Transitionnews for Wednesday, January 8th 2014:

Good news story of the day

Thomas Bonadio donates $25,000 to Warrior Salute program  (Webster Post)  Thomas Bonadio, CEO and managing partner of The Bonadio Group, presented a  $25,000 check Wednesday to CDS Monarch in Webster.

Transition

Open Job Doors By Recognizing Veterans’ Training  (The Courant)  It should be a point of national shame that the unemployment rate for military veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq (or both) since Sept. 11, 2001 — known as “Gulf War II veterans” — is well above the national average. It’s nearly 10 percent for veterans vs. 7 percent for the population as a whole.

Jail Offers New Veterans Program  (SurfKy.com)  The Supported Services for Veterans and Families through the Pennyroyal Mental Health Center of Hopkinsville has brought its new program to the Hopkins County Jail for veterans and their families, who are suffering from difficult times.

How the tech industry is working to combat veteran unemployment  (Fox News)  Our nation’s veterans are struggling to find jobs – especially young veterans. As of November 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 9.9 percent of veterans of post-9/11 wars were out of work.

Red Cross job fair aims at connecting Coast veterans to possibilities  (The Sun Herald)  The transition from military life to civilian life can often be a difficult one.

Veterans

Shelter from Arctic Blast Offered to Veterans  (WHSV.com)  The Martinsburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) has taken action to prepare for the anticipated record breaking cold weather. The acting medical center director, Timothy J. Cooke, has activated “Operation Veteran’s Respite.”

Veteran designation now available on Montana driver’s licenses  (Great Falls Tribune)  Veterans can now add a “veteran” designation to the front of their driver’s licenses or identification cards.

Discarded veterans: ‘A nation who forgets it defenders will itself be forgotten’  (Examiner.com)  Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, once said: “A nation that forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten.” It would appear that our current leaders are going against Coolidge’s advice as many veterans every night sleep on the streets of the nation they defended.

Veterans Affairs

Congress demands answers after CNN report on VA deaths  (CNN)  Members of Congress traveled to two Veterans Administration hospitals featured in a CNN report to visit the facilities and demand answers about why U.S. veterans needlessly died there.

VA doctor says Gulf War vets not getting effective treatments  (USA Today)  As Department of Veterans Affairs physician Nancy Klimas told an agency panel Tuesday the many successful ways her clinic has been treating Gulf War illness, veterans responded with a combination of hope and anger.

VA Commits To Support Classes For Nearly 1,000 Tennessee Veterans  (The Chattanoogan)  U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and U.S. Reps. Diane Black and Phil Roe Tuesday announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had reversed its previous decision not to fund innovative learning support classes for Tennessee veterans pursuing further education under the G.I. Bill.

Still Serving Veterans hires Vietnam-era vet with 40-year history of helping veterans  (AL.com)  For Linda Blankenship, last September marked her 40th year of helping veterans.

Veterans affairs exec lands top cybersecurity post at Accelera Solutions  (ZD.net)  Accelera Solutions, the Fairfax, Va.-based cloud and virtualization company, has named Don Sheehan as its new vice president of cybersecurity solutions.

$1.1 Million VA Grant Helping Struggling Vets  (Military.com)  A $1.1 million grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs is expanding Charlotte’s safety net for struggling veterans to include those in danger of losing their homes.

Duck Dynasty products under fire at VA medical center  (ABQJournal.com)  A Vietnam veteran has taken aim at Duck Dynasty products on sale at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center store in Albuquerque, and it looks like all the items in his cross hairs will be removed from the canteen’s shelves.

Benefits

Veterans groups worry retirement cut is just the first step  (Stars and Stripes)  With Congress back this week, veterans groups are vowing to resume their fight against trims to military retirement benefits.

Denver VA to host benefits meetings in rural Colorado  (The Gazette)  The Denver VA Regional Office will host a series of town-hall meetings in rural Colorado cities and towns to inform veterans and family members about benefits, the office announced Tuesday.

Pensions continue to grow for military brass  (USA Today)  Top military brass will keep their specially boosted pensions despite the December budget deal that trimmed pension rates for other military retirees, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.

Revisiting Issa’s plan to replace military-pension cuts with postal savings  (The Washington Post)  At least five lawmakers have proposed legislation to repeal a controversial pension cut for working-age military retirees included in the budget deal that President Obama signed last month.

Reid: Cut to military pensions could be addressed in omnibus  (The Hill)  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday hinted that some cuts to military retiree pensions could be reversed in the omnibus bill funding the government.

Congress moves to restore full COLA for medical retirees  (Military Times) A repeal of the reductions to future military retirement increases may come as soon as this week for service members forcibly retired from the military for medical reasons.

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Have a great day!