<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750</id><updated>2012-02-16T11:41:03.952-08:00</updated><category term='Fighting Chance'/><category term='Documentary'/><category term='Resources'/><category term='Asheville'/><category term='Free Concert'/><category term='Volunteers Needed'/><category term='Headlines'/><category term='Motor Cylce Rally'/><category term='GI Bill'/><category term='Outward Bound'/><category term='Memorial Day'/><category term='Substance Abuse'/><category term='legislation'/><title type='text'>Asheville-Buncombe Veterans</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>25</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-8908093377100463142</id><published>2011-10-22T07:16:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-10-22T07:16:19.186-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='legislation'/><title type='text'>Veterans' Legislation Passed in Congress</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;Received via e-mail from DAV National Legislative Director&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;Last week, on October 10, 2011, the House of Representatives passed five veterans bills, H.R. 2074, H.R. 2349, H.R. 2302, H.R. 1025 and H.R. 2433.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;H.R. 2433, the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act of 2011, introduced by House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (FL), offers college training to unemployed veterans. The legislation allows 100,000 unemployed veterans ages 35 through 60 to apply for benefits from the Department of Labor (DOL). Eligible veterans could choose to enhance their skills with up to a year of training for high-demand career fields. It provides an opportunity for unemployed veterans aged 35 to 60 to gain new skills by offering them a temporary education and training benefit. The program would allow these veterans to enroll in courses at community colleges and technical training schools. Education payments would only be payable to veterans enrolled in education or training courses that lead to an associate degree, certificate, or similar qualification, in a high demand occupation as determined by the Secretary of Labor.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;To qualify for the retraining assistance, veterans must be unemployed; at least 35, but not more than 60 years of age; discharged from active duty service under honorable conditions; and ineligible to receive any other educational assistance from VA.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;Approval of this legislation also makes participation in the Transition Assistance Program mandatory for most military service members. It would mandate that the DOL's licensure and certification demonstration project to identify and to eliminate barriers between military training and civilian licensure or credentialing for military occupational specialties. Enactment of the legislation would require DOL, in concert with state workforce agencies, to implement new performances measures to evaluate the priority of services provided to eligible veterans and mandates that Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program Specialists and Local Veterans' Employment Representatives' sole duty will be to assist eligible veterans in finding suitable employment.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;DAV is pleased to support this bill as it makes important improvements to support veterans transitioning to civilian life, especially those who return with disabilities from their service and provides greater opportunities for training for unemployed veterans allowing them to improve skills, potentially leading to employment.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;H.R. 2074, the Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention and Health Care Enhancement Act, introduced by Representative Ann Marie Buerkle (NY), is a comprehensive measure that requires the VA to report and track sexual assaults at its medical facilities and train employees on security issues relating to such assaults. The bill also includes provisions that authorize increased flexibility in establishing payment rates for nursing home care provided by veterans state nursing homes; improve rehabilitative services for veterans for veterans with traumatic brain injury; and clarify the use of service dogs on VA property. DAV supports these provisions in H.R 2074, under DAV Resolution Nos. 193, 184, 190, and 212 respectively.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;H.R. 2349, the Veterans' Benefits Act of 2011, introduced by House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Chairman Jon Runyan (NJ), requires the VA to carry out a pilot program to assess the skills and training provided to claims processors at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). The bill also authorizes VBA to use electronic communication to provide notice to claimants and limits its duty to assist claimants in obtaining private medical records under certain circumstances. The bill also reinstates criminal penalties for anyone charging or attempting to charge veterans unauthorized fees for the preparation, presentation, or prosecution of a claim prior to a notice of disagreement being filed with the Department of Veterans Affairs. DAV does not have a resolution regarding this particular bill; however, we are not opposed to passage of the bill.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;H.R. 2302, introduced by Representative Marlin A. Stutzman (IN), directs the VA secretary to notify Congress at least 180 days before a conference sponsored by the Department that are at least three days in length, attended by 20 or more individuals and have an estimated cost of at least $5,000.00. The Committee, in its oversight role, wished to monitor such expenses more closely given the growing deficit, and scarce discretionary funding resources. DAV does not have a position on this bill as we have no applicable resolution.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;H.R. 1025, introduced by Representative Timothy Walz (MN), provides honorary veteran status to individuals who served at least 20 years in the reserves, are younger than 60 and were never called to active duty. DAV has no resolution on this matter, but expressed our concern that, if passed, it may lead to misunderstandings by the public about those veterans who earned the designation of veteran and their subsequent benefits as compared to "honorary veterans." The DAV advised the Committee that if they did choose to move forward with this legislation then it should clearly specify that "honorary veterans" would not be entitled to the same benefits provided to those who served on active duty.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;Now that these bills have been approved by the House, they go to the Senate, where they may be considered along with other legislation that the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee has approved.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;The Senate passed S. 894, the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2011, introduced by Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Patty Murray (WA), which would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in the rates of veterans disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;On October 18, 2011, it was announced that there would be a 3.6 percent COLA for Social Security recipients next year. The Senate immediately and unanimously passed S. 894 to apply this same COLA increase to veterans' disability compensation payments. Earlier this year, the House approved companion legislation, H.R. 1407. Once the COLA legislation is sent to the President and signed into law, it will provide a much-needed increase for the 3.2 million disabled veterans who receive monthly disability compensation payments as a result of injuries or illnesses suffered in service to the nation.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;The House and Senate must now decide which bill will be sent to the President before a COLA can become effective for veterans and their dependents and survivors.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-8908093377100463142?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/8908093377100463142/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=8908093377100463142' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/8908093377100463142'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/8908093377100463142'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2011/10/veterans-legislation-passed-in-congress.html' title='Veterans&apos; Legislation Passed in Congress'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-534770728854171369</id><published>2011-10-09T07:59:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-10-09T07:59:37.373-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Fighting Chance'/><title type='text'>A Fighting Chance Trailer</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="170" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/14753788?title=0&amp;amp;byline=0&amp;amp;portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://vimeo.com/14753788"&gt;A Fighting Chance: Trailer 1&lt;/a&gt; from &lt;a href="http://vimeo.com/poetzerofilm"&gt;PoetZero&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a href="http://vimeo.com/"&gt;Vimeo&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: inherit;"&gt;Check out the trialer above. &amp;nbsp;From the &lt;a href="http://www.fightingchancemovie.com/"&gt;Fighting Chance website&lt;/a&gt;, "We are happy to announce that proceeds of A Fighting Chance are going to directly help the wounded warriors returning from Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world. We want to thank our partners at the USO and ESPN for all of your help, and of course, we want to thank the many men and women who have served and sacrificed to defend our freedom."