Sen. Nelson calls for investigation on Haley VA medical center's covert camera
By William R. Levesque
Times Staff Writer
Friday, August 3, 2012
TAMPA — Sen. Bill Nelson asked the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general on Thursday to investigate the James A. Haley VA Medical Center's use of a camera disguised to look like a smoke detector in a patient's room.
Nelson sought an inquiry to determine whether Haley had ever used hidden cameras before and whether any other VA hospital had ever done so.
This comes on top of an investigation launched earlier this week by the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee. Haley spokeswoman Carolyn Clark said the VA will no longer answer questions about the camera. Its use was first reported in a July 10 story by the Tampa Bay Times.
The VA has sent a response to the committee. Both the VA and committee, chaired by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Pensacola, refused to provide a copy to the Times.
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original story
Hidden camera found in patient's room at James A Haley VA hospital
Friday, August 3, 2012
Your Wait Time Is 4,116 Minutes, Agency Hot Line Tells Veteran
Your Wait Time Is 4,116 Minutes, Agency Hot Line Tells Veteran
By Kathleen Miller and Nick Taborek
Bloomberg News
Aug 3, 2012
Neeson Levinson says the letter he received from the Department of Veteran Affairs on June 21 placed the future of his 30-employee construction company in jeopardy.
The letter denied his firm, Harbor Services Inc., eligibility to bid on VA contracts reserved for disabled veterans. His company in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, relies on the awards for almost all its $15 million in annual revenue.
Levinson, a 17-year Navy veteran, said he placed eight phone calls to the department’s help desk to find out what was going on. He was greeted each time by an automated message saying his wait time was at least 1,000 minutes, he said. The number he remembers best: 4,116 minutes, or 2.86 days.
“It was comical, but at the same it really bothered me because my business is at stake,” Levinson, who said he’s certified as 50 percent disabled, said in a phone interview.
Levinson’s experience is an example of the problems that lawmakers and advocates say veteran business owners face navigating a new certification system meant to prevent fraud. They say the program isn’t weeding out potential abuse or helping veterans as Congress intended.
Almost 40 percent of the companies listed as owned by veterans in a VA registry haven’t met the eligibility requirements of a 2010 law, the head of the VA office that certifies businesses said during a congressional hearing yesterday.
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By Kathleen Miller and Nick Taborek
Bloomberg News
Aug 3, 2012
Neeson Levinson says the letter he received from the Department of Veteran Affairs on June 21 placed the future of his 30-employee construction company in jeopardy.
The letter denied his firm, Harbor Services Inc., eligibility to bid on VA contracts reserved for disabled veterans. His company in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, relies on the awards for almost all its $15 million in annual revenue.
Levinson, a 17-year Navy veteran, said he placed eight phone calls to the department’s help desk to find out what was going on. He was greeted each time by an automated message saying his wait time was at least 1,000 minutes, he said. The number he remembers best: 4,116 minutes, or 2.86 days.
“It was comical, but at the same it really bothered me because my business is at stake,” Levinson, who said he’s certified as 50 percent disabled, said in a phone interview.
Levinson’s experience is an example of the problems that lawmakers and advocates say veteran business owners face navigating a new certification system meant to prevent fraud. They say the program isn’t weeding out potential abuse or helping veterans as Congress intended.
Almost 40 percent of the companies listed as owned by veterans in a VA registry haven’t met the eligibility requirements of a 2010 law, the head of the VA office that certifies businesses said during a congressional hearing yesterday.
As for Levinson’s calls, Jo Schuda, a VA spokeswoman, said it’s “very likely” he was given the wait time of 4,116 minutes.
“However, that was due to an IT glitch and not the actual waiting time,” Schuda said in an e-mail. “Call volume has been heavy, but not like that.”
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Obama to sign bill to stop military protests at funerals
Congress came up with a bill that will protect families and still protect free speech rights of a hate group. So far, free speech has been protected and gave more rights to the hate group and took away the rights of a family to grieve in peace. Now they can say whatever hateful thing they want but the families do not have to be forced to listen to them or see them.
President Obama to sign veterans bill restricting protests at military funerals
Examiner.com
AUGUST 2, 2012
BY: ROBERT SOBEL
President Obama is set to sign a new bill that has just passed congress restricting the ability to protest at military funerals.
After years of dealing with the Westboro Baptist Church showing up at military funerals, a new veterans bill is looking to put an end to their antics. Earlier this week, Congress passed "The Honoring America's Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012." In the bill, protesters won't be able to hold demonstrations two hours before and after a military funeral. The bill also notes that the protesters will have to be at least 300 feet away from the funeral and family members.
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Patriot Guard Leads Solemn Procession for Fallen Army Sgt. Eric Williams
Patriot Guard Leads Solemn Procession for Fallen Army Sgt. Eric Williams
Fort Bragg-based paratrooper killed in Afghanistan arrives at Pendleton for return to Murrieta.
