Showing posts with label Buffalo NY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buffalo NY. Show all posts

Sunday, December 8, 2019

VA clinic sharing space with funeral home no longer a good idea?

New VA clinic in Niagara Falls won't share space with a funeral home after all


Buffalo News
By Thomas J. Prohaska
December 8, 2019
"It just sends a bad message" Krause said. "We're going to go in the front door and go out the back door?"
A VA clinic will now have the entire space at 1300 Pine Ave. in Niagara Falls, rather than share quarters with a funeral home. (Google image)
When veteran Robert Krause heard that the new Veterans Administration outpatient medical clinic in Niagara Falls would share a building with a funeral home, he and other veterans were unhappy.

"It just sends a bad message" Krause said. "We're going to go in the front door and go out the back door?"

But now it's the funeral home that has gone out the door.

Spallino-Amigone Funeral Home has moved out of its longtime location at 1300 Pine Ave., leaving the entire building to the VA.

Some local veterans were glad to see that, feeling that it was just a bad look for a medical clinic to share space with a funeral home.

"It just didn't seem right, Krause said. "A lot of us were planning to go somewhere else."

Anthony Amigone Jr., president of the Amigone Funeral Home chain, said Spallino-Amigone moved to Military Road in the Town of Niagara about two months ago.

He said the move was requested by the new owner of 1300 Pine, Acquest Development of Williamsville.
read it here

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Buffalo Police Officer Craig Lehner Body Found

Live coverage: Solemn escort for Officer Craig Lehner
Buffalo News
By Aaron Besecker, Lou Michel, Maki Becker
Published 2:16 p.m. October 17, 2017
Updated Less than a minute ago

They vowed to bring their brother home.

And after five long days of searching the relentless Niagara River, the body of missing Buffalo Police diver Craig Lehner has been finally found. The police made the official announcement just after 3 p.m.

A procession is about to begin to bring his body to Erie County Medical Center. Already, police and firefighters have begun lining the route to pay their respects.

Here is the route the procession will take: Niagara Thruway (I-190) North to the Scajaquada Corridor (198) East. Then the Kensington Expressway (33) East to the Grider Street exit and on to ECMC to the Erie County Medical Examiner's Office.
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Monday, October 16, 2017

Last Images of Buffalo Missing Police Officer Craig Lehner

Sean Kirst: A photographer captures lasting image of Officer Craig Lehner

Buffalo Police Officer Craig Lehner with his dog Shield at the K-9 training area on Louisiana Street. (Photo courtesy of Shannon Davis)
Lehner, 34, a nine-year veteran of the police department, has been missing since he vanished Friday during a training session for Buffalo police divers in the Niagara River. 

For the past four days, multiple local, state, federal and Canadian agencies have joined forces in a furious and difficult search. 

Zoll introduced Davis to Lehner, who joined the K-9 unit about a year ago. Lehner told Davis about his dog Shield, a 4-year-old German shepherd purchased by the Buffalo police from a training center near Rochester. As they spoke, Davis said, the dog – intent and preoccupied – wandered in circles in the training area, nose down, sniffing the ground. "He never stopped working," Davis said of Shield.


Lehner served in both Iraq and Guantanamo Bay with the Army National Guard. Davis photographed him with Shield, then spontaneously asked if she could take one portrait of Lehner, alone. Looking back on it, she is grateful for both images.

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Sunday, May 14, 2017

Deployment didn't stop Air Force Sergeant from College Graduation

Air Force sergeant graduates college via Skype
WGRZ News
Jeff Preval
May 14, 2017

"First, I would like to thank President Conway-Turner, as well as, the faculty and staff of Buffalo State," Winters said. "I would also like to thank my family, as well as my wonderful fiancee Kathleen Peterson and her family who is attending the ceremony here today, tomorrow we'll begin a new challenge taking on the world head on."
BUFFALO, NY - Some very special accommodations were made Saturday morning so a Buff State senior, who is abroad serving in the military, could graduate on time.