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-534770728854171369?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/534770728854171369/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=534770728854171369' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/534770728854171369'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/534770728854171369'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2011/10/fighting-chance-trailer.html' title='A Fighting Chance Trailer'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-735897233974553437</id><published>2011-10-09T07:49:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2011-10-09T07:49:29.163-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Resources'/><title type='text'>Resources for Veterans</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;This spreadsheet (shared via Google Docs) offers a comprehensive breakdown of websites and resources available to veterans and their families.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlSK8PJPL2oMdF8tR0lPWGFzem9FTEJEVTVEUjhBWUE&amp;amp;hl=en_US"&gt;https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlSK8PJPL2oMdF8tR0lPWGFzem9FTEJEVTVEUjhBWUE&amp;amp;hl=en_US&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-735897233974553437?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/735897233974553437/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=735897233974553437' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/735897233974553437'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/735897233974553437'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2011/10/resources-for-veterans.html' title='Resources for Veterans'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-4710442011787499218</id><published>2011-10-09T07:45:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2011-10-09T07:45:13.943-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Outward Bound'/><title type='text'>North Carolina Outward Bound offering tuition free courses for military veterans!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; margin-bottom: 5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;For over 20 years, Outward Bound has run wilderness expeditions specifically designed for war veterans. Outward Bound draws on the healing benefit of team work, challenge, friendship and the natural world, teamwork and challenge to help with transitions back into civilian life.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;Now, through generous funding, this tremendous opportunity for adventure, challenge and self-discovery is available TUITION FREE to Veterans.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;These programs are designed to be fun, fast and challenging. They are suited for those in good physical condition and are opportunities for Veterans to:&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5pt; margin-left: 0.75in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Symbol;"&gt;·&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;Take a break from their busy lives to challenge themselves in new ways,&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5pt; margin-left: 0.75in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Symbol;"&gt;·&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;Develop skills that will assist in re-adjusting to civilian life,&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5pt; margin-left: 0.75in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Symbol;"&gt;·&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;Candidly discuss obstacles faced by Veterans following wartime service,&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5pt; margin-left: 0.75in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Symbol;"&gt;·&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;Re-experience their strengths and find new ways to contribute to society,&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5pt; margin-left: 0.75in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Symbol;"&gt;·&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;Enjoy a unique and inspiring adventure surrounded by fellow Veterans in the beauty of the country for which they have fought.&amp;nbsp;﻿&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="color: #77933c; font-size: 12pt;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 12pt;"&gt;Visit the Veterans Web site for course options:&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.ncobs.org/veterans" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.ncobs.org/veterans&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-4710442011787499218?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/4710442011787499218/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=4710442011787499218' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/4710442011787499218'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/4710442011787499218'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2011/10/north-carolina-outward-bound-offering.html' title='North Carolina Outward Bound offering tuition free courses for military veterans!'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-7109755697808319211</id><published>2011-10-09T07:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-10-09T07:44:29.034-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='GI Bill'/><title type='text'>GI Bill Updates</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;Student veterans studying online to get GI Bill housing stipend next month&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;By&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="text-transform: uppercase;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #0066cc;"&gt;LEO SHANE III&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #0066cc;"&gt;&lt;span style="text-transform: uppercase;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Published: September 28, 2011&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;WASHINGTON — Student veterans attending online classes under the post-9/11 GI Bill will start receiving housing stipend checks next month for the first time, part of another slate of changes to the education benefit.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;Late last year,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.stripes.com/congress-passes-expansion-of-gi-bill-benefits-1.129034" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #0066cc;"&gt;Congress approved numerous reforms&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;to the 2-year-old education benefit, including changes in the amount paid to students attending private schools and fixes to how certain National Guard members receive tuition money. Most of the changes went into effect Aug. 1, but a handful of less heralded but significant updates will take effect Oct. 1. &amp;nbsp;Among them are new rules regarding the housing stipend for online students. In the past, only veterans attending brick-and-mortar schools received a payout, worth about $1,300 a month.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;Now, full-time online students will receive a housing stipend of $673.50 a month, half the national average of what traditional students receive. VA officials said those payouts will start automatically for students who qualify, and the first checks will arrive in mid-October.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;The department estimates that 22,000 students will qualify for the new housing stipends. It is not available for active-duty troops attending classes, because they already receive basic assistance for housing from the Defense Department.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: white; font-family: tahoma, 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"&gt;But, for the first time, the changes do allow for those servicemembers to begin receiving the program’s books and equipment stipend, which pays up to $1,000 each year.&amp;nbsp;And VA officials said they expect about 40,000 more veterans to take advantage of new rules allowing the post-9/11 GI Bill to be used for non-college degree programs like apprenticeship training, correspondence courses and vocational rehab. Those programs were covered under other VA education benefits in the past, but the new changes will provide more money and housing stipends to those individuals.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-7109755697808319211?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/7109755697808319211/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=7109755697808319211' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/7109755697808319211'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/7109755697808319211'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2011/10/gi-bill-updates.html' title='GI Bill Updates'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-5728194200644734702</id><published>2011-06-07T07:31:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-06-07T07:34:29.576-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Free Concert'/><title type='text'>Air National Guard “Band of the South” Performs in Pack Square Park</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PSs-oA0ifq8/Te42DYTDhWI/AAAAAAAABWY/1U5MckMCM08/s1600/Air+National+Guard+-+MtnX+Ad.