2.      Name Approved For New Vets Home In Alabama. According to the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser (10/4, Rowell, 37K) said the "state's newest veterans home in Pell City now has a name. The State Board of Veterans Affairs approved Col. Robert L. Howard State Veterans Home as the name." A groundbreaking ceremony for the home, which will be paid for in part by US VA funds, "has been tentatively set for Nov. 30."

3.      Stand Down Event Held In California. The Eureka (CA) Times-Standard (10/4, Drange) reports, "An estimated 300 veterans turned out" for the "fifth annual North Coast Stand Down in Ferndale over the weekend. Started in 2000 by a pair of veterans, the Stand Down is a national organization aimed at providing services to veterans, including dental work, counseling, resume workshops and free food and clothing." The event in Ferndale was "organized by the Redwood Veterans Center." The Contra Costa Times (CA, 175K) (10/4) publishes the same story.

4.      Pennsylvania Honors POWs. On its website, WHP-TV Harrisburg, PA (10/4, 16K) reported, "On Monday, members of the Pennsylvania National Guard, along with state lawmakers and family members of missing persons and prisoners of war, held a ceremony in the state capitol." Last week, a "tree and memorial marker was put in place on state capitol grounds...to remember those military personnel."

5.      New Jersey Mission Of Honor Buries Three Vets' Remains. The Bergen (NJ) Record (10/5, Ax, 161K) reports, "Three Bergen County veterans whose cremated remains had sat unclaimed for decades in a funeral home were finally buried Monday, joining dozens of others that have been similarly honored in recent months" by the "New Jersey Mission of Honor - a veterans group empowered by a new state law" in New Jersey to "remove abandoned remains of veterans from funeral homes and bury them properly."

 6.      Supreme Court Will Not Hear Claims Processing Case Brought By Vets Groups.  In its "Liveshots" blog, the Fox News (10/4, Ross) website reported, "Two veterans groups lost in their effort to have the Supreme Court force bureaucrats in the Department of Veterans Affairs to move more swiftly in processing claims, as the Supreme Court announced Monday they will not hear a case challenging a supposed lack of brevity from the government." Lower courts had "ruled against" a case brought by the "Vietnam Veterans of America and the Veterans of Modern Warfare," which "allege that...VA takes far too long to process claims made by its members and for all veterans."

7.      Some Advocates Disappointed By Omnibus Veterans Bill. In continuing coverage, the current issue of the Army Times (10/11, Maze, 104K) reports, "An omnibus bill containing two years' worth of ideas to improve veterans disability, insurance and employment benefits passed Congress" last week, "just as lawmakers fled Washington for a six-week election break. While there is plenty in the bill that would help veterans, some advocates are disappointed by what's missing." The Times adds, "Particularly disappointing" to one advocacy group, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, is the "failure of Congress to pass a bill making improvements in the Post-9/11 GI Bill, despite the backing of more than 140 co-sponsors and wide support among veterans groups and the Veterans Affairs Department over details."

8.      VA Planning Test Of Thin-Client Computers.  Government Computer News (10/5, Hardy) reports, "The Veterans Affairs Department is planning a new test of thin-client computers to lower costs and improve security, adding to the thousands of thin clients the agency already uses. The department wants to field 20,000 so-called 'dumb terminals' in six hospitals and 29 clinics, reports Bob Brewin in NextGov ." After noting that with thin-client computers, the "computing power and data storage is in a remote server that multiple terminals connect to," GCN adds, "VA wants white papers from vendors for the planned thin-client expansion by Oct. 22, Brewin writes."

9.      Fort Hood Deaths Part Of "Alarming Surge" In Military Suicides In Texas. In continuing coverage, the Houston Chronicle (Wise, Wang, 363K) noted that four US soldiers stationed at Fort Hood -- all of whom had "served combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan" -- recently took their own lives. Their deaths at the "sprawling Army base are part of an alarming surge in suicides among young active-duty military personnel, reservists and veterans in Texas. A Houston Chronicle analysis of the state's vital statistics found that suicides among Texans younger than 35 who had served in the military jumped from 47 in 2006 to 66 in 2009 - an increase of 40 percent." In a related story, the current issue of the Army Times (10/11, 104K) reports, "In the wake of a spike in suicides" at Fort Hood, its "senior officer has ordered a basewide effort to check on each and every soldier."

10.    Best Friends Buried Next To Each Other At Arlington National Cemetery.  NBC Nightly News (10/4, story 12, 2:45, Williams, 8.37M) broadcast that on Monday, Navy SEAL Brendan Looney, killed two weeks ago in a helicopter cash in Afghanistan, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Looney was "laid to rest beside his best friend, Marine Lieutenant Travis Manion," who was "tragically cut down by a sniper three years ago" in Iraq. The CBS Evening News (10/4, story 7, 2:45, Couric, 6.1M) aired a similar report, and offered coverage of this story on its website .
     This story was also noted by the AP (10/2, Jones) and the Doylestown (PA) Intelligencer (10/3, Weckselblatt, 35K), which pointed out that Travis Manion's "remains were removed Friday from Calvary Cemetery in West Conshohocken, where they have been for three years, and taken to Arlington to fulfill his wish to be buried there. The move was inspired following the tragic death" of 29-year-old Looney, who perished "just two weeks before he was scheduled to conclude his military career."
     Motorcyclists Try To Drown Out Westboro Baptist Protestors. The Washington Post (10/5, Ruane, 605K) reports, "A group of motorcyclists staged a counter-demonstration Monday at the Arlington National Cemetery burial" of Looney, "parking motorcycles and revving engines to oppose a protest by members of the fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas." Members of the church, "who often demonstrate at military funerals, are the subjects of a Supreme Court case that seeks to decide whether they have a right under the Constitution to stage such inflammatory demonstrations. The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case Wednesday."