U.S. Air Force Sergeant Adam Winters, who's from Rochester, was deployed to Southwest Asia three months ago, as he began his final semester at Buff State. Winters is an aerial port specialist, loading cargo and passengers onto military aircraft. The deployment meant Winters would have to take online courses abroad, so he could graduate on time.
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Sunday, July 5, 2015

Over 700 Honor Vietnam Veterans Service

A town pays homage to veterans of Vietnam War
In Tonawanda, honoring devotion to duty from era when nation was deeply divided
The Buffalo News
By Joseph Popiolkowski
News Staff Reporter
July 2, 2015
“They really have influenced the way our troops are treated now. And I think it’s really, really admirable.”
Valerie Monahan

Charles M. Pritchard celebrated his 20th birthday in 1966 on a ship that was taking him across the Pacific Ocean to Vietnam.

He landed in the southern port of Vung Tau and spent a year fighting the North Vietnamese up the Mekong Delta to Chu Lai as an Army combat engineer.

“We built things and blew up things,” said Pritchard, 68, of the Town of Tonawanda.

But he was shocked by the reception he got when he returned home from that controversial war in September 1967.

After a debriefing in Oakland, Calif., he and others were told not to walk through the San Francisco airport alone for fear that they would be accosted by anti-war protesters.

“It still hurts to this day – still hurts,” said Pritchard, his voice breaking.

At an American Legion post while picking up a fish fry, he asked the bartender how he could join the veterans organization. Pritchard was told he had to go to war: “I said, ‘I went to Vietnam.’ He said, ‘That wasn’t a war.’ ”
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Saturday, July 13, 2013

Postal carrier admits stealing $400,000 from disabled veteran

Postal carrier admits stealing $400,000 from elderly customer
Stole $400,000 from veteran he befriended
Buffalo News
By Jay Rey
News Staff Reporter
July 12, 2013

The man lived in a cluttered, battered Buffalo home and was in need of help when Peter Saraceno first met him years ago while delivering the mail.

So Saraceno befriended the man, a fellow veteran. He helped him move into a better house, he ran errands for him, he washed his clothes.

But Saraceno also embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the man’s life savings to finance a gambling habit, according to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.

Saraceno, 63, a retired postal carrier from West Seneca, is accused of stealing roughly $400,000 from a 78-year-old who uses a wheelchair over the last seven years, said Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III.
read more here

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Point Man 'Healing the Wounds of War' Prayer Breakfast

Point Man International Ministries
Point Man Ministries organizes the 'Healing the Wounds of War' Prayer Breakfast
Special to the Post
5/29/13

Point Man Ministries organizes the “healing the wounds of war" prayer breakfast for Veterans each Tuesday at 8:30 am at the Buffalo Inn (164 N Pagosa Blvd).

Who is Point Man?

Since 1984, when Seattle Police Officer and Vietnam Veteran Bill Landreth noticed he was arresting the same people each night, he discovered most were Vietnam vets like himself that just never seemed to have quite made it home. He began to meet with them in coffee shops and on a regular basis for fellowship and prayer. Soon, Point Man Ministries was conceived and became a staple of the Seattle area. Bill's untimely death soon after put the future of Point Man in jeopardy.
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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Thousands of veterans' records collected mold at Buffalo VA

Thousands of records may have been lost or damaged at VA hospitals in Buffalo, Batavia
The Buffalo News
By Jerry Zremski
News Washington Bureau Chief
May 22, 2013

WASHINGTON – Thousands of patient records at the VA hospitals in Buffalo and Batavia have likely been misplaced or damaged, according to federal officials who have been prodding the facilities to improve their record-keeping.

VA officials uncovered the problem after the associate director of the Buffalo medical center initially dismissed worker complaints about shoddy record-keeping, according to officials at the Office of Special Counsel, which presses federal agencies to address complaints brought by whistle-blowers.

Four medical records technicians in Western New York “disclosed that medical files – including cardiac records, dental records and Agent Orange registry records – were randomly thrown in boxes rather than kept in any order, that many Social Security numbers were not properly attributed to the correct veteran name, and that mold-infested files were not handled properly to prevent further contamination and to ensure their restoration,” the Office of Special Counsel said. “As a result, veterans’ medical records were often deemed unavailable.”

