SENATOR BOXER INTRODUCES AMENDMENTS TO HELP MILITARY FAMILIES
Printer-friendly version July 21, 2009 (Washington D.C.) –Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has introduced amendments to the defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2010 that would ease the burden on military families. Boxer’s proposal would allow families with both parents on active duty an option to stagger overseas combat deployments, reimburse military families for travel over 50 miles to receive medical care, and providing flexible spending accounts for service members to receive tax breaks on medical expenses and childcare. “As Americans, we are so lucky to live in a free country, defended by the brave men and women of our armed forces,” Boxer wrote in an e-mail urging public support for her measure. “We owe them our gratitude, respect, and support for sacrificing so much for us.” Specifically, the Boxer amendments will: • Give families with two parents on active duty the option to stagger their overseas combat deployments — so one parent can stay home as the primary caregiver for their children. In addition, after one parent returns, provide a 90-day re-integration period before the other parent is deployed. This amendment is supported by the National Military Family Association. • Reimburse military families who have to travel more than 50 miles from home in order to receive medical care — down from the current 100-mile requirement. This amendment is supported by the Military Coalition. • Provide flexible spending accounts for all uniformed service personnel — so military families receive tax breaks for spending on medical expenses and child care. This amendment is supported by the VFW, National Military Family Association, Military Officers Association of America, and other organizations The amendments are being considered during this week’s Senate debate on the defense authorization bill. “I need to show my colleagues the strong grassroots support behind these military families amendments – and your help can make the difference,” said Boxer, who has asked members of the public to endorse these measures by clicking this link: http://ga6.org/campaign/supportmilitaryfamilies?qp_source=votevetsmilfam Printer-friendly version
EL CAJON POLICE SEEK MAN WHO ROBBED WELLS FARGO BANK; SUSPECT WORE BLUE SHIRT WITH RED SPIDER
Printer-friendly version July 21, 2009 (El Cajon) – Police are seeking a bank robber who held up the Wells Fargo Bank at the intersection of Chase and Avocado at 10:42 this morning. The suspect is described as a white male, 5 feet 7 inches, with a thin build and dark hair. He wore a blue T-shirt with a red spider on the center, beige shorts, sandals and dark glasses, according to El Cajon Police. The suspect fled on foot. An ASTREA helicopter was called in to assist the El Cajon Police Department in searching the area, but the suspect was not apprehended. If you have information on this crime, please call (619) 579-3311. Printer-friendly version
APPLICATIONS STILL OPEN FOR CAMP ERIN
Printer-friendly version Free weekend camp Sept. 25–27 in Julian helps kids who suffered death of a loved one July 21, 2009 (San Diego) – Camp Erin San Diego, a free weekend camp open to kids ages 6-17 who have recently experienced the death of a loved one, has a limited number of openings available for the program September 25 – 27, 2009. Hosted by The Center for Grief Care and Education at San Diego Hospice, Camp Erin will be held at Camp Marston in Julian. The program provides traditional outdoor activities and camp fun with grief education and emotional support for kids who have experienced the death of a loved one. For more information, e-mail camperin@sdhospice.org, call (619) 278-6480, or visit www.sdhospice.org and click on the “Camp Erin” button on the home page to download an application form. Camp Erin was created by The Moyer Foundation, established by Jamie Moyer, World Series pitcher, and his wife Karen. There are currently 29 camps located in 18 states helping children learn to grieve and heal. The camps are supported by more than 100 national advocates including MLB players and coaches, sports announcers and entertainment celebrities throughout the United States. Camp Erin San Diego is supported by The Moyer Foundation, Qualcomm, The Padres Foundation, and the Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation. San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine is one of the 10 largest community-owned, not-for-profit hospices in the country, bringing compassionate, expert medical care to more than 1,000 seriously ill adults and children each day throughout San Diego. Printer-friendly version
THUNDERSTORMS FORECAST TONIGHT COUNTYWIDE, FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS SOUTHEAST OF MT. LAGUNA
Printer-friendly version July 20, 2009 (San Diego’s East County) – The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm and flash flood warning for most of San Diego County including inland valleys, mountains, deserts and coastal areas. Orange, Riverside and San Bernadino Counties are also affected. Isolated thunderstorms and hail are forecast in the deserts for tonightl, followed by locally heavy rain and runoff that could product flash flooding southeast of Mount Laguna. Tuesday through Sunday, the forecast is for continued hot weather. Residents are urged to stay hydrated to avoid heat exhaustion and avoid strenuous outdoor activity during the warmest part of the day. A slight chance of thunderstorms will continue Thursday through Sunday, primarily in the mountains and deserts. Weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather conditions observed. Printer-friendly version
NEWSOM, FILNER ANNOUNCE INITIATIVES TO HELP HOMELESS VETERANS
Printer-friendly version HALF OF ALL HOMELESS IN SAN DIEGO ARE VETS By Miriam Raftery Photos by Joel Ryerson and Leon Thompson July 18, 2009 (San Diego)—“No mayor in America has done more for homeless veterans than Gavin Newsom,” Congressman Bob Filner (D-Chula Vista), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, told veterans and media during a press conference yesterday at Stand Down, a three-day event at San Diego High School to help homeless veterans. Filner announced that he has met with the new head of the Veterans Administration and that both agree there should be “zero tolerance for homeless veterans on the streets of America.” The problem is particularly acute in San Diego, where 50% of all homeless people are veterans. A quarter of those are vets who served in Iraq (including Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom), while 70% are Viet Nam veterans. Two-thirds are diagnosed with both treatable mental illness and substance abuse problems. One of the most successful programs in the nation is Veterans Village of San Diego, which claims an 80% success rate including treatment, one year employment, and no reversions–double the rate of any other program nationwide. Stand Down, hosted by V.V.S.D., brings together a wide