Latest news with #VeteranAffairs
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CF veterans homeless shelter to close
CHIPPEWA FALLS — The Veteran Housing and Recovery Program located at Klein Hall in Chippewa Falls will close by Sept. 30, Gov. Tony Evers announced Monday. The two-floor, 30,400-square-foot Klein Hall increased its capacity from 40 homeless Veterans to 48 in 2020. Veterans have generally been allowed to stay in the transitional housing program for two years, with a few exceptions. The program seeks to provide homeless Veterans with the job training, education, counseling and rehabilitative services they need to help them find steady employment, affordable housing and the skills to sustain a productive lifestyle. Evers, a Democrat, sent out a press release announcing the closure of the Veterans campus in Chippewa Falls and another one in Green Bay. In the press release, Evers blamed the Republican-led Legislature for 'failing to approve his full biennial budget request to support Wisconsin's Veterans, which is now causing housing location closures.' Evers continued: 'Republican lawmakers who control the state's budget committee, the Joint Committee on Finance, refused to approve the governor's funding request, which included $1.9 million for the Veteran Housing and Recovery Program (VHRP). 'As the Legislature was deliberating the 2025-27 Biennial Budget, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau noted for Republicans on the Joint Committee on Finance that, without additional funding, the Department [of Veterans Affairs] would not have sufficient resources to maintain the program's three sites,' the press release reads. 'Nevertheless, Republican lawmakers ultimately rejected Gov. Evers' request, instead approving $0 in new funding for the program, which will now cause two of the three VHRP locations to close. VHRP, overseen by the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA), provides housing and supportive services to military Veterans who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to help them obtain permanent housing.' Monday was the last day that applications were reviewed at the Chippewa Falls and Green Bay locations. Applications will continue to be accepted for the Union Grove location, which will remain open, Evers announced. 'We make a promise to our Veterans that when they return home to their civilian life, we will support and serve them just as they have supported and served us,' Evers said in the press release. 'Our Veterans should not have to worry about being able to afford to keep a roof over their heads. Period. I want to personally thank the wonderful folks at Lutheran Social Services who staff these locations for their tireless work on behalf of the Veterans who reside there. The bottom line is that there will now be fewer options for homeless Veterans as a result of the Legislature's irresponsible decision to reject the investments that I proposed. To our Wisconsin Veterans, make no mistake—we will not stop fighting for you. When the Legislature comes back to work this fall, providing more support for our Veterans must be a top priority. I will continue to urge Republican lawmakers to make the investments our Veterans deserve that they should have approved in our state budget.' Veterans currently residing at the Chippewa Falls and Green Bay facilities will be offered alternative placement options and will continue to receive assistance through supportive services. 'We have a duty to support Veterans, especially in their darkest times,' said WDVA Secretary James Bond. 'Even with these closures, we remain committed to assisting Veterans and connecting them to resources. VHRP has been integral in helping Veterans find stability and succeed in their communities, and along with our partners on the ground, we intend to still carry out that mission to the best of our ability.' Klein Hall opened on the campus of the Northern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled in December 2007 in the Oak Grove building, 2820 E. Park Ave., which was officially renamed Klein Hall in honor of Bill Klein, who started the shelters for homeless Veterans. Klein died in 2003. In December 2006, the State Building Commission approved using the empty Oak Grove building for the Veterans campus. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded a $116,000 grant in November 2006 to help the state open the shelter.
