1.      VA Grant To Fund Improvements At Georgia State Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The WSB-TV Atlanta, GA (10/28) website noted that on Thursday, Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki announced that a grant of almost $1.8 million has been awarded to continue to develop and improve the Georgia State Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Milledgeville. WSB quoted Shinseki, who said, "State cemeteries will forever commemorate their service and sacrifice to our nation." The WTOC-TV Savannah, GA (10/28) website also took note of VA's grant.

2.      Chiarelli Wants To Increase Smart Phone Usage, Partner With VA On Behavioral Health. NextGov (10/29, Brewin) notes that it interviewed Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the US Army's vice chief of staff, who "told Nextgov the utility and economics of smart phones and related gadgets such as small tablet computers argue for their adoption Armywide." Chiarelli "also said he wants to start a virtual behavioral health program with the Veterans Affairs Department 'as soon as possible' to compensate for the shortage of Army mental health professionals, and he already has discussed the project with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki."

3.      Veterans Forum To Be Held In Montana. KXLH-TV Helena, MT (10/28, 5:39 p.m. MT) broadcast, "A forum to help Montana veterans find better jobs and better understand education and healthcare benefits is coming up." According to KLH, US Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) has "announced the event will be held November 10th, the day before Veterans Day." The event, which "will take place at the Best Western Heritage Inn" in Great Falls, Montana, "kicks off...with a 'Stand Down' in which donated clothing for Montana veterans will be accepted."

4.      Ceremony Honors Alabama Residents Killed In War On Terror. According to the AP (10/28) Alabama Gov. Bob Riley "honored the 122 Alabama residents who have died in the war on terror during a ceremony Wednesday at the Capitol." The deceased residents' "names...were read out loud, and seven new names were added to a state memorial" located in the Capitol. After noting that during the ceremony, Riley "accepted a flag designed by George Lutz, the father of a soldier killed in Iraq in 2005," and said it would be displayed as part of the memorial, the AP added, "Lutz...is seeking to have the flag displayed in all 50 states."

5.      VA Supporting Effort To Address Needs Of American Indian Veterans. The Flathead Indian Nation's Char-Koosta News (10/29, Azure, 4K) reports, "Researchers from Brigham Young University Social Department will be on the Flathead Indian Reservation the first week of November to conduct interviews with American Indian veterans to learn more about their experiences accessing healthcare services to address their health needs." Carol Ward, the lead BYU researcher, "said the project is supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs regional administrative office in Salt Lake City."

6.      Director Of Nonpartisan Group Says Number Of Vets In Congress Is Likely To Drop. The Army Times (10/29, Maze, 104K) reports, "The number of veterans serving in Congress is likely to drop as a result of Tuesday's elections, according to the executive director" of the Veterans' Campaign, a "nonpartisan group that teaches veterans how to run for political office." On Thursday, Seth McCormick Lynn, who stressed that fewer veterans in Congress would lead to "increasing polarization and partisanship" because veterans "share a common bond that transcends" party affiliation, "said...the number of veterans in the Senate - now 26 - might increase as a result of the election. But in the House of Representatives, the number of veterans is certain to decline from the current 95."

7.      Experts Worried About Homeless Rate Of Iraq And Afghanistan Vets. According to the WBIR-TV Knoxville, TN (10/28, Becker) website, experts on "both...the national and local" level are "seeing what they call a troubling trend. More and more younger veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are going from serving their country to life on the streets much faster than the generation of veterans who served in Vietnam." WBIR, which noted that almost a year ago, the US Department of Veterans Affairs "announced a goal of ending homelessness among veterans in five years," offers a quote from Burt Rosen, the President and chief executive officer of Knox Area Rescue Ministries (KARM), who said, "I absolutely applaud" VA's "effort but if our experience at KARM mirrors anything else that you're seeing across the country that is a very, very daunting task."

8.      After Being Missing For 67 Years, WWII Vet Buried At Riverside National Cemetery. The Escondido, California-based North County (CA) Times (10/28, Walker, 71K) reported, "'There's always hope.' That was the message Wednesday from Fallbrook's Burt Risser" to other families of missing in action veterans. Risser made his comment after "laying his uncle," Claude Ray to "rest precisely 67 years after the World War II airman went missing while on a reconnaissance flight." Risser, several other family members, and "about 60 mourners paid their final respects to...Ray during a military funeral at Riverside National Cemetery."