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PSs-oA0ifq8/Te42DYTDhWI/AAAAAAAABWY/1U5MckMCM08/s640/Air+National+Guard+-+MtnX+Ad.png" width="299" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in;"&gt;For Immediate Release:&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;st1:date day="27" ls="trans" month="5" w:st="on" year="2011"&gt;May 27, 2011&lt;/st1:date&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in;"&gt;Contact: Ruth Planey, &lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:placename w:st="on"&gt;Pack&lt;/st1:placename&gt; &lt;st1:placetype w:st="on"&gt;Square&lt;/st1:placetype&gt;  &lt;st1:placetype w:st="on"&gt;Park&lt;/st1:placetype&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt; Conservancy&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in;"&gt;&lt;st1:phone o:ls="trans" phonenumber="$6252$$$" w:st="on"&gt;828-252-2300&lt;/st1:phone&gt;&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:rplaney@packsquarepark.org"&gt;rplaney@packsquarepark.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"&gt;Air National Guard “Band of the South” Performs in &lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:placename w:st="on"&gt;Pack&lt;/st1:placename&gt; &lt;st1:placetype w:st="on"&gt;Square&lt;/st1:placetype&gt;  &lt;st1:placetype w:st="on"&gt;Park&lt;/st1:placetype&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"&gt;Asheville, NC&lt;/span&gt; - Enjoy an evening of patriotic songs, toe tapping marching tunes and some good old rock'n'roll when&amp;nbsp;the Air National Guard “Band of the South”&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: normal;"&gt;performs in Asheville’s Pack Square Park on &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Friday, June 10th at 7 P.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The “Band of the South” is the official musical performing arm of the Georgia Air National Guard.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The concert is brought to you by Pack Square Park Conservancy and is &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;free&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; and open to the public - rain or shine.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Bring a picnic or dine on burgers and dogs grilled by the chefs of American Legion Post 526 while you listen to songs that salute &lt;st1:country-region w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;America&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt;’s varied musical traditions.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in;"&gt;Thanks to an anonymous donor and the help of the sponsors - the Mountain Xpress, Earth Fare, Classic Event Rental and Able Rent-A-Jon, Pack Square Park Conservancy is able to bring concerts like this and other diverse entertainment and programs to the &lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:placename w:st="on"&gt;Pack&lt;/st1:placename&gt; &lt;st1:placetype w:st="on"&gt;Square&lt;/st1:placetype&gt;  &lt;st1:placetype w:st="on"&gt;Park&lt;/st1:placetype&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt; for the enjoyment of the entire community.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in;"&gt;All members of the band are traditional guardsmen, serving one weekend a month, two weeks during the year and at other times when called to duty.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;The band strives to musically exemplify the Air Force values of excellence, integrity, and service above self.&amp;nbsp; Under the direction of Captain Alan B. McConnell, the Band of the South averages fifty performances a year, and performs regularly throughout its primary area of responsibility (&lt;st1:country-region w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;Georgia&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt;, &lt;st1:state w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;Alabama&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:state&gt;, &lt;st1:state w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;Florida&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:state&gt;, and the &lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;Carolinas&lt;/st1:place&gt;) as “Goodwill Ambassadors” for the Georgia Air National Guard. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in;"&gt;Throughout the years, the band’s reputation has led&amp;nbsp;to requests to&amp;nbsp;perform all over &lt;st1:country-region w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;America&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt;, the &lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:placename w:st="on"&gt;Azores&lt;/st1:placename&gt; &lt;st1:placetype w:st="on"&gt;Islands&lt;/st1:placetype&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt;, &lt;st1:country-region w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;Norway&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt;, and the &lt;st1:country-region w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;Dominican Republic&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt;. The band has played for many notable figures, including President Harry S. Truman and the president of &lt;st1:country-region w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;Tanzania&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt;, 4-star generals, and has serenaded dignitaries from mayors and congressmen, to governors and presidents.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in;"&gt;In addition to&amp;nbsp;the concert band, the Air National Guard “Band of the South” contains several ensemble groups, including a ceremonial band, Eagles’ Flight jazz ensemble, a rock/pop ensemble known as Sound Barrier, and more.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Choosing the best music to showcase their instruments and voices, each group zeros in on a facet of &lt;st1:country-region w:st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st="on"&gt;America&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt;’s musical heritage.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in;"&gt;For more information about the concert please call Pack Square Park Conservancy at 828-252-2300.&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;To learn more about Pack Square Park Conservancy please visit www.packsquarepark.org.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoBodyText" style="tab-stops: .5in;"&gt;For photos visit the band’s website:&lt;span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bandofthesouth.ang.af.mil/photos/media_view.asp?id=450747"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"&gt;http://www.bandofthesouth.ang.af.mil/photos/media_view.asp?id=450747&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-5728194200644734702?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/5728194200644734702/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=5728194200644734702' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/5728194200644734702'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/5728194200644734702'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2011/06/air-national-guard-band-of-south.html' title='Air National Guard “Band of the South” Performs in Pack Square Park'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PSs-oA0ifq8/Te42DYTDhWI/AAAAAAAABWY/1U5MckMCM08/s72-c/Air+National+Guard+-+MtnX+Ad.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-2507948793953481536</id><published>2011-05-26T09:33:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2011-05-26T09:33:15.860-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Memorial Day'/><title type='text'>Memorial Day 2011</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"&gt;ASHEVILLE&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;- The City of Asheville Mayor’s Committee for Veterans Affairs, in conjunction with Buncombe County, will host the annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Roger McGuire Green in the Pack Square Park (in front of City Hall) at 3 p.m. on May 30.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana;"&gt;The event highlights will include the Presentation of Colors by the Buncombe County Honor Guard, Recognitions of Service by Buncombe County Vice-Chairman Bill Stanley and Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy, musical performances by Rockell and Taylor Whiteside and Betty Jackson, the official gifting of the WNC Veteran’s Memorial to the City of Asheville and Buncombe County, and a 21-Gun Salute by Asheville Police Department Honor Guard.&amp;nbsp; The program is expected to last approximately one hour and will be emceed by Matt Mittan of News Radio 570 AM.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana;"&gt;The public is invited. For more information on the event, please contact Philip Kleisler at&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="tel:828-232-4541" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank" value="+18282324541"&gt;828-232-4541&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;or email at&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="mailto:pkleisler@ashevillenc.gov" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"&gt;pkleisler@ashevillenc.gov&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-2507948793953481536?