Veteran mental care 'inadequate'
Care offered by the NHS to military veterans with post traumatic stress disorder is "a spit in the ocean", the head of the charity Combat Stress says.
Outgoing chief executive Commodore Toby Elliott says his charity has 9,000 registered patients but the government provides for less than half of them.
He says six community NHS mental health pilot schemes are inadequate and may end up providing patchy service.
The Department of Health says it is working hard to provide adequate care.
Currently, 300 former service personnel who served in Iraq or Afghanistan are being treated by the charity, which looks after veterans with psychological injuries.
In January this year, Britain's highest-decorated serving soldier criticised the government for failing to help ex-servicemen and women suffering mental health problems.
Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, who was awarded the Victoria Cross, said it was "disgraceful" some veterans struggled to get treatment.
read more here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8160294.stm
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Bliss Soldier Pleads Guilty On Intoxicated Manslaughter Charge
Bliss Soldier Pleads Guilty On Intoxicated Manslaughter Charge
KFOXtv.com
Monica Balderrama-KFOX News Reporter
Posted: 2:03 pm MDT July 20, 2009
Updated: 3:04 pm MDT July 20, 2009
EL PASO, Texas -- The Fort Bliss soldier accused of killing a 19-year-old Burgess graduate while drinking and driving pleaded guilty on Monday during his intoxicated manslaughter trial. The trial moved forward to the punishment phase where the jury will decide the soldier's fate.
Staff Sgt. Edison Bayas, 37, waived his right to a jury trial when he pleaded guilty Monday morning. But the jury still has to decide his punishment, which could range from two to 20 years in prison.
As KFOX reported in December 2007, 19-year-old Valerie Talamantes was stopped at a red light on Montana and Hawkins and Bayas allegedly came barreling through and crashed into the back of Talamantes' car.
click link for the rest
Was he self-medicating? Does he have PTSD? Your guess is as good as mine. The outcome is a soldier is facing jail and a young woman is now dead. A family is grieving while another family must be trying to come to terms with what happened. Could it have been avoided?
Fort Hood Soldier killed at party
Fort Hood soldier shot, killed at party on post
© 2009 The Associated Press
July 20, 2009, 5:38PM
FORT HOOD, Texas — Fort Hood officials have a soldier behind bars after another soldier was shot and killed at a party on the Central Texas Army post.
They say 30-year-old Spc. Ryan Richard Schlack of Oshkosh, Wis., died Saturday. The Killeen Daily Herald reports he was hit by a bullet another soldier fired into a crowd on the lawn.
read more here
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6538516.html
© 2009 The Associated Press
July 20, 2009, 5:38PM
FORT HOOD, Texas — Fort Hood officials have a soldier behind bars after another soldier was shot and killed at a party on the Central Texas Army post.
They say 30-year-old Spc. Ryan Richard Schlack of Oshkosh, Wis., died Saturday. The Killeen Daily Herald reports he was hit by a bullet another soldier fired into a crowd on the lawn.
read more here
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6538516.html
Veterans Collaboration Group training teams to help veterans
My friend Lily Casura over at Healing Combat Trauma sent me this link. I'm thrilled she did. Lily is one of the best friends veterans could ask for. (And one that I depend on)
This is one of the best things that could happen right now. It's what I've been trying to do for years but I'm just like everyone else. I have very little power and I'm not rich, so people with the power to do things that need to be done never listen to me.
With all the training I've done over the years I've often wondered why crisis intervention programs didn't include veterans already here in crisis. I supposed that it was simply a matter of numbers instead of need. Considering responders are trained to rush in after a localized crisis, like hurricanes, it only makes sense that they do the same for the over 1.7 million veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Even thinking about those numbers it is vital to also include veterans we already have trying to heal from trauma along with the families involved. Each program I've taken has touched on PTSD but since these programs are designed to address the traumatic event head on, the result of long term conditions like PTSD were considered pretty much avoided. After all that's the intent of these programs.
Washington State apparently has decided that it's time for the mobilization of teams to respond to veterans in crisis with their unique traumatic events. It is widely known that the sooner help begins the less of a mental health toll these veterans will pay. This is a good thing!
This is one of the best things that could happen right now. It's what I've been trying to do for years but I'm just like everyone else. I have very little power and I'm not rich, so people with the power to do things that need to be done never listen to me.
With all the training I've done over the years I've often wondered why crisis intervention programs didn't include veterans already here in crisis. I supposed that it was simply a matter of numbers instead of need. Considering responders are trained to rush in after a localized crisis, like hurricanes, it only makes sense that they do the same for the over 1.7 million veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Even thinking about those numbers it is vital to also include veterans we already have trying to heal from trauma along with the families involved. Each program I've taken has touched on PTSD but since these programs are designed to address the traumatic event head on, the result of long term conditions like PTSD were considered pretty much avoided. After all that's the intent of these programs.
Washington State apparently has decided that it's time for the mobilization of teams to respond to veterans in crisis with their unique traumatic events. It is widely known that the sooner help begins the less of a mental health toll these veterans will pay. This is a good thing!
Contact: David Weston, 360-902-0782, westodb@dshs.wa.gov
Contact: David L. Reed, HRSA, DSHS, 360-902-0793, reeddl@dshs.wa.gov
Contact: Tom Schumacher, 360-725-2226, tom@dva.wa.gov
July 07, 2009
DSHS, WDVA schedule training workshops to help first responders deal with troubled veterans
TACOMA -- Two state departments are working together to train mental health workers, police, drug treatment counselors, tribal representatives and other community service personnel in how they can better serve troubled veterans returning to the United States after traumatic service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mental health and crisis experts with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Social and Health Services are partnering with community organizations to sponsor a series of trainings this summer.