9.      Restoration Work At JFK Grave Site Underway. The Washington Post (10/29, O'Keefe, 605K) reports, "On Thursday, workers began a week-long project to re-stain the letters" in "John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address," which is hand-carved into granite near Kennedy's eternal flame at the Arlington National Cemetery. The Knights of Columbus, a "Catholic lay organization, is paying about $6,000 for the restoration to mark the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's inauguration." Kennedy, the "nation's first Catholic president, was a member" of the Knights of Columbus.

10.    VA: Small Area Of Brain Could Be Key To Understanding PTSD. The Minnesota Public Radio (10/28, Benson) said a new study, published this week in the Journal of Neural Engineering, "suggests that a small area of the brain, just above the right ear, could be the key to understanding" how post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) works. Researchers from the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis "say brain scans of PTSD patients show unusual activity in the part of the brain responsible for memory. The same researcher team reported last January that they had developed a scan that can identify people with PTSD with 95 percent accuracy."
     The St. Paul (MN) Pioneer-Press (10/28, Snowbeck) also took note of the new study, reporting, "Beyond representing a step forward in evaluating treatments for PTSD, the finding also could help combat a stigma that prevents some patients from seeking treatment, said Brian Engdahl," a VA "counseling psychologist...who conducted the research. 'The veterans themselves see what we've found, and many are relieved to see physical evidence of the emotional injury they have lived with all this time,' Engdahl said," adding "This can reduce their self-blame, and it helps destigmatize this disorder."

11.    Veterans Court Operating In Orange County, California. On its website, CNN (10/29, Martinez, Wian) reports, "Veteran by veteran, Orange County, California, Superior Court Judge Wendy Lindley is dispensing justice with tough talk and a little cheerleading to the former servicemen who've returned from war in Iraq or Afghanistan" to become "convicted civilians in her court." CNN adds, "Lindley's courtroom is one of as many as 40 'veterans courts' nationwide, a trend initiated two years ago to deal with a growing number of veterans whose criminal offenses were about to put them in prison, officials said." The Veterans Affairs Department "calls it part of a 'veteran justice outreach initiative,' which seeks to avoid 'the unnecessary criminalization of mental illness and extended incarceration' of veterans" by rehabilitating them with medical and social services.
     Texas County May Also Get Vets Court. The Seguin (TX) Gazette-Enterprise (10/28, Maloney, 5K) noted that on Tuesday, Guadalupe County attorney Elizabeth Murray-Kolb updated commissioners on a veterans court she has been trying to establish, "informing them that County Court-at-Law Judge Linda Z. Jones and County Judge Mike Wiggins have agreed to oversee such a court - and that the idea is supported by the Adult Probation department, which would provide a pair of probation officers to work with the program." The paper said the court would be "supported by the resources of...the Veterans Administration."

12.    Dorn VAMC Hosts Forum On Caring For Troubled Vets. In continuing coverage, the WACH-TV Columbia, SC (10/28) website noted that at the Dorn Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Wednesday, pastors, "ministers and preachers met to discuss healing issues for South Carolina veterans." The forum, which was "part of a week of events celebrating pastoral care" at the hospital, "focused on issues affecting veterans like post traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and suicide prevention." Employees with VA "say the talk will help them work better with their patients."

13.    San Diego VA Approved By National Accrediting Organization. The Escondido, California-based North County Times (10/29, Rogers) says the San Diego Veterans Affairs Healthcare System has "earned a preliminary thumbs up from a national accrediting organization that reviewed its hospital care, home care, long-term care, behavioral health program and clinics." Janet Tremblay, "director of performance improvement at the local VA, said an inspection team from the Joint Commission spent last week interviewing patients and staff and inspecting records at the veterans hospital in La Jolla and five of six VA clinics countywide, including Oceanside and Escondido. An early summary of the findings delivered late last week showed that the San Diego VA system passed and often surpassed national care standards, Tremblay said."

14.    Some Residents In Footprint Of New Orleans VA Hospital Frustrated By State. On its website, WDSU-TV New Orleans, LA (10/28) reported, "Residents in lower Mid-City" New Orleans "expressed their frustration Thursday night" as the Louisiana State University-Veterans Affairs hospital "project moved forward." The state, which "set Thursday as the cut off for utilities and other services" in the area where the project will be constructed, is "trying to meet it's obligation to...VA to have the site cleared and ready for construction by the end of next month." After noting that some residents still living in the area are "taking their case to court," appealing the state's buy out process, WDSU said that some historic Mi-City homes have been moved to another New Orleans location and that on Friday, there will be a "rally...in lower Mid-City against the demolition in the VA footprint."
     Historic New Orleans Homes Moved Out Of VA Hospital Footprint. WGNO-TV New Orleans, LA (10/28, 5:06 p.m. CT) broadcast that "nearly a hundred historic homes" in New Orleans' Mid-City are being "saved from wrecking crews...making way for a new hospital complex." WGNO pointed out that on Thursday, "nearly a dozen" such homes were "moved onto vacant lots" in New Orleans' Treme, "out of the way" of the Veterans Affairs "hospital site in Mid-City." The homes, which are "being renovated" by an organization called Builders of Hope, "will be sold to lower-income families at prices they can afford."