By Maggie Avants and Chris Stone
August 2, 2012
Only weeks before his deployment was to end, Army Sgt. Eric Williams was killed July 23 in Logar Province, Afghanistan—south of Kabul.
Thursday afternoon, his flag-draped casket arrived via private jet at Camp Pendleton with his wife and family present.
On a sun-splashed Tarmac, they witnessed an angels ceremony, followed by a procession of Patriot Guard Riders, a Murrieta Fire Department engine and American Medical Response ambulances to his hometown of Murrieta.
Williams, 27, was a special forces operative deployed with the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, NC.
A flight medic for the Army, Williams kept up a blog that he started in 2008. According to his last blog post dated July 17, he was to be heading home soon.
“This deployment is coming to an end, in a few days we will be on a plane back to the United States to rejoin our family and friends and to try to readjust to a certain semblance of what we think life should be,” Williams wrote. “Cannot begin to describe the things we’ve seen, felt, or heard. We have lost brothers and colleagues.”
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Fort Bragg-based paratrooper killed in Afghanistan arrives at Pendleton for return to Murrieta.
By Maggie Avants and Chris Stone
August 2, 2012
Only weeks before his deployment was to end, Army Sgt. Eric Williams was killed July 23 in Logar Province, Afghanistan—south of Kabul.
Thursday afternoon, his flag-draped casket arrived via private jet at Camp Pendleton with his wife and family present.
On a sun-splashed Tarmac, they witnessed an angels ceremony, followed by a procession of Patriot Guard Riders, a Murrieta Fire Department engine and American Medical Response ambulances to his hometown of Murrieta.
Williams, 27, was a special forces operative deployed with the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, NC.
A flight medic for the Army, Williams kept up a blog that he started in 2008. According to his last blog post dated July 17, he was to be heading home soon.
“This deployment is coming to an end, in a few days we will be on a plane back to the United States to rejoin our family and friends and to try to readjust to a certain semblance of what we think life should be,” Williams wrote. “Cannot begin to describe the things we’ve seen, felt, or heard. We have lost brothers and colleagues.”
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Camp Pendleton Marine to get Navy Cross posthumously
MILITARY: Camp Pendleton Marine to get Navy Cross posthumously
By TERI FIGUEROA
North County Times
A Camp Pendleton Marine will be posthumously awarded the Navy Cross ---- the nation's second-highest award for combat heroism ---- for his efforts, while under enemy fire, to save three injured service members in Afghanistan's Sangin province in 2010, a military spokesman said Thursday.
Sgt. Matthew T. Abbate's family will accept the award on his behalf at a ceremony at Camp Pendleton next week, said Capt. Justin Smith, spokesman for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
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By TERI FIGUEROA
North County Times
A Camp Pendleton Marine will be posthumously awarded the Navy Cross ---- the nation's second-highest award for combat heroism ---- for his efforts, while under enemy fire, to save three injured service members in Afghanistan's Sangin province in 2010, a military spokesman said Thursday.
Sgt. Matthew T. Abbate's family will accept the award on his behalf at a ceremony at Camp Pendleton next week, said Capt. Justin Smith, spokesman for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
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President Obama rallies at Rollins College
By Amanda Evans, Scott McDonnell and Kelli Cook, Team Coverage
News 13
Last Updated: Friday, August 03, 2012
WINTER PARK
President Barack Obama made good on his promise to come back to Central Florida for a campaign stop he had to cancel two weeks earlier.
Obama was supposed to speak at Rollins College on July 20, but after news broke about the deadly massacre at a Colorado movie theater, the president cancelled his campaign plans for the day and headed back to the White House.
The crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to the president as he opened his rally in Rollins College in Winter Park. His 51st birthday is Saturday.
The president also talked about the Olympic games, saying that "we come together when we have to present ourselves to the world."
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Thousands of Florida ex-felons may not know they can vote
There are a lot of ex-felons in Florida. They did their time for crimes they committed and some of them were arrested after they served in the military but never received the help they needed after war. They think they lost their rights to vote in this state but they haven't.
Thousands of Florida ex-felons may not know they can vote
By Michael Peltier
TALLAHASSEE, Florida
Fri Aug 3, 2012
(Reuters) - More than 13,000 ex-felons may be eligible to vote in Florida but don't know it because the notices the parole board mailed to them were returned as undeliverable, the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday.
The civil rights group raised the concern after analyzing more than 17,000 names of ex-felons who had their voting rights automatically restored by the Florida Parole Commission.
The list was obtained under the state's public records law and included ex-felons whose Restoration of Civil Rights certificates were returned undelivered to the parole commission.
Florida is one of a minority of U.S. states that does not automatically restore civil rights once a felon has completed a sentence.
The certificates were sent between 2007 and March 2011 under a short-lived policy that automatically restored civil rights to nonviolent offenders.