"The Veterans Collaboration Group," as they have dubbed themselves, will hold trainings on July 9 in Tacoma and July 30 in Yakima. An earlier session was held in Bellingham in June.
Partner agencies include WDVA, the DSHS divisions that coordinate substance abuse treatment and mental health services, Washington Association of Designated Mental Health Professionals and the federal Veterans Administration as well as local groups.
Additional information about the remaining two sessions is available by contacting David L. Reed, a mental health worker in the Health and Recovery Services Administration of DSHS, or Tom Schumacher, PTSD Program Director with WDVA.
As communities welcome veterans' home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is important that providers and first responders are prepared to serve their special needs, particularly if the veteran is struggling with readjustment issues related to war trauma or deployment.
"We are interested in helping crisis workers and police know how to identify a veteran with war exposure and symptoms, and to help these professionals respond effectively," said Schumacher. "Many crises can be quickly resolved when local professionals can help define what is needed and offer services locally. These regional workshops are all about education, creating empathy for the experiences of warriors, understanding their significant homecoming challenges, and establishing networks that work for the benefit of the veteran, their family, and the community."
Reed said the workshops were developed in response to the serious challenges that face local communities as soldiers still dealing with war trauma return from the battlefield after prolonged and repeated deployments.
The workshops focus on the basics – what works and what doesn't – and instructors encourage participants to look ahead at the kind of crisis situations in which they may face a returning soldier losing control or posing a threat.
"The workshops provide information about the soldiers' needs," Reed said, "and they are upfront about the challenges these veterans may be dealing with at that point. We teach specific skills that you need to de-escalate this kind of crisis."
Other topics in the curriculum include veteran and military cultures, war trauma, traumatic brain injury, war-related post traumatic stress disorder and combat-related mental illness and stigma.
Collaboration Group training
July 9, Tacoma
July 30, Yakima
For additional details, e-mail David Reed at reeddl@dshs.wa.gov
FOR ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND, INFORMATION:
Heidi Audette, Communications Director, Department of Veterans Affairs, 360-725-2154.
Jim Stevenson, Communications Director, HRSA, 360-725-1915 (Pager: 360-971-4067).
http://www.dshs.wa.gov/mediareleases/2009/pr09109.shtml
Monday, July 20, 2009
Message to Congress, please stop letting my friends die
by
Chaplain Kathie
Two years ago a friend of mine named Jen of Stuart FL was not feeling well. She went to the emergency room and called me from home. It was a shock to hear the doctors told her they suspected cancer but even more shocking she walked out of the hospital planning on not going back. She didn't have health insurance. Her husband was a contractor and they didn't have much money. They were just working class people trying to do the best they could. She was afraid to die but more afraid of what the financial cost would do to her husband.
Jen, ended up getting the care she needed and ended up dying in a hospice. She left her husband with the heartache of losing her and the mountain of bills to pay for. See, Jen and her husband were separated for a while. They got back together a few months before she found out about having cancer. They thought they just had a miracle happen when her husband was right by her side every step of the way. The problem was, when it came to healthcare, they were left standing alone.
Then we have another friend of mine, Capt. Agnes "Irish" Bresnahan. She fought a long battle with the VA because she had Agent Orange illnesses and PTSD. In March she had a hearing in Washington on her claim. She died there because the VA changed one of her medications to a generic and she ended up with internal bleeding. They gave her a transfusion but her heart just couldn't take it. See, Irish, well she was a tiny dynamo. She just didn't take care of her own claim with her own fight, but fought for all veterans to make sure they were getting the care they needed. Throughout most of it, she had to pay for a lot of things the VA would have if her claim had been approved to the level it should have been. Maybe she would have still been here if she could have had the treatment she needed instead of suffering with Agent Orange killing her and PTSD crushing her.
I have this blog and another one. Between the two of them there are over 17,000 posts. Not bad considering these blogs have only been up since 2005. Most of the posts are about our veterans needing help but not getting it. There are posts on homeless veterans too. Among them are stories about how people end up suffering, end up homeless, end up with a pile of bills because they didn't have health insurance that worked.
Now, I see the commercials about how terrible healthcare is in Canada, but I had a friend up there too and she had cancer. She received all the test and all the treatment she needed and couldn't understand why it was that in this country, not only did veterans have to fight to be taken care of, so did everyone else. Up there, things are not perfect and they have veterans needing more help than they are getting but at least they can get care.
So how is it that things in this country are not working right for people trying to make ends meet? How is it that there are now more billionaires but people like me can't get buy? I have health insurance but basically it's making us suffer to pay for it. My husband gets great care from the VA and I come under CHAMPA but most doctors will end up billing me the difference so we carry a private insurance as well. How is this far? I've heard some of you act as if healthcare is a luxury instead of a necessity for years. It's time to get it right and take care of us because when we lose our jobs, we lose healthcare. We're not looking for free ride but it would be nice to finally be able to arrive at a point where we don't have to be afraid to stay alive because it will cost too much money.
I've listened to all the debates and frankly I think some of you should be ashamed of yourselves. The ones complaining the most seen to find no problem allocating all the money they want when they can get something in return from rich people. The people needing help with healthcare are not rich so I guess we don't matter very much to you but we do matter to the people who care if we live of die young.