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/2507948793953481536/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=2507948793953481536' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/2507948793953481536'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/2507948793953481536'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2011/05/memorial-day-2011.html' title='Memorial Day 2011'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-4503521542620395739</id><published>2011-05-13T12:21:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2011-05-13T12:21:37.158-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Asheville'/><title type='text'>Memorial Day Pool-a-Palooza</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"&gt;Asheville&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"&gt;, NC&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;– In honor of military personnel who have served our country, the Asheville Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts Department will present a Memorial Day Pool-a-Palooza on Mon, May 30, from 12-6 p.m. at the Recreation Park Pool on Gashes Creek Rd.&amp;nbsp; Celebrate the day with music, swimming, pool contests, special recognitions, and fun. &amp;nbsp;General admission is $3.&amp;nbsp; Active and non-active military personnel are FREE with a military I.D. and the first 100 military personnel will receive a Memorial Day goody bag.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: xx-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt; line-height: 16px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 19px;"&gt;For information, contact Randy Shaw at&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="tel:828-350-2048" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank" value="+18283502048"&gt;828-350-2048&lt;/a&gt;, or&amp;nbsp;&lt;span&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"&gt;&lt;span style="line-height: 19px;"&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:rshaw@ashevillenc.gov" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"&gt;rshaw@ashevillenc.gov&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-4503521542620395739?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/4503521542620395739/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=4503521542620395739' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/4503521542620395739'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/4503521542620395739'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2011/05/memorial-day-pool-palooza.html' title='Memorial Day Pool-a-Palooza'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-462258343628515708</id><published>2009-11-07T16:59:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2009-11-07T17:31:26.600-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Veterans Day - Veterans Memorial Dedication</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_e6z4GdYmjRA/SvYYh0HIQ6I/AAAAAAAABMY/qQoRTAGIPQk/s1600-h/vetsdayfinalflyer.png"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_e6z4GdYmjRA/SvYYh0HIQ6I/AAAAAAAABMY/qQoRTAGIPQk/s400/vetsdayfinalflyer.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401531772280783778" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;On Veterans Day (November 11, 2009) the Mayor's Committee for Veterans Affairs will be participating in the dedication of the WNC Veterans Memorial in the Pack Square Park (in front of City Hall).  The ceremony starts at 2pm.  Buncombe County has generously agreed to donate the procedes from the College Street parking deck to the Charles George VA Memorial Center in support of the Social Work Service Fund.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-462258343628515708?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/462258343628515708/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=462258343628515708' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/462258343628515708'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/462258343628515708'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/11/veterans-day-veterans-memorial.html' title='Veterans Day - Veterans Memorial Dedication'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_e6z4GdYmjRA/SvYYh0HIQ6I/AAAAAAAABMY/qQoRTAGIPQk/s72-c/vetsdayfinalflyer.png' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-8767987601159195086</id><published>2009-11-06T18:20:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-11-06T18:22:31.014-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Free Transit for Veterans on Veterans Day</title><content type='html'>City of Asheville&lt;br /&gt;Transportation &amp;amp; Engineering Department&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Contact: Mariate Echeverry, Transportation Manager&lt;br /&gt;Office: 232-4528&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For Veterans Day Veterans Ride free on Asheville Transit&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To honor the service of our veterans, the City of Asheville is allowing veterans to ride all Asheville Transit routes FREE for Veterans Day November 11th 2009.  When boarding a bus, Veteran’s just need to show their valid military card to the bus driver.&lt;br /&gt;Asheville Transit operates 13 different day bus routes, six evening routes, 2 university routes and one intercity route to Black Mountain.   Cash fares are $1 for local routes and $1.75 for the intercity route to Black Mountain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For more information about Asheville Transit, call 253-5691, e-mail &lt;a href="mailto:iride@ashevillenc.gov"&gt;iride@ashevillenc.gov&lt;/a&gt; or visit &lt;a href="http://www.ashevillenc.gov/transit"&gt;www.ashevillenc.gov/transit&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sincerely,&lt;br /&gt;www.AshevilleTransit.com&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-8767987601159195086?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/8767987601159195086/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=8767987601159195086' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/8767987601159195086'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/8767987601159195086'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/11/free-transit-for-veterans-on-veterans_06.html' title='Free Transit for Veterans on Veterans Day'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-446877374830688348</id><published>2009-09-15T15:13:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-09-15T15:14:55.126-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Honor and Remember Campaign Buncombe County Board of Commissioners (Update)</title><content type='html'>The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to support the Honor and Remember Campaign in tonight's meeting (9/15).  It is great to see that the Asheville area has local governments that are so supportive of their veterans.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-446877374830688348?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/446877374830688348/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=446877374830688348' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/446877374830688348'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/446877374830688348'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/09/honor-and-remember-campaign-buncombe_15.html' title='Honor and Remember Campaign Buncombe County Board of Commissioners (Update)'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-6662809809041937492</id><published>2009-09-14T15:16:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-09-14T15:17:54.086-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Honor and Remember Campaign Buncombe County Board of Commissioners</title><content type='html'>The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will be voting on a resolution to support the Honor and Remember Campaign at their meeting tomorrow night (9/15).   See the agenda &lt;a href="http://bit.ly/10cbMD"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;. Please write them an e-mail asking them to support it. You can e-mail all the Commissioners at one time by going &lt;a href="http://bit.ly/9MQG"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-6662809809041937492?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/6662809809041937492/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=6662809809041937492' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/6662809809041937492'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/6662809809041937492'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/09/honor-and-remember-campaign-buncombe.html' title='Honor and Remember Campaign Buncombe County Board of Commissioners'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-5914959500140900905</id><published>2009-08-21T16:32:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-08-21T16:44:20.119-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Honor and Remember Campaign (Update)</title><content type='html'>On August 11, 2009 Asheville City Council unanimously approved the City's support of the &lt;a href="http://www.mountainx.com/news/2009/asheville_city_council_brief_aug._11_meeting"&gt;Honor and Remember Campaign&lt;/a&gt;.  As part of the &lt;a href="http://bit.ly/Kssao"&gt;resolution&lt;/a&gt; approved, Asheville City Council will circulate the resolution to other political bodies in an effort to help the campaign gather more support on a national level.  The City will also begin to fly the Honor and Remember Flag at Memorial Stadium in the near future. &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mountainx.com/news/2009/asheville_city_council_brief_aug._11_meeting"&gt;http://www.mountainx.com/news/2009/asheville_city_council_brief_aug._11_meetin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mountainx.com/news/2009/asheville_city_council_brief_aug._11_meeting"&gt;g&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-5914959500140900905?