range of services in one location to help veterans with shelter, food, clothing, medical and dental care, showers, legal assistance, mental health and substance abuse counseling, spirtiual services, job placement and help with VA benefits. Filner laid out a three-point plan to assist homeless vets. First, he aims to double the $34 a day payment which the federal government provides to veterans in shelters. Second, the Veterans Affairs department should do more aggressive outreach to the veterans who are homeless. “We do it in San Diego. We should do it everywhere,” Filner said. “They’ve earned those benefits.” Third, he announced an upcoming survey of V.A. land to locate places for housing on federal lands near V.A. medical facilities. Newsom (photo, left), a Democratic candidate for Governor, said he is passionate about ending homelessness among veterans, adding, “It’s what brought me into politics.” Newsom, who co-chairs the U.S. Conference of Mayors task force on hunger and homeless, added, “Mark my words, we know how to solve homeless. Housing ends homelessness. Shelters solve where to sleep.” Veterans also need help with substance abuse, traumatic brain injuries and other barriers to help them adapt to civilian life. In addition, Newsom urged, veterans “need the support of Americans.” Project Homeless Connect, a San Francisco-based organization, now has 26,000 volunteers who are not waiting for government to solve problems, observed the Mayor. He also praised Filner’s efforts. “Congressman, what you have done in the last three months is truly more than the last Veterans Affairs Committee Chair has done in the past eight years,” said Newsom. Mary Salas (D-San Diego), has served as chair of the California Assembly Veterans Affairs committee for the past three years. “We’ve looked up and down the state for models that work, models that we can replicate,” she said, adding that San Diego and San Francisco are leaders in helping homeless veterans. “It’s all about cooperation on the state, federal and local levels.” Salas announced enabling legislation for affordable rental housing for veterans as well as training to help them transition out of the military, including addressing mental health needs. “We know that on any given night, across America 25% of the homeless are veterans. This is unacceptable,” Salas declared. Stand Down began in San Diego back in 1988, the brainchild of two homeless veterans. Today, some 300 stand-downs are held across the nation each year to help the nation’s estimated 200,000 homeless veterans through community-based intervention programs. Republican Brian Maienschein, a former San Diego Councilman, now heads a commission to end chronic homelessness for the United Way. “If every politican cared about homeless veterans, we would never have a homeless veterans problem in America,” he said. “Permanent housing is the way to solve the problem.” In San Diego County, the goal should be to create 1,600 permanent housing units for veterans, he said. Sergeant Major Bill Paxton urged volunteers to “Go to the hospital. Talk to some of those wounded veterans…Show them your appreciation; all they ask for is a thank you.” Sunny Farrand (photo, right, with Salas), founder of Heroes to Hometown in San Diego, spoke movingly of his own experiences on the streets downtown. “In 1995, I came here and was a homeless vet,” he said. “I hung out with two others. I walked from here to El Cajon for help from an interfaith council.” Yet Farrand said he was more fortunate than most, because he had a job. “I was a cook,” he recalled, adding that he also had to overcome alcoholism. Since then, he’s succeeded in aiding other homeless vets—including some in desperate need. “I helped a woman who was going to have her leg amputated. Now she runs two and a half miles a day,” he said. One problem fueling homelessness is that 52% of Reservists are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Before being deployed, many had businesses and savings. “Now they come home and they have no business, no money in the bank,” Farrand observed, adding that many have asked him why he doesn’t quit working to help others now that he’s successful. “I will quit when this war is over and there’s not another homeless veteran on the street,” he concluded. Farrand said he’s located a 75-acre site where he hopes to have job training, counseling and housing. Another project, the Garden Fund, seeks to match up an individual with land for housing with a source that can provide funds. Among the homeless veterans seeking help at this year’s Stand Down was Jackie Casiano, a veteran of conflicts in Granada and Desert Storm who also served 13 years at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. “I married a submarine sailor and followed him around the world,” said Casiano, an Army veteran who is now divorced, homeless and unemployed.
20 GRADUATE FROM CHAMBER LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
Printer-friendly version July 20, 2009 (El Cajon) – San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce recently graduated 20 students from its Leadership program. The intensive nine-month program features a full day each month of seminars. “We cover all facets of the community,” Drum Macomber told East County Magazine during last month’s final project presentations at Grossmont College, followed by an evening graduation ceremony at the Viejas Dreamcatcher Lounge. “Today is the culimination of the project. They break into groups and each gives their presentation.” (photo, left: Division Chief Rick Sitta, El Cajon Fire, Alice Howard, alumni and luncheon sponsor, and Drum Macomber, Leadership Program organizer) Students offered presentations on a variety of topics ranging from nutrition to health and safety. “The first one today was on the food bank. They distributed information on where to go for food,” said Macomber. “The Fire Department gave one on the Vial of Life program. You put all your health information on the refrigerator, including all your medications and allergies, so if there’s an emergency, any emergency personnel will look there first.” A justice group presented information on a mural painted over graffiti. “If you put a mural up, it deters graffiti. That was done with St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center,” noted Macomber, who has run the project for the past eight years. Of 400 graduates from the Leadership program in the past 15 years, 11 have gone on to be Citizens of the Year, voted on by 18 civic and community organizations. Many have assumed other leadership roles in the community, such as Roz Oserin (photo, right), now serving as head of the Ambassadors committee for the Chamber. Chief Rick Sitta from the El Cajon Fire Department is a graduate of the program. “It’s really an optimal program,” he said. “It opens your eyes to what really happens in local government. We have representatives of all kind of organizations, and the networking opportunities are outstanding.” Printer-friendly version