Is it really too much to ask that you stop letting people die because you don't want to find the money to keep them alive? You seemed to manage so well when Iraq and Afghanistan were being pumped with hundreds of billions of dollars never being added into the budget. Yes, those speeches of your's are all on tape as well. We heard them on CSPAN. Now they are in the budget and now you notice the deficit. The problem is while you were ignoring us, we were paying close attention to all of you and we noticed that we really don't matter to you. All we can give you is our tax dollars and votes. When it comes to our lives, you just don't think.
Do you have a clue what most families could do to the economy if we had the extra $1,000 a month of more if we didn't have to pay that kind of money on healthcare? Do you know what businesses could do if they had healthy employees instead of terrified ones too afraid to go to the doctor? Every member of congress needs to finally stop and think for a change because the American people are dying for your attention!
Pass a healthcare bill that will give us a chance to live instead of just dream.
Chaplain Kathie
Two years ago a friend of mine named Jen of Stuart FL was not feeling well. She went to the emergency room and called me from home. It was a shock to hear the doctors told her they suspected cancer but even more shocking she walked out of the hospital planning on not going back. She didn't have health insurance. Her husband was a contractor and they didn't have much money. They were just working class people trying to do the best they could. She was afraid to die but more afraid of what the financial cost would do to her husband.
Jen, ended up getting the care she needed and ended up dying in a hospice. She left her husband with the heartache of losing her and the mountain of bills to pay for. See, Jen and her husband were separated for a while. They got back together a few months before she found out about having cancer. They thought they just had a miracle happen when her husband was right by her side every step of the way. The problem was, when it came to healthcare, they were left standing alone.
Then we have another friend of mine, Capt. Agnes "Irish" Bresnahan. She fought a long battle with the VA because she had Agent Orange illnesses and PTSD. In March she had a hearing in Washington on her claim. She died there because the VA changed one of her medications to a generic and she ended up with internal bleeding. They gave her a transfusion but her heart just couldn't take it. See, Irish, well she was a tiny dynamo. She just didn't take care of her own claim with her own fight, but fought for all veterans to make sure they were getting the care they needed. Throughout most of it, she had to pay for a lot of things the VA would have if her claim had been approved to the level it should have been. Maybe she would have still been here if she could have had the treatment she needed instead of suffering with Agent Orange killing her and PTSD crushing her.
I have this blog and another one. Between the two of them there are over 17,000 posts. Not bad considering these blogs have only been up since 2005. Most of the posts are about our veterans needing help but not getting it. There are posts on homeless veterans too. Among them are stories about how people end up suffering, end up homeless, end up with a pile of bills because they didn't have health insurance that worked.
Now, I see the commercials about how terrible healthcare is in Canada, but I had a friend up there too and she had cancer. She received all the test and all the treatment she needed and couldn't understand why it was that in this country, not only did veterans have to fight to be taken care of, so did everyone else. Up there, things are not perfect and they have veterans needing more help than they are getting but at least they can get care.
So how is it that things in this country are not working right for people trying to make ends meet? How is it that there are now more billionaires but people like me can't get buy? I have health insurance but basically it's making us suffer to pay for it. My husband gets great care from the VA and I come under CHAMPA but most doctors will end up billing me the difference so we carry a private insurance as well. How is this far? I've heard some of you act as if healthcare is a luxury instead of a necessity for years. It's time to get it right and take care of us because when we lose our jobs, we lose healthcare. We're not looking for free ride but it would be nice to finally be able to arrive at a point where we don't have to be afraid to stay alive because it will cost too much money.
I've listened to all the debates and frankly I think some of you should be ashamed of yourselves. The ones complaining the most seen to find no problem allocating all the money they want when they can get something in return from rich people. The people needing help with healthcare are not rich so I guess we don't matter very much to you but we do matter to the people who care if we live of die young.
Is it really too much to ask that you stop letting people die because you don't want to find the money to keep them alive? You seemed to manage so well when Iraq and Afghanistan were being pumped with hundreds of billions of dollars never being added into the budget. Yes, those speeches of your's are all on tape as well. We heard them on CSPAN. Now they are in the budget and now you notice the deficit. The problem is while you were ignoring us, we were paying close attention to all of you and we noticed that we really don't matter to you. All we can give you is our tax dollars and votes. When it comes to our lives, you just don't think.
Do you have a clue what most families could do to the economy if we had the extra $1,000 a month of more if we didn't have to pay that kind of money on healthcare? Do you know what businesses could do if they had healthy employees instead of terrified ones too afraid to go to the doctor? Every member of congress needs to finally stop and think for a change because the American people are dying for your attention!
Pass a healthcare bill that will give us a chance to live instead of just dream.
Off-Duty Milwaukee firefighters save family from burning SUV
Rescuers save 3 people from burning SUV
By Ryan Haggerty of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: July 19, 2009
A group of people including two off-duty firefighters and an off-duty police lieutenant rescued a woman and her two children from a burning SUV that crashed on Milwaukee's south side Sunday afternoon.
Most of the rescue was filmed by a bystander. The video shows the 1992 Chevrolet Blazer on its left side near S. 22nd Place and W. Layton Ave., its back half engulfed in flames and black smoke.
Two men eventually use metal pipes to break through the windshield, freeing the woman, who is a 32-year-old Tennessee resident, and her 2-year-old daughter.
They suffered minor injuries, police said.
The woman's 4-year-old son was still trapped inside.