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/5914959500140900905/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=5914959500140900905' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/5914959500140900905'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/5914959500140900905'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/08/honor-and-remember-campaign-update.html' title='Honor and Remember Campaign (Update)'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-829052890706499887</id><published>2009-08-21T16:05:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-08-21T16:06:53.115-07:00</updated><title type='text'>OEF/OIF Veteran’s Program announcement</title><content type='html'>&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:gray"&gt;Offered by &lt;st1:state st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;North Carolina&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:state&gt; Outward Bound in Conjunction with Charles George VAMC&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:black"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial"&gt;Backpacking/Rock Climbing: October 9-13&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt;, 2009&lt;span class="apple-style-span"&gt;&lt;span style="color:black"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial"&gt;For &lt;st1:country-region st="on"&gt;&lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;Iraq&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:country-region&gt; and Afghan veterans enrolled at the Charles George VAMC:&lt;span class="apple-style-span"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial"&gt;We are happy to announce a special program that is being offered by Outward Bound and the Charles George VA Medical Center.&lt;span class="apple-converted-space"&gt;&lt;span style="color:black"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a name="0.1_graphic04"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;!--[if gte vml 1]&gt;&lt;v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" spt="75" preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"&gt;  &lt;v:stroke joinstyle="miter"&gt;  &lt;v:formulas&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"&gt;   &lt;v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"&gt;  &lt;/v:formulas&gt;  &lt;v:path extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" connecttype="rect"&gt;  &lt;o:lock ext="edit" aspectratio="t"&gt; &lt;/v:shapetype&gt;&lt;v:shape id="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="Your browser may not support display of this image." style="'width:.75pt;height:.75pt'/"&gt;&lt;![endif]--&gt;&lt;img width="1" height="1" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\Student\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image001.gif" alt="Your browser may not support display of this image." shapes="_x0000_i1025" /&gt;&lt;span class="apple-converted-space"&gt;&lt;span style="color:black"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;For over 20 years, Outward Bound has run Wilderness expeditions specifically for war veterans. Now, through generous funding from the Sierra Club Foundation, this tremendous opportunity for adventure and self-discovery is at absolutely&lt;span class="apple-converted-space"&gt;&lt;span style="color:black"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#1F497D"&gt;NO COST&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="apple-converted-space"&gt;&lt;span style="color:black"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;to OEF/OIF Vets.&lt;span class="apple-style-span"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial"&gt;Veterans programs are designed to be fun, fast and challenging, and suited for those in good physical condition. This course is an opportunity for veteran to "take a break" from their busy lives to challenge themselves in new ways. Take this opportunity to compare notes and look for answers from other people who are adjusting to life after deployment. Very often this is the first time participants have had a chance to vent their true feelings in a supportive, non-confrontational forum surrounded by fellow veterans and in the beauty of the country for which you have fought.&lt;span class="apple-style-span"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p align="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial; color:black"&gt;For details and to get enrollment information, please call&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p align="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial; color:black"&gt;Hillary Bolter, MSW at #828-298-7911 ext. 1-5524&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:black"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p align="center" style="text-align:center"&gt;&lt;a name="0.1_OLE_LINK1"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:black"&gt;Course Area&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:black"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;color:black"&gt;The &lt;st1:place st="on"&gt;Appalachian  Mountains&lt;/st1:place&gt; provide a remarkable setting to experience a Veterans Program.  This five-day course will be held in the Cedar Rock area in Pisgah Forrest, and will include high ropes course, rock climbing, and backpacking.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-829052890706499887?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/829052890706499887/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=829052890706499887' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/829052890706499887'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/829052890706499887'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/08/oefoif-veterans-program-announcement.html' title='OEF/OIF Veteran’s Program announcement'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-7626384036066162560</id><published>2009-08-05T15:33:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-08-05T15:55:30.522-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Honor and Remember Campaign</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.honorandremember.org/graphics/flag-flying.png"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 177px;" src="http://www.honorandremember.org/graphics/flag-flying.png" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;The Mayor's Committee on Veterans Affairs recently presented a resolution urging Asheville City Council to support the &lt;a href="http://www.honorandremember.org/"&gt;Honor and Remember Campaign&lt;/a&gt; on a national and on a local level.  The City will be voting on whether to support the resolution on August 11, 2009 during the City Council meeting at 5pm in Asheville City Hall.  We encourage you to express your support of the resolution by e-mailing City Council.  You can e-mail &lt;a href="mailto:AshevilleNCCouncil@ashevillenc.gov"&gt;AshevilleNCCouncil@ashevillenc.gov&lt;/a&gt; and it will forward your e-mail to all the members of City Council.  The resolution will be posted on the city website &lt;a href="http://www.ashevillenc.gov/government/mayor_city_council/city_council/default.aspx?id=5396&amp;amp;ekmensel=116_submenu_0_link_3"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt; closer to the meeting date.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;You can read the recent write-up about this effort in MountainX at &lt;a href="http://www.mountainx.com/news/2009/072209buncombe_commissioners"&gt;http://www.mountainx.com/news/2009/072209buncombe_commissioners.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-7626384036066162560?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/7626384036066162560/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=7626384036066162560' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/7626384036066162560'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/7626384036066162560'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/08/honor-and-remember-campaign.html' title='Honor and Remember Campaign'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-5466112706428081729</id><published>2009-08-05T15:09:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-08-05T15:11:30.717-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Grace After Fire</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; "&gt;&lt;p align="center" style="text-align: left;margin-right: 9pt; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 9pt; "&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"&gt;Press release from "Grace After Fire", organization for woman veterans.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center" style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 9pt; text-align: center; "&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span"   style="font-size:6;color:#C00000;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 21px;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center" style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 9pt; text-align: center; "&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 16pt; color: rgb(192, 0, 0); "&gt;'Grace After Fire' provides Voice for&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center" style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-bottom: 2pt; margin-left: 9pt; text-align: center; "&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 16pt; color: rgb(192, 0, 0); "&gt;Suffering Women Veterans&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;Until now, woman veterans, 58 percent of whom are now between the ages of 20 through 29, have not had a voice -- been unintentionally neglected by the Department of Veterans affairs, an organization originally designed for the male soldiers of World War II.