Daily Mail
13-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Teacher accused of hosting 'Scream gangbangs' with kids forced to sell home after being dumped by husband
A married Indiana teacher who police say raped young boys while forcing them to wear Scream masks is selling her home after being dumped by her husband, according to court records. Brittany Fortinberry's husband, Nicholas, filed for divorce on February 25 as the 31-year-old educator was charged with more than three dozen felonies related to her alleged sex crimes with at least six students as young as 13. Nicholas has since filed a motion with the court revealing his intention to sell his and Brittany's marital home in Martinsdale. While Brittany sits in jail awaiting trial, Nicholas claimed he can no longer afford it, according to divorce records seen by TMZ. The couple told a judge they've been using monthly benefits from the Department of Veteran Affairs to pay the mortgage but explained that this money is no longer being deposited into their joint account. Nicholas is a veteran and now works as a diesel mechanic and a shop foreman, according to his LinkedIn profile. The home the couple sought to sell is worth an estimated $440,000, according to Zillow. The home, where police found a stripper and sex toys, is also where Brittany allegedly sexually abused numerous children last year, according to FOX59. The second accuser came forward after Brittany was arrested in February. The victim claimed that when he was 13 years old, he was forced to have group sex with the disgraced teacher and two of his other underage friends On June 3, the judge granted the couple's request to sell the home. Records show Brittany was present at this hearing via Zoom. Nicholas has also been accused of having knowledge of Brittany's alleged crimes, with one parent telling police that he 'threatened to slaughter (the teen) in front of her if he came forward.' He has been charged with intimidation and failure to report a crime. The investigation into Brittany began in August 2024, after a teenager's grandmother told police she molested him when he was 15 years old. The grandmother also claimed she sent him nude pictures and gave him drugs. The boy's grandmother further claimed Brittany sent him graphic messages allegedly threatening to kill herself if he told anyone about the abuse. '[The boy] said that it was no different than a 30-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl. [The boy] said it was child molestation and he's there because he doesn't want her to molest more kids,' court documents More alleged victims from Eminence High School came forward, telling police Brittany also sent them explicit messages, pictures and videos. One of the most bizarre claims is that she insisted her alleged victims wear a 'Scream' mask during the sessions, a reference to the Ghostface mask worn by the killer in the movie. This allegation came to light from a boy who came forward after Brittany was arrested in February, according to an affidavit seen by The boy's mother, who was friends with the disgraced teacher, said Brittany showered her son with expensive football gifts and tried to message him repeatedly on Snapchat until she told him to block her on the social media app. When she then heard of the the teacher's arrest, the friend said she asked her son about her interactions with Brittany - and he began to cry as he detailed how she would send him sexually explicit videos of herself and provide him with drugs and what he suspected was alcohol, the document states. The boy explained to detectives that Brittany, 'would always make him food and would buy him anything he wanted' including 'vapes, weed, and THC carts (cartridges)', according to his affidavit. He made claims about several instances where Brittany allegedly plied him and friends with mushroom pills before encouraging them to touch her sexually. 'Brittany would peer pressure them if they didn't want to take the shrooms,' the affidavit reads. 'Brittany would grab their arm she would say, 'just let it happen".' His mom also told cops that her son claimed that, 'Brittany would put the shrooms on a peanut butter sandwich so they couldn't taste them'. In one instance, the boy claimed, Brittany picked him and two friends up and took them to the mall, before calling their parents to ask if they could spend the night. Once there, the then 13-year-old alleged Brittany ordered him and his two friends to have group sex with her, despite the youngsters all being underage. 'Brittany had one condition for them to have the gangbang with her and that was that they had to wear a Scream mask to f**k her,' the affidavit states. Another victim claimed Brittany raped him while her young son was sleeping nearby. 'One of her sons was in the room at the end of the bed on a couch,' the boy told police, according to a probable cause affidavit from Morgan County Sheriff's Office Detective Sergeant Patrick Williams. 