Two brothers - John and Joel Rechlitz, who are Milwaukee firefighters and were off duty - were notified of the fire by one of their wives, who lives near the scene and saw the crash, said Tiffany Wynn, a Fire Department spokeswoman.
read more here
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/51148722.html
By Ryan Haggerty of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: July 19, 2009
A group of people including two off-duty firefighters and an off-duty police lieutenant rescued a woman and her two children from a burning SUV that crashed on Milwaukee's south side Sunday afternoon.
Most of the rescue was filmed by a bystander. The video shows the 1992 Chevrolet Blazer on its left side near S. 22nd Place and W. Layton Ave., its back half engulfed in flames and black smoke.
Two men eventually use metal pipes to break through the windshield, freeing the woman, who is a 32-year-old Tennessee resident, and her 2-year-old daughter.
They suffered minor injuries, police said.
The woman's 4-year-old son was still trapped inside.
Two brothers - John and Joel Rechlitz, who are Milwaukee firefighters and were off duty - were notified of the fire by one of their wives, who lives near the scene and saw the crash, said Tiffany Wynn, a Fire Department spokeswoman.
read more here
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/51148722.html
Patriot Services Inc. enters guilty plea in government contracts charges
Georgia temporary staffing company pleads guilty in Kan. case
By Associated Press
9:42 AM CDT, July 20, 2009
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Justice Department says a Georgia temporary staffing company and its owner have agreed to plead guilty in a Kansas case involving government contracts at government agencies.
Patriot Services Inc. and owner Stephanie Blackmon have agreed to plead guilty to making a false statement to the Small Business Administration.
The federal case, filed in Kansas City, Kan., is part of an investigation into fraudulent conduct involving contracts the Veterans Affairs' mail outpatient pharmacies at Leavenworth, Kan., and Hines, Ill.
Blackmon is black and a service-disabled veteran. She admitted she used that status to act as the figurehead owner so Patriot could secure government contracts specifically set aside for companies operated by socially and economically disadvantaged persons.
By Associated Press
9:42 AM CDT, July 20, 2009
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Justice Department says a Georgia temporary staffing company and its owner have agreed to plead guilty in a Kansas case involving government contracts at government agencies.
Patriot Services Inc. and owner Stephanie Blackmon have agreed to plead guilty to making a false statement to the Small Business Administration.
The federal case, filed in Kansas City, Kan., is part of an investigation into fraudulent conduct involving contracts the Veterans Affairs' mail outpatient pharmacies at Leavenworth, Kan., and Hines, Ill.
Blackmon is black and a service-disabled veteran. She admitted she used that status to act as the figurehead owner so Patriot could secure government contracts specifically set aside for companies operated by socially and economically disadvantaged persons.
Couple Arrested After Leaving Kids Alone In Disney Hotel Room
What makes this worse is that the woman says she's a school counselor!
Kids Alone In Disney Hotel Room
Monday, July 20, 2009 5:20:34 PM
LAKE BUENA VISTA -- Two children under the age of 5 are found by themselves at a Disney hotel room while their parents were swimming in the hotel pool.
Stephen Simmons, 49, and Kimberly Simmons, 41, from Michigan were arrested and charged with child neglect Saturday.
Kimberly, a school counselor, told authorities that they've left the foster children alone in the past.
read more here
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/7/20/kids_alone_in_disney_hotel_room.html
Mary Setterholm on a wave of forgiveness
A wave of forgiveness
Steve Lopez
July 19, 2009
It's another beautiful day in paradise and I'm out on the ocean, riding waves with a former national surfing champion and onetime prostitute who's about to join a seminary.
Go ahead, try to name one other state where I could have written that sentence.
"Terrific!" yells Mary Setterholm, my instructor, who forgives my every wipeout and cheers when I finally ride a wave all the way to shore.
Setterholm, who now runs a Santa Monica surfing school, won the U.S. Women's title in 1972, at age 17. And you're not going to believe where her trophy is:
On Cardinal Roger M. Mahony's desk.
Where do I even begin?
Perhaps with the e-mail from Ann Hayman, a minister at Brentwood Presbyterian, who remembered that I once wrote about a skid row prostitute who lived in a Porta-Potty but later turned her life around. Hayman, who worked with prostitutes for 28 years, had someone she wanted me to meet.
So I drove to Brentwood to meet Hayman and Setterholm. Over coffee -- and the next day at the beach -- Setterholm spun a tale both tragic and triumphant:
As a young child, Setterholm told me, she was physically and sexually abused repeatedly by a baby-sitter, and then beginning in seventh grade, she was molested for years by a now-deceased priest from her Catholic church in Westwood. When her family moved to the Huntington Beach area, Setterholm found herself drawn to the sea. There was honesty and security in the rhythm of the waves, but the ride to the shore was fraught with danger.
read more here
A wave of forgiveness
Steve Lopez
July 19, 2009
It's another beautiful day in paradise and I'm out on the ocean, riding waves with a former national surfing champion and onetime prostitute who's about to join a seminary.
Go ahead, try to name one other state where I could have written that sentence.
"Terrific!" yells Mary Setterholm, my instructor, who forgives my every wipeout and cheers when I finally ride a wave all the way to shore.
Setterholm, who now runs a Santa Monica surfing school, won the U.S. Women's title in 1972, at age 17. And you're not going to believe where her trophy is:
On Cardinal Roger M. Mahony's desk.
Where do I even begin?
Perhaps with the e-mail from Ann Hayman, a minister at Brentwood Presbyterian, who remembered that I once wrote about a skid row prostitute who lived in a Porta-Potty but later turned her life around. Hayman, who worked with prostitutes for 28 years, had someone she wanted me to meet.