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 10pt; "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;While the VA acknowledged their significant gap in services this past week during the Senate and Congressional briefings, &lt;em&gt;&lt;b&gt;Grace After Fire&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, a national nonprofit organization designed by women veterans to serve women veterans, launched July 1&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; giving our nation's women warriors their much needed 'voice.'&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 10pt; "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;"Historically, the vast majority of VA patients have been men, but that is changing," said the Government Accountability Office in their July 14 report on the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "&gt;&lt;a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6500304615/208000499/208014373/28338/goto:http:/www.gao.gov/new.items/d09884t.pdf" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(42, 93, 176); "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;Preliminary Findings on VA's Provision of Health Care Services to Women Veterans&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 10pt; "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;Out of 1.8 million female veterans, "VA provided health care to over 281,000 women veterans in 2008--an increase of about 12 percent since 2006--and the number of women veterans in the United States is projected to increase by 17 percent between 2008 and 2033."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 10pt; "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;Through &lt;em&gt;&lt;b&gt;Grace After Fire&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, women veterans from Vietnam to Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom are working together to overcome the multitude of issues and struggles associated with the gaps in services reported by the GAO.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 10pt; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;From Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, general medical and mental health issues, and Military Sexual Trauma, &lt;em&gt;&lt;b&gt;Grace After Fire&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/em&gt; provides a forum for women veterans to connect and heal with their sisters-in-arms who often struggle silently with similar issues.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 10pt; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;"&lt;em&gt;&lt;b&gt;Grace After Fire&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/em&gt; was developed to answer the call of our nations women-in-arms," said Stephanie Moles, founder of &lt;em&gt;&lt;b&gt;Grace After Fire&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/em&gt;. "The number of women veterans has exponentially grown -- as has the lack of appropriate services. This status quo is unacceptable and demands that our nation work as one to resolve."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;Moles, working closely with &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6500304615/208000499/208014374/28338/goto:http:/veterans.house.gov/hearings/Testimony.aspx?TID=44516&amp;amp;Newsid=441&amp;amp;Name=%20Patricia%20M.%20Hayes,%20Ph.D." target="_blank" style="color: rgb(42, 93, 176); "&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "&gt;Patricia Hayes, Ph.D&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt; and several other women services offices within the VA, has been focused on collaboration with organizations such as&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 51); "&gt;&lt;a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6500304615/208000499/208014376/28338/goto:http:/www.giveanhour.org/skins/gah/home.aspx" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(42, 93, 176); "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;Give an Hour&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt; and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "&gt;&lt;a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6500304615/208000499/208014377/28338/goto:http:/www.womenshealthresearch.org/site/PageServer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(42, 93, 176); "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;The Society for Women's Health Research&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, to &lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;raise awareness, national attention, and increase outreach to the needs of servicewomen.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 10pt; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 11.5pt; "&gt;"Now that the gaps in services for women are surfacing, it is my hope that our women veterans will finally receive the care they deserve," Moles continued. "By reaching out to other nonprofits, businesses and our government, the voice of our female veterans will be heard beyond &lt;em&gt;&lt;b&gt;Grace After Fire.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/em&gt;"&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-right: 9pt; margin-left: 9pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 8pt; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;b&gt;Grace After Fire&lt;/b&gt; is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the needs of women veterans of all eras and military branches. To learn more about this mission, read the voices of women veterans, or donate your help, go to &lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "&gt;&lt;a href="http://e2ma.net/go/6500304615/208000499/208014378/28338/goto:http:/www.graceafterfire.org/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(42, 93, 176); "&gt;&lt;em&gt;www.GraceAfterFire.org&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); "&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-5466112706428081729?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/5466112706428081729/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=5466112706428081729' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/5466112706428081729'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/5466112706428081729'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/08/grace-after-fire.html' title='Grace After Fire'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-7614809287643556093</id><published>2009-07-25T06:53:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-07-25T13:57:09.078-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Bele Chere</title><content type='html'>Thanks to everyone that has been stopping by the Mayor's Committee for Veterans Affairs booth at Bele Chere, I hope the information we had was helpful.  If you are interested in what the committee is doing and would like to get involved, our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 1pm in Asheville City Hall in the 6th Floor Human Resources Training Room.  The agenda is below.&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; "&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;28-Jul-2009, 1:00pm, 6&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; Floor, City Hall, HR Training Room&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Meeting Agenda&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; "&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td width="79" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 59.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;1:00&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td width="511" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 383.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;ul type="disc" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Opening&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;ul type="circle" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Welcome&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Announcements&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td width="79" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 59.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;1:07&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td width="511" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 383.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;ul type="disc" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Bele Chere Wrap-Up&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p style="margin-left: 0.25in; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td width="79" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 59.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;1:20&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td width="511" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 383.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;ul type="disc" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Honor and Remember Resolution Update&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;ul type="circle" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Review of 14-Jul-2009 Council Meeting&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;11-Aug-2009 Council Meeting&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p style="margin-left: 0.75in; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td width="79" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 59.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;1:30&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td width="511" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 383.