Word of the lost and damaged records, coming just four months after reports that the Buffalo VA hospital potentially exposed hundreds of diabetic patients to contaminated insulin pens, prompted Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, to call for the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.
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Saturday, January 12, 2013

716 patients at VA may have been exposed to HIV and Hepatitis

716 patients at VA may have been exposed to HIV
Buffalo News
BY: JERRY ZREMSKI
NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF

WASHINGTON – More than 700 patients at the Buffalo VA Medical Center may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C because of the inadvertent reuse of insulin pens that were intended to be used only once.

The possible reuse of the insulin delivery devices occurred between Oct. 19, 2010, and Nov. 1, 2012, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said in a memo sent Friday to local members of Congress, which The Buffalo News obtained.

“There is a very small chance that some patients could have been exposed to the Hepatitis B virus, the Hepatitis C virus, or HIV, based on practices identified at the facility,” the memo said.

The VA told local lawmakers that 716 patients at the facility may have been exposed to the reused insulin pens, and that 570 of those patients are still living.
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Sunday, December 2, 2012

35 Year old died in police custody after taser

Inmate death under investigation
Buffalo News
BY: LOU MICHEL , NANCY FISCHER

A 35-year-old Depew man who had been jailed on burglary charges by Depew police died late Friday afternoon after being transported from the Holding Center to Erie County Medical Center Wednesday for a mental health evaluation.

Richard A. Metcalf Jr. suffered a massive heart attack in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, Buffalo attorney and family spokesman Thomas J. Casey said. Family also said Metcalf recently had begun showing signs of mental illness.

An investigation has already begun, said Thomas Diina, Erie County Sheriff Superintendant of Jail Management, and an autopsy was to be conducted.

Booking photos show Metcalf was bruised and cut before he was taken to the Holding Center, the Sheriff’s Office said.

“The booking photo shows that he had a rough ride before coming to us,” Diina said.

Casey said the family was distraught but had a lot of questions and wanted a full investigation.

Carwile said the officer used a Taser to subdue Metcalf and forcibly handcuffed him.
read more here

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Injured Iraq War Vet Inspires Others

Injured Iraq War Vet Inspires Others
May 8, 2012
Written by
Scott Brown

BUFFALO, N.Y. - "I notice I'm on fire, that's alarming to me because I have grenades strapped to my chest."

Mark O'Brien has a way of getting his audience's attention, whether he's talking to volunteer firefighters about the importance of wearing safety gear.

"This whole time I'm yelling let me die, let me die I don't want to live."

Or to middle school students about bullying.

"Anybody that posts something to make somebody's day horrible, you're a coward."

It's easy to hear that Mark O'Brien is a compelling speaker, and it's easy to see that his message is reinforced every time he gestures with his right arm or takes a step with his right leg because of the prosthetics he wears.

Although O'Brien's personality and presence makes it seem like he's been doing this for years, in reality he's only been publicly speaking for about six months.
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Friday, October 28, 2011

Veteran defies death to serve in a different way

Veteran defies death to serve in a different way
By Phil Fairbanks
NEWS STAFF REPORTER

Updated: October 27, 2011, 11:57 AM
"I really hope in my heart that they find a place for me here." Frederick Goldacker, Afghan War veteran now training with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Charles Lewis / Buffalo News

As bad as it was -- and it was bad -- it could have been worse, a lot worse.

"I could be talking to the wizard," said Frederick Goldacker. "I could be on a couch somewhere."

Only one thing stood between the former Army sergeant and an emotional crisis -- and that was his focus on the men in his infantry unit coming home alive and well from the war in Afghanistan.

The sergeant came home, too -- Goldacker is now living in Niagara Falls -- but thanks to a freak combat incident, he arrived with thyroid cancer and a permanent disability.

"The doctor said, 'I have some bad news for you,'" Goldacker recalls. "And I jokingly said, 'I have cancer.'

"And he said, 'Yes, you do.'"

So what does Rick Goldacker, just 18 months away from combat and still in the midst of cancer treatment, do next?

He signs up to become a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent.

For anyone who knows Goldacker, it's probably no surprise that the combat infantry leader is now patrolling the rivers and lakes around Buffalo. And doing it just a year after undergoing thyroid surgery and being declared disabled by the Army.

It's an uncommon tale of a soldier who saw a lot in Afghanistan, probably more than most men should, and could understandably have walked away from it.