So I drove to Brentwood to meet Hayman and Setterholm. Over coffee -- and the next day at the beach -- Setterholm spun a tale both tragic and triumphant:
As a young child, Setterholm told me, she was physically and sexually abused repeatedly by a baby-sitter, and then beginning in seventh grade, she was molested for years by a now-deceased priest from her Catholic church in Westwood. When her family moved to the Huntington Beach area, Setterholm found herself drawn to the sea. There was honesty and security in the rhythm of the waves, but the ride to the shore was fraught with danger.
read more here
A wave of forgiveness
Homeless man’s death called homicide
WEYMOUTH
Homeless man’s death called homicide
The death of a homeless man in Weymouth is an apparent homicide, according to a statement from Norfolk County District Attorney William R. Keating. At 9:20 a.m. yesterday, police found Ronald Pratt, 50, dead in a wooded area behind a building on Washington Street, officials said.
read more here
Homeless man death called homicide
Homeless man’s death called homicide
The death of a homeless man in Weymouth is an apparent homicide, according to a statement from Norfolk County District Attorney William R. Keating. At 9:20 a.m. yesterday, police found Ronald Pratt, 50, dead in a wooded area behind a building on Washington Street, officials said.
read more here
Homeless man death called homicide
After Murder of Office Cleaner, a New Light on an Isolated Job
After Murder of Office Cleaner, a New Light on an Isolated Job
By JOSEPH BERGER
Published: July 19, 2009
When other workers in her office building are calling it a day, Elizabeth Magda is just beginning hers. She dumps out their wastebaskets, swipes a rag across their desks, dusts their computers and stocks their bathrooms with toilet paper and paper towels.
As the vast skyscraper empties out and a twilight desolation slowly descends on her floor, Ms. Magda finishes off her night by vacuuming a half acre of carpet, making sure to discard the pizza cartons of the few office workers who stay especially late. By midnight, she is usually the only person left on the floor, yet she does not feel isolated or lonesome, she said, because she knows she will soon be on her way home to Ridgewood, Queens.
“My personality is that I don’t need much people around me,” she said. “I don’t like a factory with a hundred people. It’s my job and I’m doing my job and I’m not thinking I’m lonely or somebody is coming in. You have to do your job.”
Few people pay attention to the workers who clean their offices, as long as the desks are clean in the morning and papers are not tampered with. But every once in a while, something happens to cast a spotlight on their relatively solitary, uncelebrated occupation. On July 11, there was a grisly discovery that did just that: the body of a cleaning woman was found stuffed in an air-conditioning duct in the Lower Manhattan office building where she had worked at night.
The victim, Eridania Rodriguez, who came to the United States from the Dominican Republic in the early 1990s, was last seen four nights before. The police found her face down, her hands bound behind her back with black and yellow tape, still in her blue custodial uniform. An elevator operator, Joseph Pabon, 25, was arrested on Friday night and charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the killing of Ms. Rodriquez.
read more here
After Murder of Office Cleaner, a New Light on an Isolated Job
By JOSEPH BERGER
Published: July 19, 2009
When other workers in her office building are calling it a day, Elizabeth Magda is just beginning hers. She dumps out their wastebaskets, swipes a rag across their desks, dusts their computers and stocks their bathrooms with toilet paper and paper towels.
As the vast skyscraper empties out and a twilight desolation slowly descends on her floor, Ms. Magda finishes off her night by vacuuming a half acre of carpet, making sure to discard the pizza cartons of the few office workers who stay especially late. By midnight, she is usually the only person left on the floor, yet she does not feel isolated or lonesome, she said, because she knows she will soon be on her way home to Ridgewood, Queens.
“My personality is that I don’t need much people around me,” she said. “I don’t like a factory with a hundred people. It’s my job and I’m doing my job and I’m not thinking I’m lonely or somebody is coming in. You have to do your job.”
Few people pay attention to the workers who clean their offices, as long as the desks are clean in the morning and papers are not tampered with. But every once in a while, something happens to cast a spotlight on their relatively solitary, uncelebrated occupation. On July 11, there was a grisly discovery that did just that: the body of a cleaning woman was found stuffed in an air-conditioning duct in the Lower Manhattan office building where she had worked at night.
The victim, Eridania Rodriguez, who came to the United States from the Dominican Republic in the early 1990s, was last seen four nights before. The police found her face down, her hands bound behind her back with black and yellow tape, still in her blue custodial uniform. An elevator operator, Joseph Pabon, 25, was arrested on Friday night and charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the killing of Ms. Rodriquez.
read more here
After Murder of Office Cleaner, a New Light on an Isolated Job
Soldiers' emotional battle scars put doctors in dilemma
What happened first to "do no harm" when it came to the doctors not telling the commander of the National Guard? Times have not changed enough, that's for sure.
It seems like centuries ago when I had to fight a mental health worker to have my husband's life saved. I was working in a mental health hospital at the time. Not one of my favorite jobs, but I worked for 6 psychiatrists. My husband wanted to die and I was terrified he was planning on it. Long story short, he got the help he needed but a mental health worker almost got in the way. This "woman" (you know I'm thinking of another word) told me that I violated my husband's civil rights by "acting like God" and she was so full of herself. That is until I told her where I worked and who I worked for. She was gone soon after. In between this encounter and my husband getting help, it had to be done away from the mental health hospital, with the police department and a long distance phone call to a boss away on vacation. The police did the right thing and so did my boss. My husband is still alive and I am grateful for the help he was given that day while still infuriated with the clueless "woman" supposedly working to help people.