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;ul type="disc" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Committee Organization&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;ul type="circle" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;By-Law Revisions (Vote on Revisions)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p style="margin-left: 0.75in; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td width="79" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 59.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;1:37&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td width="511" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 383.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;ul type="disc" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Veteran’s Day 2009 Ceremony&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p style="margin-left: 0.25in; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td width="79" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 59.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;1:45&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td width="511" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 383.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;ul type="disc" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Veteran’s Forum&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p style="margin-left: 0.25in; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td width="79" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 59.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;1:55&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td width="511" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 383.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;ul type="disc" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Open Forum&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;ul type="circle" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Comments from the Committee&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Comments from the Public&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td width="79" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 59.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;2:05&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td width="511" valign="top" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; width: 383.4pt; padding-top: 0in; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 5.4pt; "&gt;&lt;ul type="disc" style="margin-top: 0in; "&gt;&lt;li style="margin-left: 15px; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Arial; "&gt;Close&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-7614809287643556093?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/7614809287643556093/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=7614809287643556093' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/7614809287643556093'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/7614809287643556093'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/07/bele-chere.html' title='Bele Chere'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-3685665299381790207</id><published>2009-07-02T12:44:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-07-02T12:45:31.647-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Benefit on July 17 to support Asheville veteran injured in motorcycle wreck</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(48, 28, 28); font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; "&gt;&lt;p style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; "&gt;&lt;a href="http://ashvegas.squarespace.com/journal/2009/7/2/benefit-on-july-17-to-support-asheville-veteran-injured-in-m.html"&gt;From Ashvegas&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; "&gt;Jake Freeland is a 22 year-old veteran of the Afghanistan War.  He proudly served his country for 15 months as a Scout on the front lines in Afghanistan.  He returned to Fort Bragg to serve out the remainder of his enlisted time.  We, as a congregation, were so happy and thankful that Jake had returned to the States safely.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; "&gt;On May 29, 2009, Jake was involved in a devastating motorcycle accident that has left him paralyzed from mid-chest down. Jake is hospitalized in Chapel Hill, NC and will remain there until the 16th of July at which time he will return to Asheville to live with his mother.  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; "&gt;Abernethy United Methodist Church  is holding a Bluegrass and BBQ on July 17th from 6-9 p.m.  100% of ALL profits will go to benefit Jake and the renovation of his home to accommodate his needs.  Tickets are $6.00 and may be reserved by calling the Church office at (828) 254-2612.  You do not need to reserve a ticket to attend.  Tickets will be available at the door.  Please help us welcome an American Hero home.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; "&gt;Donations can also be sent directly to the church, made out to Abernethy UMC with “Jakes Fund” written on the memo line.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; "&gt;Abernethy United Methodist Church&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; "&gt;1418 Patton Avenue&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0em; "&gt;Asheville, NC 28801&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-3685665299381790207?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/3685665299381790207/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=3685665299381790207' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/3685665299381790207'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/3685665299381790207'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/07/benefit-on-july-17-to-support-asheville.html' title='Benefit on July 17 to support Asheville veteran injured in motorcycle wreck'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-1217762420294444410</id><published>2009-06-05T17:51:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-06-05T17:53:56.763-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Documentary'/><title type='text'>In Their Boots Documentary Series</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.intheirboots.com/itb/images/press-kit/intheirbootsheader_wide.gif"&gt;&lt;img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 475px; height: 81px;" src="http://www.intheirboots.com/itb/images/press-kit/intheirbootsheader_wide.gif" border="0" alt="" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just got word of the "In Their Boots" Documentary Series intended to raise awareness of issues that returning vets face.  It seems to be worth checking out.  You can watch episodes online &lt;a href="http://www.intheirboots.com"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.intheirboots.com"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.intheirboots.com"&gt;www.intheirboots.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-1217762420294444410?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/1217762420294444410/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=1217762420294444410' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/1217762420294444410'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/1217762420294444410'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/06/in-their-boots-documentary-series.html' title='In Their Boots Documentary Series'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-1762872987105504440</id><published>2009-05-31T18:21:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2009-05-31T18:26:08.292-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Motor Cylce Rally'/><title type='text'>Western North Carolina Blue Star Mothers Motor Cycle Rally</title><content type='html'>&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 11px;"&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;Supporting the WNC Blue Star Mothers &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;Sending Care packages to deployed troops.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;table id="Time and Place" class="profileTable info_table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="text-align: center;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="label" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; width: 100px; color: gray; "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td class="data" style="text-align: left; vertical-align: top; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; "&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 11px; "&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"&gt;Saturday, July 4, 2009&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"&gt;11:00am - 8:00pm&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;A patriot, one day motorcycle event(all types of bikes welcome) at TA in Candler (exit 37 off I-40) to raise money for sending “a touch of America” to our troops.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;Bands, vendors, bike games, a bike show with trophies (including one for most patriot!). A mail station so attendees can write letters to soldiers who otherwise wouldn’t receive mail. A flag raising, missing man ceremony, an introduction to the WNC Blue Star Mothers and an invocation by Graham Dienert, Reverend Billy Graham’s Grandson will start the event.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;Patriot’s Path; a guided motorcycle ride with a stop at The Veterans Quarters (local Veteran’s Shelter).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;The party ends up back at TA with another band, trophies awarded, door prizes given out and drink and dinner specials.