Goldacker did just the opposite. He asked to serve his country again.
read more here

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Family of amputee tossed from roller coaster files wrongful death suit

Hackemer family files wrongful death suit
Probe results prompt change in position
By Matt Gryta and Dan Herbeck
NEWS STAFF REPORTERS

Updated: July 30, 2011, 9:28 AM

The family of a decorated Iraq War veteran who died after flying out of a roller coaster at the Darien Lake amusement park has decided to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

The family of James T. Hackemer, who was allowed to board the Ride of Steel coaster on July 8 despite having no legs, launched the State Supreme Court lawsuit on Friday against two companies associated with the park.

Hackemer, 29, of Gowanda, lost both legs and a hip in 2008 after a roadside bombing in Iraq, where he served as a sergeant in the Army.

He died after he was ejected from the 208-foot-high roller coaster during a family outing at Darien Lake.

According to family attorney Denis J. Bastible, park employees violated Darien Lake’s own safety rules when they allowed the double amputee to ride the coaster.

“They didn’t train their employees to follow the rules and the result was tragic,” Bastible told The Buffalo News. “[Hackemer] leaves two very young children behind, and his family is doing terribly.”
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Hackemer family files wrongful death suit

Monday, August 24, 2009

Two firefighters die in burning building in Buffalo


Buffalo mourns loss of 2 firefighters
Story Highlights
Two firefighters die in burning building in Buffalo, New York

Mayor: "Today is a very tragic day in the city of Buffalo"

Firefighters responding to reports that person was trapped in building






Dead identified as

Lt. Charles "Chip" McCarthy, 45, and

Jonathan Croom, 34


(CNN) -- Flags were being lowered to half-staff Monday in Buffalo, New York, after two firefighters died inside a fire-engulfed building, city officials said.

The firefighters were responding to reports that at least one person was trapped in the building.

"Today is a very tragic day in the city of Buffalo," Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said at a news conference. "Our hearts are broken right now, and we are all saddened by this terrible tragedy."

The cause of the blaze is under investigation, and the remains of the building are being searched to determine if anyone else perished inside, Buffalo Fire Commissioner Michael Lombardo said.

Emergency officials received a call around 3:50 a.m. that "someone [was] banging on a wall and calling for help" from inside the burning building, Lombardo said. Video footage showed the top level of the two-story brick building fully engulfed in flames. A convenience store was on the building's first floor.
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Two firefighters die in burning building in Buffalo

Friday, June 26, 2009

Veterans arrive for convention, visits to replica of 'The Wall'

Veterans arrive for convention, visits to replica of 'The Wall'
Statewide VFW convention in Buffalo rallies support to keep, enhance benefits
By Lou Michel and Jake May
NEWS STAFF REPORTERS

Far from the front lines of foreign conflicts, veterans are assembling in Buffalo by the thousands to advance an agenda aimed at preserving and enhancing benefits they say were earned on the battlefield.

War veterans from several generations started gathering here Wednesday, with more than 900 motorcyclists escorting the largest traveling replica of the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial, known as “The Wall.”

There will be no shortage of those who pay tribute.

Today, some 3,000 Veterans of Foreign Wars members and their supporters open a statewide convention in downtown Buffalo. When they’re not focusing on health care and other issues, they will ride shuttles to Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora to visit the Vietnam memorial.

Amid all this, a deep sense of camaraderie will be shared among those who fought for American freedom. Making it even more hospitable, organizers say, is Buffalo’s reputation for patriotism.

“Everybody feels very welcome, and they are happy to be here,” said David M. Czarnecki, an Alden resident and president of the 90th annual New York Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention, which continues through Sunday in the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.
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Veterans arrive for convention

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

For Memorial Day, Buffalo police honor Vietnam vets

For Memorial Day, Buffalo police honor Vietnam vets
By Gene Warner
News Staff Reporter

Those who served both their country and their community — first in Vietnam, later on the streets of Buffalo — finally received some recognition today with the unveiling of a plaque listing 66 Buffalo police officers who also served in Vietnam.

"It's much too little and much too late, but please accept this as a [token] of our gratitude," Buffalo Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson told more than 100 people at a Memorial Day ceremony in police headquarters.

