Gunfire wounds 3 at grocery in Pierce County
A 20-year-old woman armed with a revolver opened fire in a grocery store on Pierce County's Key Peninsula on Saturday afternoon, wounding three men. In the shooting's aftermath, a husband and wife provided crucial help — the wife sitting on the shooter while the husband tended to a man who had been shot.
By Ken Armstrong and Sandi Doughton
Seattle Times staff reporters
A 20-year-old woman armed with a revolver opened fire in a grocery store on Pierce County's Key Peninsula on Saturday afternoon, wounding three men. In the aftermath, a husband and wife provided crucial help — the wife sitting on the shooter while the husband tended to a man who had been shot.
The shooter was still inside the store when Pierce County sheriff's deputies arrived and took her into custody.
The woman has a history of mental illness and apparently didn't know any of the victims, Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. "All she told us was that she didn't like the people she shot," he said. "But we have no way of tying her to any of them."
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Sunday, August 12, 2012
$1.7 Million Grant Will Allow Hartford To Retain 12 Police Officers
$1.7 Million Grant Will Allow Hartford To Retain 12 Police Officers
By JESSE RIFKIN
The Hartford Courant
August 10, 2012
HARTFORD
Thanks to a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Hartford will be able to retain 12 police officers about to complete training at the state police academy.
Celebrating the grant at a press conference Thursday were U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. John Larson, Mayor Pedro E. Segarra, Acting Police Chief James Rovella, and city council President Shawn Wooden.
Blumenthal highlighted the employment value in addition to the policing value.
By JESSE RIFKIN
The Hartford Courant
August 10, 2012
HARTFORD
Thanks to a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Hartford will be able to retain 12 police officers about to complete training at the state police academy.
Celebrating the grant at a press conference Thursday were U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. John Larson, Mayor Pedro E. Segarra, Acting Police Chief James Rovella, and city council President Shawn Wooden.
Blumenthal highlighted the employment value in addition to the policing value.
Connecticut statewide received $4.7 million. The other police departments were Waterbury with $1.75 million for 14 new military veteran hires, New Haven with $750,000 for six new military veteran hires, and Norwich with $500,000 for four military veteran hires.
(Hartford's money was targeted for rehires scheduled for layoffs, not new hires.)
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DOD:86 percent of sexual assaults go unreported
Military sexual assault is focus of YouTube series
By JULIE WATSON
The Associated Press
Published: August 12, 2012
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The enormous obstacles and emotional torment that a female solider confronts in reporting a sexual assault in the military is the focus of the three-part Web series "Lauren" debuting Monday on YouTube's new channel WIGS, which focuses on drama for women.
Featuring "Flashdance" star Jennifer Beals and Troian Bellisario, "Lauren" gives a close-up look at the challenges women service members face in trying to find justice after being raped. It's a problem that military leaders have focused unprecedented attention on this year.
The Defense Department has estimated that 86 percent of sexual assaults go unreported, an indication that some women are worried about the effect reporting an assault may have on their career and that they mistrust the military prosecution system. Nearly 3,200 sexual assaults were reported in the military last year.
Military leaders say sexual assault is not only dehumanizing to the victims but threatens operational readiness. The Pentagon has set up hotlines and has been trying to encourage service members to help victims. High-ranking Navy leaders have likened their campaign to the crusade years ago to stop rampant drug abuse, although activists say sweeping institutional changes are needed for victims to find justice.
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By JULIE WATSON
The Associated Press
Published: August 12, 2012
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The enormous obstacles and emotional torment that a female solider confronts in reporting a sexual assault in the military is the focus of the three-part Web series "Lauren" debuting Monday on YouTube's new channel WIGS, which focuses on drama for women.
Featuring "Flashdance" star Jennifer Beals and Troian Bellisario, "Lauren" gives a close-up look at the challenges women service members face in trying to find justice after being raped. It's a problem that military leaders have focused unprecedented attention on this year.
The Defense Department has estimated that 86 percent of sexual assaults go unreported, an indication that some women are worried about the effect reporting an assault may have on their career and that they mistrust the military prosecution system. Nearly 3,200 sexual assaults were reported in the military last year.