15.    Route Selected For LA Subway Link Includes VA Hospital. The Los Angeles Times (10/29, Weikel, Blume, 681K) reports, "Development of a long-awaited subway link from downtown Los Angeles to the traffic-tangled Westside took a giant step Thursday" when transportation officials in Los Angeles County "approved a general route along job- and population-heavy Wilshire Boulevard." The LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board "recommended the 9.5-mile Westside route along Wilshire - past Hancock Park, Beverly Hills, Century City and UCLA to the Veterans Affairs West Los Angeles Medical Center - because of higher ridership projections. Stations were approved at Wilshire and Fairfax, La Cienega, Century City, Westwood/UCLA and the veterans hospital campus."
     The New York Times /AP (10/29, A13) notes that construction of the subway link is "scheduled to begin in 2013 after a final environmental impact review." Completion of the project, however, "could take more than two decades," although the "time could be shortened if the project gets federal financing."

16.    Mobile VA Clinic To Provide Care Closer To Home For Some Wisconsin Vets. WLAX-TV La Crosse, WI (10/28, 9:28 p.m. CT) broadcast, "Veterans in western Wisconsin will soon get care closer to home," because the Veterans Affairs hospital in Tomah is "taking its new mobile clinic on the road" to "La Crosse, Vernon, Wausau and Marathon" counties, "thanks to a $1.3 million grant from the Veterans Health Administration."

17.    VA Planning To Break Ground Soon On VA Clinic In Minnesota. The Coon Rapids (MN) Herald (10/29, Sakry, 4K) says the Veterans Affairs "outpatient clinic project" in Ramsey, Minnesota, "seems to have finally cleared its last hurdle. Groundbreaking for the new VA Clinic in Ramsey is scheduled to go ahead on Nov. 8 at 10 a.m. With the final protest period reaching its deadline with no protests," VA "has set the ground breaking for Nov. 8 at 10 a.m."

18.    Home Blood Pressure Monitoring Works Better Than Doctor's. In its "Healthcare Headaches" blog, US News & World Report (10/29, Lin) says "doctors are often reluctant to increase medication doses or add new medications" because they are "afraid of lowering blood pressure too much, which can make patients lightheaded and cause them to stop taking their medications altogether. Given this unacceptable situation, family doctors need to adopt a new model of care that includes more frequent contacts with patients and adjustment of medications based on blood pressure monitoring at home, stress the authors" of a paper in the American Journal of Managed Care. The blog adds, "Studies conducted by the Veterans Health Administration have demonstrated that daily body weight measurements on scales remotely linked to doctor's offices can help reduce re-admission rates for heart failure patients, a major factor in reducing ballooning health care costs."

19.    Chicago Police Change Recruit Eligibility. The AP (10/29) reports, "Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis says that because of staffing shortages, the department will hold a written test for recruits on Dec. 11 -- its first in four years." In addition, Weis "says the department is changing some of the eligibility rules for recruits, raising the minimum age from 21 to 25 for those who are not military veterans, while offering new hiring incentives for veterans."

20.    College Tuition Costs Climbing Again This Fall. The AP (10/29, Gorski) reports, "College tuition costs shot up again this fall, and students and their families are leaning more on the federal government to make higher education more affordable in tough economic times, according to two reports issued Thursday" by the nonprofit College Board. The AP says one of the reports found many students are receiving expanded Federal aid, including veterans' benefits, a point also made by the Christian Science Monitor (10/29, Khadaroo, 48K), under the headline "Tuition At Public Colleges Jumps 8 Percent, College Board Reports."

21.    Donations Cover Debt Of Iraq War Veteran In Stillwater Arrested After Mistaken Identity. The Oklahoma City-based Oklahoman (10/29, Baker).

22.    Man Faces Indictment In VA Threat Case. The Martinsburg (WV) Journal (10/29, Marshall).