Two high-ranking Buffalo police officers who never stepped foot in Vietnam, Lt. Kenneth Bienko and Detective James A. Lema, spearheaded the four-year effort to remember other police officers who served.

"It's long overdue for these guys," Lema said after the 10-minute ceremony. "They put their lives on the line twice, once for our country and once for our city. This is just a small way of saying thank you."

Bienko, a Gulf War veteran, served 22 years in the Navy, Coast Guard and Army. Both the military and the Buffalo Police Department have been a huge part of his life.
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http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/682357.html

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Vietnam Vet credits detective for help in police standoff


Video On Demand

Veteran credits detective for help in standoff
"All of a sudden I was out on the Thruway and I had no control of the situation," said Gilchriese.
James Gilchriese has spent the past five months in jail after causing an armed standoff that closed the river section of the Thruway for hours back in May.

His friend Thomas Magee said, "The guy on the Thruway is not the Jim Gilchriese I know."
Detective Teague was the one who spent an hour on the phone with Gilchriese trying to keep him calm and to put his gun down.
Also on WIVB.com

More on veteran credits detective for help in standoff
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A big turn of events Friday surrounding the man who held police at bay along the 190 and put a neighborhood under siege for hours earlier this year.

A Judge has given James Gilchriese a second chance for his plea on a felony weapons charge. Gilchriese apologized Friday, thanked police, and one detective in particular.

"I don't know. All of a sudden I was out on the Thruway and I had no control of the situation," said Gilchriese.

James Gilchriese has spent the past five months in jail after causing an armed standoff that closed the river section of the Thruway for hours back in May.

He was sentenced Friday to time served, and five years probation. The judge took into account the fact that he's 66, has no record of violence, and is very active with Vietnam veterans groups where he lives in Florida.

His friend Thomas Magee said, "The guy on the Thruway is not the Jim Gilchriese I know."
Gilchriese said he had been drinking, and was fighting with his girlfriend. "I had somewhat of a flashback to Vietnam but I can't use that as an excuse."

Detective Gary Teague from Buffalo Police said, "There were times when he'd talk about Vietnam. He said he was a veteran, he was trained in firearms and things of that nature."
Detective Teague was the one who spent an hour on the phone with Gilchriese trying to keep him calm and to put his gun down.

"And him I will never forget," said Gilchriese.

Gilchriese credits him for keeping it under control. "Absolutely, it was him. I would only talk to him," as Teague's respond was, "I'm pleased. Not very often people really thank us for what we do."

He adds, "It wasn't just me alone. It was a collaborative effort." Gilchriese could've received up to a seven-year sentence.

Please read the attached story to learn about how the New York State Police Thruway division was involved in the standoff.
Story by George Richert, WIVB
click links for all of this and learn what law enforcement officers across the nation need to understand to save more lives of these veterans.

Monday, September 22, 2008

NBC's "TODAY" SHOW TO SPOTLIGHT BUFFALO'S VETERANS COURT

NBC's "TODAY" SHOW TO SPOTLIGHT BUFFALO'S VETERANS

TREATMENT COURT -- Judge Russell: "It is my hope that other jurisdictions will use our experience to critically examine how they can better serve the veterans who come through the criminal courts."

NBC's "Today" show spotlights Veterans Treatment Court in Buffalo

Advocacy program is first in the nation

By Lou Michel NEWS STAFF REPORTER



The national spotlight is shining on Buffalo City Judge Robert T. Russell Jr. and his Veterans Treatment Court, which started in January and is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

Last week, a camera crew from NBC’s “Today” show filmed the judge addressing the Bar Association of Erie County’s new ad hoc committee on legal issues involving veterans and service members.

Tuesday, the “Today” show will again film the judge and his staff in the courtroom at Buffalo City Court for the segment, which is expected to air in the near future.

Russell, working with area veteran organizations, the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, police agencies and mental health experts, initiated the vets court in response to a disproportionate number of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans finding themselves on the wrong side of the law.
go here for more
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfsep08/nf092308-1.htm

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

PTSD:OSHA seeks comments on Police and Stress

NIOSH Study Seeks Comments on Police and Stress
CCH - USA

SAFETY / OSHA - 7/23/08
NIOSH Study Seeks Comments on Police and Stress
There are approximately 861,000 police officers in the United States (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos160.htm)

By the nature of their jobs, many police officers face tremendous stress on a daily basis. Research has shown that police officers are at increased risk for cardiovascular events and may face an increased risk for suicide. Yet, police officers are in general an understudied occupational group. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), together with colleagues at the University at Buffalo (UB), is studying the effects of policing and stress on adverse metabolic and early stage (subclinical) cardiovascular outcomes with the ultimate goal of preventing these and other stress-related disorders.