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;Money raised goes to the WNC Blue Star Mothers who are sending care packages to our currently serving troops.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;This is the 3rd Motorcycle Event at TA in Candler &amp;amp; should have an execellent turn-out!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;For more info visit &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.freewebs.com/wncbluestarmothers/"&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;http://www.freewebs.com/wncbluestarmothers/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt; or contact &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; "&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;kmanni3@yahoo.com or 828-633-0835.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-1762872987105504440?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/1762872987105504440/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=1762872987105504440' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/1762872987105504440'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/1762872987105504440'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/05/western-north-carolina-blue-star.html' title='Western North Carolina Blue Star Mothers Motor Cycle Rally'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-8167476158798057263</id><published>2009-05-31T18:09:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2009-05-31T18:12:49.903-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Substance Abuse'/><title type='text'>Article About Recent Vets and Substance Abuse Treatment Needs</title><content type='html'>Here is an article published by the NC Journal of Medicine concerning substance abuse treatment needs among recently returning veterans.  This is a serious issue among the newest veterans and the article highlights some concerns and the best means of addressing them.&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.ncmedicaljournal.org/Jan-Feb-09/Eggleston.pdf"&gt;http://www.ncmedicaljournal.org/Jan-Feb-09/Eggleston.pdf&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-8167476158798057263?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/8167476158798057263/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=8167476158798057263' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/8167476158798057263'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/8167476158798057263'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/05/article-about-recent-vets-and-substance.html' title='Article About Recent Vets and Substance Abuse Treatment Needs'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-5415922534782859982</id><published>2009-01-07T19:03:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-01-07T19:05:43.415-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Hendersonville Marine Dies in Afghanistan</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901070317&amp;amp;source=rss"&gt;http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901070317&amp;amp;source=rss&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(85, 26, 139); text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cassada, 19, died Tuesday in combat in Afghanistan, where he had deployed in November. Family members confirmed the Marine died in Afghanistan while serving in the military, but Sproles said they had not yet gotten details about how he died.&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please keep the family in your thoughts.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-5415922534782859982?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/5415922534782859982/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=5415922534782859982' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/5415922534782859982'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/5415922534782859982'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/01/hendersonville-marine-dies-in.html' title='Hendersonville Marine Dies in Afghanistan'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-4024104403855508013</id><published>2009-01-06T16:54:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-01-07T19:02:54.406-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Headlines'/><title type='text'>Headlines</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,182414,00.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS"&gt;Pentagon: No Purple Heart for PTSD&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,182414,00.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS"&gt;VA Assisting Veterans with Healthcare Costs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&amp;amp;file=article&amp;amp;sid=4322"&gt;The Memorial Day Foundation’s mission is to increase awareness and respect for Memorial Day&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&amp;amp;file=article&amp;amp;sid=4307"&gt;Military Upgrades a Segment of "Other Than Honorable Discharges"&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,182057,00.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS"&gt;It's Pay Raise Time for the Troops&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-4024104403855508013?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/4024104403855508013/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=4024104403855508013' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/4024104403855508013'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/4024104403855508013'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/01/headlines.html' title='Headlines'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-2776026665978240270</id><published>2009-01-01T11:53:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2009-01-01T11:55:21.939-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Volunteers Needed'/><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>From the &lt;a href="http://www.citizen-times.com"&gt;Citizen-Times&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901010323&amp;amp;source=rss"&gt;http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901010323&amp;amp;source=rss&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 24px; "&gt;Former service members sought for disaster response team&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; "&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Times New Roman, serif;font-size:85%;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From staff reports&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Former service members sought for disaster response team&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The N.C. Emergency Reserves is seeking former and reserve military personnel to serve with an all-volunteer disaster response corps.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;NCER is organized into seven regiments across the state. The division headquarters is near Fort Bragg in Fayetteville.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;NCER needs additional volunteers with either enlisted or officer experience to train and supervise volunteer troops. People of any branch background are welcome, and special opportunities exist for those with medical or communications backgrounds.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Applicants must be citizens of North Carolina who are at least 18 years of age and have no felony criminal record. For more information, visit &lt;a href="http://www.ncer.us/" target="_blank"&gt;www.ncer.us&lt;/a&gt;, call 910-717-2627 or e-mail&lt;a href="mailto:ncerg1@yahoo.com"&gt;ncerg1@yahoo.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-2776026665978240270?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/2776026665978240270/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=2776026665978240270' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/2776026665978240270'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/2776026665978240270'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2009/01/from-citizen-times-httpwww.html' title=''/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4719624800896015750.post-1645931347300634934</id><published>2008-12-29T17:49:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-12-29T17:59:22.620-08:00</updated><title type='text'>To start</title><content type='html'>This site is meant to serve as a source of information for military veterans living in the Greater Asheville, NC area and those with ties to the area.  As you can see the site is just getting started, but please feel free to leave a comment with any ideas you have on how to improve the site.  Check out the resources site at &lt;a href="http://wiki.ashevilleveterans.com"&gt;wiki.ashevilleveterans.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4719624800896015750-1645931347300634934?l=www.ashevilleveterans.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/feeds/1645931347300634934/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4719624800896015750&amp;postID=1645931347300634934' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/1645931347300634934'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4719624800896015750/posts/default/1645931347300634934'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://www.ashevilleveterans.com/2008/12/to-start.html' title='To start'/><author><name>Josh O'Conner</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/16597882902874733109</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='31' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ETsJBPHxfm4/TzbGYbH65-I/AAAAAAAABZk/KQe5oSAnXyE/s220/screen2.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
