote the program until every slot is filled."

 26.                    AT&T Steps Up Efforts To Hire Veterans.  Oklahoman AT&T Oklahoma "launched a new online web portal, www.ATT.jobs/Military, to help Oklahoma active duty military and veterans match their skills with current AT&T job openings." Spokesperson Charlie Price said AT&T Oklahoma, which "employs about 4,000 statewide, has about 50 current openings," many of which "require the telecommunications and other skills that servicemen and women" usually have.

 27.                    "Serial Infector" Worked In Maryland.  AP Maryland health officials "say a man accused of causing hepatitis C outbreak in New Hampshire worked at four hospitals in the state." The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene "said Friday that David Kwiatkowski," has been infected with the hepatitis C virus "since at least June 2010," worked in the state from 2008 to 2010 at the "Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Southern Maryland Hospital, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Maryland General Hospital." Officials say the hospitals will "notify patients who underwent certain procedures with instructions on follow-up care."

 28.                    Big Spring VA Clinic May Cut San Angelo Group-Therapy Session. KLST-TV "For the past two years, Vietnam veteran Joe Sabine has attended group therapy sessions twice a month at San Angelo's VA Clinic. As soon as next month, those sessions could be cut to just one; and Sabine says those meetings are the only place he feels safe." Sabine: "We had a common core of experience and we could count on each other; and I just don't see that happening in a large group." KLST: VA officials in Big Spring say they are considering reducing that San Angelo group meeting in an effort to re-allocate personnel to expand veterans' services." Big Spring's Chief of Social Work Services Dr. Virginia Hines said, "Right now there are multiple sessions of the same group, which interfere with developing other sectors of the veteran population."

 29.                    Veterans' Squad Mentality Builds A House In Vietnam.  Las Vegas Review-Journal Vietnam veteran Dick Moyer who has overcome haunting memories of the war, and who, along with Vietnam vet Richard "Doc" Small, returned to Vietnam in April. Moyer and Small were part of a group of 30 Habitat for Humanity volunteers on a Global Village project in southern Vietnam's rural Tien Giang province, where they spent two weeks building the three homes.