Researchers are using a physiologic measure of stress, salivary cortisol (often called the "stress hormone"), to assess whether stress is associated with adverse metabolic outcomes (e.g., glucose intolerance and metabolic syndrome a clustering of metabolic abnormalities including elevated waist circumference, triglycerides, blood pressure, fasting glucose, and reduced HDL cholesterol) and subclinical cardiovascular outcomes (e.g., decreased brachial artery response, increased carotid artery wall thickness, decreased heart rate variability) that are detectable before they manifest as disease such as diabetes and myocardial infarction.

To date, over 400 police officers have participated in the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) study. The clinical examination includes a series of questionnaires, which measure demographic, lifestyle, and psychological factors (e.g., depression, post-traumatic stress), DEXA measurements to record bone density and body composition, ultrasounds of the brachial and carotid arteries, 18 salivary cortisol samples throughout the day and in response to a series of challenges, and blood samples. Upon completion of the clinical exam, officers are given an actigraph, a small electronic device that resembles a wrist watch, to wear over the next 15 days that measures the quantity and quality of sleep throughout their typical police shift cycle.



Another feature of our research has been the success of two previous cross-sectional pilot studies involving a smaller number of Buffalo police officers. Findings include the following:

Female officers had higher mean Impact of Events (a measure of post-traumatic stress symptoms) and CES-D (a measure of depressive symptoms) scores than male officers.


Officers with higher post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms had a nearly two-fold reduction in brachial artery flow-mediated dilation, indicating greater impairment of endothelial function (physiologic dysfunction of the normal biochemical processes carried out by the cells which line the inner surface of blood vessels) than officers with fewer PTSD symptoms.


Officers with moderate or severe PTSD symptoms had higher mean awakening cortisol values compared with those who had less severe PTSD symptoms.


Officers with severe PTSD had a three-fold higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome than those reporting the fewest PTSD symptoms. This association was attenuated slightly by covariate adjustment for age and education.


Additional findings include associations of negative life events with depressive symptoms (Hartley et al.), night shift work with short sleep duration and snoring (Charles et al.), and a series of statistical applications for optimizing the measurement and analysis of study exposures or outcomes (Andrew et al., Fekedulegn et al., Slaven et al.).

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Sunday, July 6, 2008

Judge Robert Russell, hands out justice and help to veterans

Special court for vets addresses more than crime
By CAROLYN THOMPSON
The Associated Press
Sunday, July 6, 2008; 12:22 PM

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The first clue that the Tuesday afternoon session in Part 4 of Buffalo City Court is not like other criminal proceedings comes just before it starts.

Judge Robert Russell steps down from his bench and from the aloofness of his black robe. He walks into the gallery where men and women accused of stealing, drug offenses and other non-violent felonies and misdemeanors fidget in plastic chairs.

"Good afternoon," he says, smiling, and talks for a minute about the session ahead.

With the welcoming tone set, Russell heads back behind the bench, where he will mete out justice with a disarming mix of small talk and life-altering advice.

While the defendants in this court have been arrested on charges that could mean potential prison time and damaging criminal records, they have another important trait in common: All have served their country in the military.


That combination has landed them here, in veterans treatment court, the first of its kind in the country.

Russell is the evenhanded quarterback of a courtroom team of veterans advocates and volunteers determined to make this brush with the criminal justice system these veterans' last.

"They look to the right or to the left, they're sitting there with another vet," Russell said, "and it's a more calming, therapeutic environment. Rather than them being of the belief that `people don't really understand me,' or `they don't know what it's like' _ well, it's a room full of folks who do."

If the veterans adhere to a demanding 1- to 2-year regimen of weekly to monthly court appearances, drug testing and counseling for any combination of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, substance abuse or anger management, they could see their charges dismissed, or at least stay out of jail.
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