Here we have a young National Guardsman, needing help, going for help, getting help and a family standing behind him. Everything that needed to be done was being done. That is until the doctors decided not to inform the National Guards. I'm no lawyer but it seems that since this "patient" was a danger to himself, they had more obligation to inform the National Guards than to keep that information from them. Consider this part. They also endangered the lives of the other Washington National Guardsmen had Tim Juneman been deployed.
It seems all too often that families do the right thing for their veterans but too many are not and we need to be asking why not. Tim Juneman hung himself after seeking help because he just wasn't helped enough. There needs to be clear rules on this because I'm sure the doctors cared but now a young National Guardsman is dead and a family left behind when everyone did it all right.
It seems like centuries ago when I had to fight a mental health worker to have my husband's life saved. I was working in a mental health hospital at the time. Not one of my favorite jobs, but I worked for 6 psychiatrists. My husband wanted to die and I was terrified he was planning on it. Long story short, he got the help he needed but a mental health worker almost got in the way. This "woman" (you know I'm thinking of another word) told me that I violated my husband's civil rights by "acting like God" and she was so full of herself. That is until I told her where I worked and who I worked for. She was gone soon after. In between this encounter and my husband getting help, it had to be done away from the mental health hospital, with the police department and a long distance phone call to a boss away on vacation. The police did the right thing and so did my boss. My husband is still alive and I am grateful for the help he was given that day while still infuriated with the clueless "woman" supposedly working to help people.
Here we have a young National Guardsman, needing help, going for help, getting help and a family standing behind him. Everything that needed to be done was being done. That is until the doctors decided not to inform the National Guards. I'm no lawyer but it seems that since this "patient" was a danger to himself, they had more obligation to inform the National Guards than to keep that information from them. Consider this part. They also endangered the lives of the other Washington National Guardsmen had Tim Juneman been deployed.
It seems all too often that families do the right thing for their veterans but too many are not and we need to be asking why not. Tim Juneman hung himself after seeking help because he just wasn't helped enough. There needs to be clear rules on this because I'm sure the doctors cared but now a young National Guardsman is dead and a family left behind when everyone did it all right.
COURTESY OF THE JUNEMAN FAMILY
Tim Juneman and his mother, Jacqueline Hergert, are pictured in 2006. The Army National Guard specialist killed himself in 2008.
Soldiers' emotional battle scars put doctors in dilemma
The suicide of an Iraq war veteran in Eastern Washington has highlighted an ethical dilemma confronting the Department of Veterans Affairs and the military: how far to go in protecting patient confidentiality as troubled veterans are called back to front-line duty.
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
Tim Juneman went to a Department of Veterans Affairs psychiatrist in January 2008 to talk about his recurrent thoughts of suicide.
The 25-year-old Washington State University student was an Iraq war veteran who had survived a year of tough fighting that left him with a twin diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury.
His biggest worry, according to notes taken by the VA psychiatrist, was a looming call back to active duty by the Washington National Guard. The order would have sent the specialist back to Iraq.
A VA psychiatrist hospitalized Juneman but never notified the National Guard unit of his patient's distress over redeployment. Juneman was released that month, then missed follow-up appointments.
In early March 2008, Juneman hanged himself in his Pullman apartment. His body was discovered some 20 days later, The Spokesman-Review newspaper reported.
His death underscores an unsettling new reality for VA health-care providers. Unlike in decades past, they now often treat veterans headed back to war. And this can pose an ethical challenge for VA doctors if they think PTSD, traumatic brain injury or other unhealed wounds could put a patient or others at greater risk on the front line.
Jacqueline Hergert, Juneman's mother, says the VA should have contacted the National Guard about her son's plight.
"In Tim's case," Hergert said, "he had already been placed under suicide watch, and somebody should have told his unit. Perhaps doing that would have saved my son. What he really needed was for the VA to be an advocate for him."
read more here
Soldiers emotional battle scars put doctors in dilemma
Mom, son, dog found dead in New Port Richey in apparent murder-suicide
Mom, son, dog found dead in New Port Richey in apparent murder-suicide
By Joel Anderson, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Monday, July 20, 2009
NEW PORT RICHEY — After Richard Owen, his elderly mother and their pet chihuahua didn't venture outside their home for several days, one of their neighbors placed a call to the authorities.
People were getting worried.
"We got called out on a welfare check," said Kevin Doll, a spokesman for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. "The neighbors hadn't seen them in a few days and they started to smell decay."
When deputies arrived at the home at 4455 Grandwood Lane Saturday night, the neighbors' worst fears were confirmed: Owen and his 87-year-old mother, Joan Owen, were both dead inside, apparently of a murder-suicide.
Preliminary information indicates Richard Owen, 62, killed his mother and the dog, and then fatally shot himself. An autopsy will determine the exact cause of death for Joan Owen.
read more here
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article1019803.ece
By Joel Anderson, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Monday, July 20, 2009
NEW PORT RICHEY — After Richard Owen, his elderly mother and their pet chihuahua didn't venture outside their home for several days, one of their neighbors placed a call to the authorities.
People were getting worried.
"We got called out on a welfare check," said Kevin Doll, a spokesman for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. "The neighbors hadn't seen them in a few days and they started to smell decay."
When deputies arrived at the home at 4455 Grandwood Lane Saturday night, the neighbors' worst fears were confirmed: Owen and his 87-year-old mother, Joan Owen, were both dead inside, apparently of a murder-suicide.