The policy was repealed in March 2011 by Florida Governor Rick Scott and a newly elected Florida Cabinet, which voted to make it more difficult for ex-felons to get their civil rights back.
After reviewing 17,604 names of those who had their rights restored, the ACLU said it found 13,517 who were not registered to vote.
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Former Army Ranger, filmaker trains with the best
Wounded Warrior Project commercials popping up all over the place. What is going on here? If you watch their commercials you'll notice that while they talk about the veterans of war coming home, they never really say what they do for them.
The latest one is the Brawny commercial we've all seen on TV and they say that they will donate $1 up to $250,000 to Wounded Warrior Project on this video.
Bob Woodruff, the reporter on this story, has a foundation ReMIND.org and on their site there is a group of partners they list. Wounded Warrior Project is not on it.
There is another list
It has gotten to the point where I go to watch a great report like this about an Army Ranger wanting to go into film and having George Lucas as a mentor that I almost didn't watch it. As soon as I saw the commercial for Wounded Warrior Project, I wanted to close the site but I really like Bob Woodruff, so I forced myself to get beyond the ad for WWP. I hope you do the same. I know how my readers feel about them, so please, just shut your eyes for the commercial and watch this report.
Former Soldier, Future Filmmaker
ABC
Former Army Ranger Hank Hughes aspires to be a filmmaker
04:20
07/31/2012
The latest one is the Brawny commercial we've all seen on TV and they say that they will donate $1 up to $250,000 to Wounded Warrior Project on this video.
Bob Woodruff, the reporter on this story, has a foundation ReMIND.org and on their site there is a group of partners they list. Wounded Warrior Project is not on it.
There is another list
Leadership PartnersThere are great groups out there but then there are some that have become moneymakers plain and simple.
Our corporate partners have made a strategic investment in the Nation’s most effective model for assisting our injured service members as they reintegrate back into society.
The following companies have made an annual contribution of more than $100,000 or more.
GFI Group, Inc.
H.C.S. Foundation
Lockheed Martin Foundation
TriWest Healthcare Alliance
The Art of Grace, Inc.
The Paul E. Singer Foundation
It has gotten to the point where I go to watch a great report like this about an Army Ranger wanting to go into film and having George Lucas as a mentor that I almost didn't watch it. As soon as I saw the commercial for Wounded Warrior Project, I wanted to close the site but I really like Bob Woodruff, so I forced myself to get beyond the ad for WWP. I hope you do the same. I know how my readers feel about them, so please, just shut your eyes for the commercial and watch this report.
Former Soldier, Future Filmmaker
ABC
Former Army Ranger Hank Hughes aspires to be a filmmaker
04:20
07/31/2012
Returning soldier reunited with daughter at SeaWorld
Returning soldier reunited with daughter at SeaWorld
By Bakari Savage, Reporter
Friday, August 03, 2012
ORANGE COUNTY
A returning soldier surprises his young daughter by coming home after a year-long deployment.
Spc. Eric Espinosa and his wife teamed up with SeaWorld to make it happen, and we were there to capture it on camera.
Four-year-old Alexis was inside of SeaWorld’s Shamu Stadium. She thought she was there just to see another Shamu show and has no idea her dad was waiting to meet her here.
“Saying bye is the hardest thing," said Leah Espinosa, the returning soldier's wife.
"You know where he’s going and you worry every day. But, as soon as I saw him, everything went away.”
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By Bakari Savage, Reporter
Friday, August 03, 2012
ORANGE COUNTY
A returning soldier surprises his young daughter by coming home after a year-long deployment.
Spc. Eric Espinosa and his wife teamed up with SeaWorld to make it happen, and we were there to capture it on camera.
Four-year-old Alexis was inside of SeaWorld’s Shamu Stadium. She thought she was there just to see another Shamu show and has no idea her dad was waiting to meet her here.
“Saying bye is the hardest thing," said Leah Espinosa, the returning soldier's wife.
"You know where he’s going and you worry every day. But, as soon as I saw him, everything went away.”
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Joint Base Lewis-McChord vow to do better on PTSD
Think about what would have happened if these soldiers never said a word and just suffered in silence. Think about what it would be like if there were no reporters willing to tell their stories. The only thing that would have happened would have been more suffering.
Military commanders vow better treatments for post traumatic stress
By Keith Eldridge and KOMO Staff
Published: Aug 2, 2012
Right now, these are promises are coming down from the highest commanders. But soldiers down below are still waiting to see if these promises are kept as they go down the chain of command.
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- The top commanders at Joint Base Lewis-McChord are pledging to better handle soldiers who believe they're suffering from post traumatic stress.
Multiple tours of duty have taken their toll on U.S. troops, both the casualties and the injuries, seen and unseen.
"I've definitely got more than a couple of years of stuff floating around up in my head," said Army Specialist Jared Enger.
Enger was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but the findings were overturned by a forensic psychiatrist.
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