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Change is urged in Veterans' disability rules

By TIMES WIRES
Published April 24, 2007

WASHINGTON - An injured soldier's disability should be determined by Veterans Affairs officials - not the Pentagon - because the Army might be shortchanging troops, a presidential commission was told Monday. At a public meeting, the nine-member commission on veterans care chaired by former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala delved into ways to reduce paperwork and problems in the disability ratings system. Critics say the Army rates its injured soldiers at a lower level of disability compared with the other armed services and the VA so it can save on disability payments.

U.S. workers sell free transit passes

To save gas, cut air pollution and unclog roads, the federal government gives its workers $250-million a year in bus and subway passes. But many of the employees drive to work anyway and sell the transit passes on the Internet for cash, according to a report to be released today by the Government Accountability Office.

New guilty plea in Abramoff inquiry

A former senior staffer on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the public by steering potential clients and inside government information to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in return for cash, gifts and the promise of a high-paying job. Mark Dennis Zachares is scheduled to appear in court today.

Man acquitted of rape charges

DARLINGTON, S.C. - A jury acquitted a convicted sex offender Monday of raping two teenage girls who police say escaped after they were left to die in an underground bunker he had built. Kenneth Glenn Hinson, 48, appeared to cry after the jury read its verdict. Hinson testified that the girls had consensual sex with him and made up the story.

200th person freed by DNA evidence

CHICAGO - A man who spent 25 years in prison for rape was exonerated Monday as a judge threw out his convictions because DNA evidence showed he couldn't have committed the attack. An advocacy group said Jerry Miller, 48, was the 200th such case.

Couple who were shot had ammo

LAGUNA BEACH, CALIF.: A couple fatally shot by police at a luxury oceanfront resort had checked in under false names and with a bagful of ammunition for their semiautomatic handgun, officials said. Police discovered the ammunition after the shooting Sunday at the Montage Resort & Spa that killed Kevin Christie Park, 49, and Joni Lynn Park, 48.

Elsewhere

Washington: Facing lawsuits by veterans and their families, the Bush administration relented Monday and agreed to allow the Wiccan pentacle - a five-pointed star inside a circle - on tombstones at Arlington National Cemetery and other military burial grounds. Wicca is a blend of witchcraft and nature worship that is one of the country's fastest-growing religions.

Washington: World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz has hired prominent attorney Robert Bennett as he fights to keep his job, in jeopardy for arranging a generous compensation package for a bank employee with whom he has been romantically linked.

[Last modified April 24, 2007, 00:41:05]