Preliminary information indicates Richard Owen, 62, killed his mother and the dog, and then fatally shot himself. An autopsy will determine the exact cause of death for Joan Owen.
read more here
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article1019803.ece
After decades apart, woman finds mom -- homeless in Orlando
After decades apart, woman finds mom -- homeless in Orlando
Jessica Wisnoski and Lani Burgos are reunited after Wisnoski spent $20,000 and decades searching for the mother she hadn't seen since she was a toddler.
Susan Jacobson
Sentinel Staff Writer
July 20, 2009
For nearly four decades, all Jessica Wisnoski had to remember her mother was a tattered photo of 2-year-old Wisnoski sitting in her mom's lap.
The yearning to know her mother never left Wisnoski, 38, who lives near Houston. She and her husband, Bryan, spent $20,000 and 17 years searching for Lani Burgos, 58, who left her only child with Burgos' father and stepmother while she tried to kick a drug habit.
On Saturday night, Wisnoski finally found her mom — homeless and living in Orlando.
After years of dashed hopes and false leads, the Wisnoskis, with the help of a private investigator, tracked Burgos to a Salvation Army shelter in Ocala and, from there, to Central Florida.
During the weekend, they drove to Orlando, where they planned to hand out fliers offering a reward for helping them find Burgos. On the way to the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, they stumbled on police Officer Jonathan Adkins. He offered to drive them.
read more here
After decades apart, woman finds mom -- homeless in Orlando
Jessica Wisnoski and Lani Burgos are reunited after Wisnoski spent $20,000 and decades searching for the mother she hadn't seen since she was a toddler.
Susan Jacobson
Sentinel Staff Writer
July 20, 2009
For nearly four decades, all Jessica Wisnoski had to remember her mother was a tattered photo of 2-year-old Wisnoski sitting in her mom's lap.
The yearning to know her mother never left Wisnoski, 38, who lives near Houston. She and her husband, Bryan, spent $20,000 and 17 years searching for Lani Burgos, 58, who left her only child with Burgos' father and stepmother while she tried to kick a drug habit.
On Saturday night, Wisnoski finally found her mom — homeless and living in Orlando.
After years of dashed hopes and false leads, the Wisnoskis, with the help of a private investigator, tracked Burgos to a Salvation Army shelter in Ocala and, from there, to Central Florida.
During the weekend, they drove to Orlando, where they planned to hand out fliers offering a reward for helping them find Burgos. On the way to the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, they stumbled on police Officer Jonathan Adkins. He offered to drive them.
read more here
After decades apart, woman finds mom -- homeless in Orlando
13-year-old gunned down in Daytona Beach
13-year-old gunned down in Daytona Beach
Walter Pacheco
Sentinel Staff Writer
6:20 AM EDT, July 20, 2009
A 13-year-old boy died in Daytona Beach this morning after a man shot him in the face through a sliding glass door.
The suspect also fired the gun at the boy's father, grazing him on the arm.
The boy, identified by police as Lloyd Robinson Jr., died at the scene. Rescue crews transported his father, Lloyd Robinson, to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. His injury is non-life-threatening, police said.
read more here
13-year-old gunned down in Daytona Beach
Walter Pacheco
Sentinel Staff Writer
6:20 AM EDT, July 20, 2009
A 13-year-old boy died in Daytona Beach this morning after a man shot him in the face through a sliding glass door.
The suspect also fired the gun at the boy's father, grazing him on the arm.
The boy, identified by police as Lloyd Robinson Jr., died at the scene. Rescue crews transported his father, Lloyd Robinson, to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. His injury is non-life-threatening, police said.
read more here
13-year-old gunned down in Daytona Beach
Vermont National Guardsman job denied due to Afghan duty
How is this right? It isn't but it's what members of the National Guards face all over the country. It is especially hard for them in this kind of economy. The regular military, well, they don't have to worry about their jobs while they deploy because they are doing their jobs, but for Guardsmen and Reservists, they have to depend on civilian jobs to take care of their families. Does anyone realize what we are putting these men and women through? You would think that Congress would smarten up and pass some kind of help for them when we keep sending them back to Iraq and Afghanistan leaving them to suffer financially for it.
Prison guard: Job denied due to Afghan duty
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jul 20, 2009 9:16:01 EDT
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Several temporary correctional officers at the state prison in Springfield say they were denied permanent jobs because of their pending deployment to Afghanistan with the Vermont National Guard.
At least one of the officers is planning to file a complaint against the Vermont Department of Corrections in federal court.
Tim Nolan of Chittenden tells Vermont Public Radio he was hired as a temporary correctional officer last October with the understanding that if he performed well he could become permanent when a spot became available.
Nolan says his new career was on track until he notified officials about his pending deployment.
Corrections officials say they're looking into the situation.
Miramar Marine accused of attack on estranged wife, family
It is also reported Baskin did two tours of duty.
Miramar Marine accused of attack on estranged wife, family
7:46 a.m. July 17, 2009
San Diego Union Tribune - San Diego,CA,USA
A Miramar-based Marine was in custody in Fresno County today on suspicion of attacking his estranged wife and her family in Reedley, it was reported.
Dejon Baskin, 26, stole a car from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar late Wednesday night and drove more than 300 miles to his estranged wife's family's home in Reedley around 8 a.m. Thursday, Reedley Police Chief Steve Wright told KFSN-TV, an ABC affiliate news station.
Once there, Baskin slashed 24-year-old Rachel Baskin's throat and shot her 22-year-old brother in the head and stabbed the siblings' mother in the neck, according to Wright.
read more here
Miramar Marine accused of attack on estranged wife, family
Vietnam Veterans Day to be established in Wisconsin
Vietnam Veterans Day to be established in Wisconsin
Posted: Jul 19, 2009 9:57 PM EDT
Chippewa Falls (WQOW) - A group of veterans are getting a long overdue "thank you" for their service to the country.
Monday, July 20, Gov. Doyle will sign a bill that establishes March 29 as Vietnam Veteran's Day here in Wisconsin. Sen. Kathleen Vinehout and a Chippewa Falls woman, whose father is a Vietnam veteran, worked on creating the legislation. She, along with several area veterans are traveling to Madison to be part of the historical signing.
"He [Gov. Doyle] understands the Vietnam Veteran's War, not only with the war, but within a lot of soldiers that came back," says David Backstrom, Vietnam veteran.
Watching the signing first hand will be Thuy Smith; the driving force behind the bill. Her father served in Vietnam. Now she's made it her mission to help Vietnam veterans heal their wounds.
"Whether you agree with the war or not, it's not political, it's about these guys. The least any of them did was their duty and for that they should be proud and we should be proud of them," says Thuy Smith, bill advocate.
Traveling to Madison with Smith is David Backstrom, George Adrian and Al Weix; three of the ten Vietnam veterans invited to share in the history.
read more here
Vietnam Veterans Day to be established in Wisconsin
Posted: Jul 19, 2009 9:57 PM EDT
Chippewa Falls (WQOW) - A group of veterans are getting a long overdue "thank you" for their service to the country.
Monday, July 20, Gov. Doyle will sign a bill that establishes March 29 as Vietnam Veteran's Day here in Wisconsin. Sen. Kathleen Vinehout and a Chippewa Falls woman, whose father is a Vietnam veteran, worked on creating the legislation. She, along with several area veterans are traveling to Madison to be part of the historical signing.
"He [Gov. Doyle] understands the Vietnam Veteran's War, not only with the war, but within a lot of soldiers that came back," says David Backstrom, Vietnam veteran.
Watching the signing first hand will be Thuy Smith; the driving force behind the bill. Her father served in Vietnam. Now she's made it her mission to help Vietnam veterans heal their wounds.
"Whether you agree with the war or not, it's not political, it's about these guys. The least any of them did was their duty and for that they should be proud and we should be proud of them," says Thuy Smith, bill advocate.
Traveling to Madison with Smith is David Backstrom, George Adrian and Al Weix; three of the ten Vietnam veterans invited to share in the history.
read more here
Vietnam Veterans Day to be established in Wisconsin
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Veterans Honored With Special Ceremony In Tulsa
Veterans Honored With Special Ceremony In Tulsa
News On 6 - Tulsa,OK,USA
By Dan Bewley, The News On 6
TULSA, OK -- Veterans received a welcome home 34 years in the making.
Veterans of the Vietnam War were honored by one of their own. It was part of a special ceremony to thank all veterans.
There was a musical tribute from the heart of a Vietnam veteran. Leo Perez served for the U.S. Army in 1970.
"We drove truck and delivered ammo and we did our part," said Leo Perez, a Vietnam War veteran.
Saturday night, Perez was part of a special tribute for all military veterans as part of Welcome Home Day.
"This is to celebrate our veterans," said Adam Walmus, VA Medical Center Director.
click link for more
News On 6 - Tulsa,OK,USA
By Dan Bewley, The News On 6
TULSA, OK -- Veterans received a welcome home 34 years in the making.
Veterans of the Vietnam War were honored by one of their own. It was part of a special ceremony to thank all veterans.
There was a musical tribute from the heart of a Vietnam veteran. Leo Perez served for the U.S. Army in 1970.
"We drove truck and delivered ammo and we did our part," said Leo Perez, a Vietnam War veteran.
Saturday night, Perez was part of a special tribute for all military veterans as part of Welcome Home Day.
"This is to celebrate our veterans," said Adam Walmus, VA Medical Center Director.
click link for more
Man loses two fingers saving his dog in gator attack
Man loses two fingers saving his dog in gator attack
By Jerome Burdi
Sun Sentinel
8:53 PM EDT, July 18, 2009
PALM BEACH COUNTY - David Grounds was walking his 7-year-old dog by the pond behind his home west of West Palm Beach on Saturday morning when he saw the wake of a 7-foot alligator approaching.
He screamed for Mandy, a wheaten terrier, to get away but it was too late: the gator clamped down on Mandy's midsection and the squealing dog was helpless as the alligator started thrashing. Grounds, 65, rushed over and grabbed the gator's mouth with his hands while poking it in its eye with his thumb.
"He was powerful," Grounds said from his Palms West Hospital bed Saturday night.
The gator released its grip and Mandy was saved. But then the gator snapped at Grounds, taking part of his right index and ring fingers.
click link for more
By Jerome Burdi
Sun Sentinel
8:53 PM EDT, July 18, 2009
PALM BEACH COUNTY - David Grounds was walking his 7-year-old dog by the pond behind his home west of West Palm Beach on Saturday morning when he saw the wake of a 7-foot alligator approaching.
He screamed for Mandy, a wheaten terrier, to get away but it was too late: the gator clamped down on Mandy's midsection and the squealing dog was helpless as the alligator started thrashing. Grounds, 65, rushed over and grabbed the gator's mouth with his hands while poking it in its eye with his thumb.
"He was powerful," Grounds said from his Palms West Hospital bed Saturday night.
The gator released its grip and Mandy was saved. But then the gator snapped at Grounds, taking part of his right index and ring fingers.
click link for more
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