'Brittany's son really wanted to stay in the room with them [the boy] said, he laid on the couch with Brittany's son while they watched a show and when her son fell asleep he got in bed with Brittany '[The boy] said that Brittany asked him to have sex with her, that he did have sex with her, and that her son was in the room at the end of the bed the entire time.' She was arrested in February and was initially charged with 29 counts, including child molesting, sexual misconduct with a minor, dissemination of matter harmful to minors and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Prosecutors tacked on a dozen more charges in April, bringing the total to 41 counts. The additional charges include incest, multiple counts of child molestation and conducting a performance that is harmful to minors. She pleaded not guilty and if she is found guilty, she could spend the rest of her life in prison. The ex-teacher has since blamed her actions on her weight loss, saying she regretted losing 150 pounds and would have acted differently if she was still heavier. Still, she was 'immediately suspended' from her role with Eminence schools after the allegations emerged in August last year, and she resigned one day later. 'The welfare and safety of our students is the top priority of the Eminence Community Schools,' the district said. 'As such, the School Corporation has been and will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement and the Morgan County Prosecutor's Office in this matter.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Politico list floats 'Democratic shadow cabinet' of political celebrities to combat Trump
Politico writer Bill Scher floated a list of 21 "heavy hitters" ranging from former Biden government officials to comedians on Tuesday to form a "Democratic shadow cabinet" to take on the Trump administration. Scher sought to look beyond the "presidential wannabes" and highlight "accomplished people with the ability to speak plainly and the credibility to puncture the Trump administration's often Orwellian narratives" for his list. One of his examples included New York Attorney General Letitia James serving as "shadow" U.S. Attorney General after her multiple lawsuits against President Donald Trump before and during his second term. Tim Walz Calls For 'Shadow Government' To Counter Trump Admin; Son Dunks On Former Veep Nominee "Perhaps the most effective Democrats in the country right now are the 22 Democratic state attorneys general tying up Trump's executive orders in the courts. But only one can say she won a civil fraud case against the Trump family business with a $450 million judgement, and that's New York's Letitia James," he wrote. Scher looked beyond politicians and former cabinet members for more unorthodox suggestions, such as comedian Jon Stewart for Secretary of Veteran Affairs and former Golden Globes host Nikki Glaser as Administrator of the Small Business Administration. Read On The Fox News App "OK, hear me out on this one. What is a comedian but a small business entrepreneur and traveling content salesperson?" Scher wrote. "Of course, Nikki Glaser's value to a Democratic shadow Cabinet is not her deep knowledge of how government regulations impact small businesses. It's that she has become America's Roaster-in-Chief, who can fearlessly pick apart the biggest celebrities from Tom Brady to Alec Baldwin." He also suggested Bill Nye to lead the Enviromental Protection Agency and for billionaire Mark Cuban to be the Secretary of Commerce. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture Scher listed more conventional Democratic figures such as Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs as Secretary of Education and Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger as CIA Director. However, he also suggested Gisele Fetterman, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman's wife, as Secretary of Homeland Security based on her experience as an undocumented migrant. "As Trump continues on his aggressive deportation campaign, few in America can better personify and articulate what we lose when we vilify people who loved America enough to choose to live here," Scher wrote. Scher cited Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin's call for a shadow cabinet as part of her address to reform the Democratic Party. Rep. Wiley Nickels, D-N.C., also proposed a shadow cabinet in a Washington Post op-ed after Trump's election in article source: Politico list floats 'Democratic shadow cabinet' of political celebrities to combat Trump
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NC nurse advocates for veterans healthcare as Trump's VA cuts loom
Mildred Manning-Joy waited 45 minutes for her prescription to be filled at the Veteran Affairs Durham Health Care Facility. She watched as a single person worked to take orders, fill prescriptions and service the window. 'That's way too much to ask of anyone,' Manning-Joy said. And as the line behind her continued to grow, she worried about the people who didn't have the time to wait. Manning-Joy isn't just a patient at the Durham VA. She's a nurse of 25 years, who works at the facility and is a member of National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the country. On Tuesday, she joined a group of NNU members and Rep. Mark Takano, a Democrat from California, for a briefing held over Zoom, to discuss the impact of the Trump administration on VA healthcare. Among the chief concerns noted in Tuesday's calls was an executive order signed by President Donald Trump preventing the collective bargaining rights of federal workers, a federal hiring freeze and proposed cuts by Veteran Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to reduce the VA workforce by 70,000 to 80,000 people. The Trump administration wants to cut 15% of the Veteran Affairs work staff to bring it back down to what it was in 2019, before COVID and The PACT Act took effect. The PACT Act is a law that provides veterans care after exposure to toxic chemicals, including those at Fort Bragg, who used the base's unsafe drinking waters. Earlier this month, Collins got into a heated discussion at a Senate hearing with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, about the cuts. Collins claimed Blumenthal was trying to stir fear among veterans, and he defended the VA cuts, saying that healthcare remained a priority. Meanwhile, Takano introduced a bill this month, with 81 cosponsors, that would give VA workers back their collective bargaining rights. None of North Carolina's delegation has signed onto the bill. 