Military leaders say sexual assault is not only dehumanizing to the victims but threatens operational readiness. The Pentagon has set up hotlines and has been trying to encourage service members to help victims. High-ranking Navy leaders have likened their campaign to the crusade years ago to stop rampant drug abuse, although activists say sweeping institutional changes are needed for victims to find justice.
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No one is giving up on finding Pfc. Kelli Bordeaux
Volunteers resume search for missing soldier
The Associated Press
Army Times
Posted : Saturday Aug 11, 2012
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Volunteers are again planning to search for a missing Fort Bragg soldier.
The Fayetteville Observer reports that the volunteers are scheduled to gather Saturday to look for Pfc. Kelli Bordeaux.
The 23-year-old was last seen April 14 at a bar where she had gone the night before to sing karaoke.
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The Associated Press
Army Times
Posted : Saturday Aug 11, 2012
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Volunteers are again planning to search for a missing Fort Bragg soldier.
The Fayetteville Observer reports that the volunteers are scheduled to gather Saturday to look for Pfc. Kelli Bordeaux.
The 23-year-old was last seen April 14 at a bar where she had gone the night before to sing karaoke.
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Troubled veterans left without health-care benefits
Troubled veterans left without health-care benefits
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
August 11, 2012
A few weeks after Jarrid Starks ended his Army service in May, he went to an office in Albany, Ore., to enroll for veterans health-care benefits.
Starks brought medical records that detailed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a twisted vertebra and a possible brain injury from concussions. Other records documented his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where his bravery fighting the Taliban was recognized with a Bronze Star for Valor.
None of that was enough to qualify him for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
That's because Starks left the military this year with an other-than-honorable discharge — his final year of service scarred by pot smoking and taking absences without leave (AWOL).
He was told to fill out a form, then wait — possibly a year or more — while officials review his military record to determine whether he is eligible for health care.
"I was absolutely livid," Starks, 26, recalls. "This just isn't right."
Starks is among the more than 20,000 men and women who exited the Army and Marines during the past four years with other-than-honorable discharges that hamstring their access to VA health care and may strip them of disability benefits.
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This was news on this blog back in 2007.
More than 20,000 men and women exited the Army and Marines during the past four years with other-than-honorable discharges that can restrict their veterans health-care and disability benefits. Critics says those rules leave some troubled combat veterans struggling to find treatment and support.
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
August 11, 2012
A few weeks after Jarrid Starks ended his Army service in May, he went to an office in Albany, Ore., to enroll for veterans health-care benefits.
Starks brought medical records that detailed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a twisted vertebra and a possible brain injury from concussions. Other records documented his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where his bravery fighting the Taliban was recognized with a Bronze Star for Valor.
None of that was enough to qualify him for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
That's because Starks left the military this year with an other-than-honorable discharge — his final year of service scarred by pot smoking and taking absences without leave (AWOL).
He was told to fill out a form, then wait — possibly a year or more — while officials review his military record to determine whether he is eligible for health care.
"I was absolutely livid," Starks, 26, recalls. "This just isn't right."
Starks is among the more than 20,000 men and women who exited the Army and Marines during the past four years with other-than-honorable discharges that hamstring their access to VA health care and may strip them of disability benefits.
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This was news on this blog back in 2007.
10 discharges a day for "personality disorder"
Many soldiers get boot for 'pre-existing' mental illness
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
September 29, 2007
By Philip Dine
WASHINGTON -- Thousands of U.S. soldiers in Iraq - as many as 10 a day - are being discharged by the military for mental health reasons. But the Pentagon isn't blaming the war. It says the soldiers had "pre-existing" conditions that disqualify them for treatment by the government.
Many soldiers and Marines being discharged on this basis actually suffer from combat-related problems, experts say. But by classifying them as having a condition unrelated to the war, the Defense Department is able to quickly get rid of troops having trouble doing their work while also saving the expense of caring for them.
The result appears to be that many actually suffering from combat-related problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries don't get the help they need.
Working behind the scenes, Sens. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., have written and inserted into the defense authorization bill a provision that would make it harder for the Pentagon to discharge thousands of troops. The Post-Dispatch has learned that the measure has been accepted into the Senate defense bill and will probably become part of the Senate-House bill to be voted on this week.
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