11.    Vet Says Her Life Was Saved By VA Assistance. The WTVT-TV Tampa Bay, FL (10/4, Ely) website said that because advocates "estimate a third of the homeless are veterans," the "Veterans Administration has launched a new homeless transition program that pays $28 a day for housing and assistance tied to VA drug, alcohol, and mental health treatment. Veteran Wendy Vann-Thompson says the new help literally saved her life."

12.    VA Grant To Assist Homeless Vets In California. The Fresno (CA) Business Journal (10/5, Keller) reports, "A grant of $526,500 from the Department of Veterans Affairs will allow Fresno nonprofit WestCare California to provide shelter for homeless veterans." The funding is "part of a $41.9-million" VA allotment to "40 states in order to help community groups provide 2,568 beds to homeless veterans this year." The Business Journal says VA is "distributing the money in the form of grants and per diem payments as part of a plan to eliminate homelessness among veterans within five years and help reduce the number of veterans who were homeless on a typical night last year by 18 percent to about 107,000 veterans within one year."

13.    VA Awards Contract For Clinic In Nevada. KVVU-TV Las Vegas, NV (10/4, 11:10 p.m. PT) broadcast, "The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a contract for a VA outpatient clinic in Laughlin." According to the report, US Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) "says this clinic will help better serve the veterans of southern Nevada."

14.    Dartmouth To Pay $275,000 Settlement To Resolve VA Hospital Contract Allegations. The AP (10/5) reports, "Federal prosecutors say Dartmouth College has agreed to pay $275,000 to settle allegations of improper conduct involving the college's administration of contracts" at a Veterans Affairs hospital in White River Junction, Vermont. After noting that prosecutors "said the contracts involved improper invoices and violations of a law that bars federal employees from being paid by a private source for their federal job duties," the AP adds, "The settlement was announced Monday" by Tristram Coffin, the US Attorney for Vermont.

15.    Report: VA Two Years Behind Schedule On Credentials Initiative.  Federal Computer Week (10/5, Lipowicz, 90K) reports, "The Veterans Affairs Department is nearly two years behind schedule in implementing secure credentials for employees and contractors under a governmentwide directive, according to a new report" from the department's "Office of Inspector General. To date, the VA has issued approximately 9 percent of the necessary credentials to its workforce, including contractors, under Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD-12), Belinda Finn, assistant IG for audits and evaluations, wrote in the Sept. 30 report." Federal Computer Week adds, however, that Finn also wrote in the report that "management efforts are underway" at VA to "strengthen program implementation."

16.    Prudential Tells Vets Groups It "Deeply Resents" Death Benefit Account Allegations. In continuing coverage, the current issue of the Army Times (10/11, 104K) reports, "Prudential Financial has sent a letter to military and veterans groups saying it 'deeply resents' allegations that the company has devised a scheme to make money from the deaths of fallen" US service members. In fact, officials "said that over the past decade, Prudential has actually lost money under its Service-members' Group Life Insurance contract" with the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Times points out that in the future, VA "will use new documents that ask a beneficiary to choose" one of three different options following the death of an insured US service member.

17.    Two Men Sentenced To Jail For Posing As Combat Veterans. The current issue of the Army Times (10/11, Gould, 104K) reports, "A convicted felon and a con-man deserter who separately posed" as US Army "combat veterans were each sentenced" in a Federal court in Alabama last month. Douglas Lee Weaver was "sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges he wore unauthorized decorations, including the Distinguished Service Cross, and that he was a convicted felon illegally possessing a firearm." The "other faker, Skyler Tarquin Smith," was sentenced to "24 months for wearing an unearned Purple heart and trying to sell a $13 cubic zirconia as a diamond worth tens of thousands of dollars."

18.    Stolen Purple Heart Returned To WWII Vet. The AP (10/5) reports, "A World War II veteran in northern Ohio has his Purple Heart back - a week after someone stole it. The (Elyria) Chronicle-Telegram reports that someone broke into 89-year-old Michael Demich's house in Lorain last month and took his military medal, along with some...other" items. However, a "man who bought the medal online returned it to Demich on Wednesday after he read an article about the theft."

19.    View From The Wall. Jeff Martin's column in the Blue Springs (MO) Examiner (10/5, 4K).

20.    Home Loan-Linked Bond Sales Face Lingering Concern.  Bloomberg News (10/5, Mulholland) reports, "Future sales of bonds backed by US home loans hinge partly on lawmakers' acknowledging the role such securities may play in an economic recovery, said Christopher Flanagan, head of research on the investments for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Elected officials are skittish over the practice of securitization, in which home loans are packaged into bonds, Flanagan said" Monday "during a panel at Information Management Network's annual Asset-Backed Securities East Conference." Bloomberg adds, "Mortgages bought or guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs account for about 95 percent of new home lending, according to data compiled by newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance."

21.    B&Bs Offer Free Night To Military. The New Mexico Business Weekly (10/5).

22.    Raynham Pays Fitting Tribute To Medal Of Honor Hero, B-R Grad. The Bridgewater (MA) Independent (10/5, Weinstein).

23.    Once Lost, Now They're Found. The Sparks (NV) Daily Tribune (10/5, Orme).

24.    Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall To Be Displayed In North Platte. The North Platte (NE) Bulletin (10/5, Lauby, 12K).