'They don't want workers to organize,' Takano said, of the executive order. 'They know that there is strength in numbers, and they know that there is strength in unions. I know firsthand the power of unions, having been a member of one for many years myself. The whole idea is to either make working for VA so miserable that everyone quits, or to take away their grievance rights so they can fire dissidents without cause.' Monica Giles, a nurse from Alabama, said nurses aren't the only ones being silenced. Veterans are, too. 'We took an oath to take care of those who serve in our nation's military, and for their families, caregivers and survivors, and that is being stripped away with the stroke of a pen,' Giles said. 'But nurses aren't going anywhere, because we are afraid for our patients. We know if we leave our patients, they'll suffer.' Concerns for their patients took up the majority of the call. There was already a worker shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now with a hiring freeze and job cuts through attrition, workers are trying to fill in gaps. They talked about leaving patients for a half-hour to fill prescriptions or not having enough mental healthcare providers. 'Decades of scientific research show that when our RNs are forced to care for too many patients at one time, patients are at high risk of preventable medical errors, avoidable complications, falls and injuries, increased length of hospital stay and even death,' said Andrea Johnson, a nurse from San Diego, who spoke on the call. Patients also fear losing healthcare teams they spent years building to treat their needs. 'I ask each and every one of you to think about who ultimately is going to be impacted by the cuts of the VA: the veterans,' Giles said. 'They don't deserve to be stripped of the care they earned and have been promised.' Manning-Joy comes from a multigenerational military family and knows firsthand the importance of the specialized care veterans receive at VA facilities. That includes one-on-one time with providers as well as doctors and nurses who understand what veterans have gone through to leading technologies like prosthetics. And she said it was becoming a nurse for the VA that helped her understand why she loved her career so much. 'After just a few years working in the VA, I knew I could never go anywhere else,' Manning-Joy said. 'My coworkers and I have a deep love for our work and we want this to be the best place possible for our veteran patients.' That's why when she sees problems, she brings them up. She said her coworkers do as well. 'We are advocates for our patients, and that is why it is so important to us to have our protective rights to organize and bargain,' Manning-Joy said. 'There are times when we report things that don't get addressed. That's when we come together and collectively take action to protect our patients.' But she said over the past few months, more issues are going unaddressed. 'The hiring freeze and the firing of probationary employees have led to really severe staffing issues in our facility, and VA Secretary Doug Collins has now put forward a plan that could cut VA staff by 83,000,' Manning-Joy said. 'We have to get out in front of this. Any further cuts will lead to an unimaginable staffing crisis that will lead to worsening patients' outcomes.' Manning-Joy called Collins' plans to cut staffing 'really scary' and 'unfair to our veteran patients.' 'Veterans rely on the VA to get specialized care that comes with serving in the military,' Manning-Joy said. 'Our nurses are trained to have the experience to manage diverse needs of the population and these cuts will ultimately harm veterans. Fighting for our VA must be a top priority.'
Buzz Feed
19-05-2025
- Health
- Buzz Feed
Here's How MAGA Reacted To Joe Biden's Cancer Diagnosis
This weekend, it was announced that Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer. Biden and his family are "reviewing treatment options" with his physicians, his office said. Leading voices around the world quickly reacted to the news, including those of MAGA and republicans. Here's what they said: Donald Trump: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: Donald Trump Jr.: Editor's Note: Dr. Jill Biden has a doctoral degree in Education, not medicine. Vivek Ramaswamy: Press Secretary Karonline Leavitt (who simply shared Trump's Truth Social post): Former Rep. Matt Gaetz: Far-right activist Laura Loomer: Secretary of State Marco Rubio: Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson: Attorney General Pam Bondi: And finally, Secretary of Veteran Affairs Doug Collins:
