Law for extra veteran health benefits nears deadline

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, July 20th.

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The law that made millions of veterans eligible for extra health benefits, is nearing a major deadline. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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Today is the first official day of Comic-Con!

More than a hundred thousand people will be packing the convention center over the next few days for the event.

It’s one of the largest economic drivers for San Diego.

Rip Rippetoe is C-E-O of the San Diego Convention Center.

“Everyone who is here spends money in town.. It’s great to showcase something as fun as comic-con and we are enjoying the recovery that we are experiencing as a destination.”

Attendees are expected to contribute around 160 million dollars to the local economy.

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Another popular event starting this week is the Del Mar Horse Races.

Opening Day is tomorrow.

Gates open at 11-30 A-M and the first race will be at 2 P-M.

If you’re planning to go to the races, don’t forget to wear a fun and unique hat so you can enter the Opening Day hat contest for a chance to win prizes.

The Del Mar Horse Races are weekly, through September 10th.

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San Diego will host the National Women's Soccer League Championship this year!

San Diego Wave made the announcement yesterday.

The league final will take place at SnapDragon Stadium on November 11th.

It’ll be the first time the event will be hosted on the West Coast since 20-18.

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From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

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The V-A is receiving a surge of claims ahead of a major deadline for the Pact Act.

That's the law that made more than three-million veterans eligible for additional health benefits.

Steve Walsh of the American Homefront Project talked with volunteers in Norfolk, Virginia.

"You've been rewarded. Congratulations." One of Hugh Reid’s clients showed him an approval letter from the VA. "This is wonderful news. And you know what, that's what I do what I'm doing. Now you guys are giving me joy." Reed is a former Marine and Vietnam Veteran. These days he’s a volunteer at an American Legion Post in Norfolk, where he is helping other vets file VA claims. “You know sir, I just want to share with the veterans some of the experiences that they've had, some of the knowledge that I've done, and I want to pass it along to them.” The VA had been cutting into its long-standing backlog of claims, which was made worse during the pandemic. But when Congress passed the PACT Act last August, it opened up a whole category of benefits for Post-911 veterans exposed to burn pits - and others. Reed is concerned as the VA’s backlog has started to rise again. “It’s going to get overwhelmed. Of course, they had to do more hiring to accommodate all of that. But it can be problematic because when you get more claims, it means more paperwork is going in.” The VA pledged to hire 2,000 more people nationwide to handle claims. But it also relies heavily on a nationwide army of independent volunteers who are trained to help veterans file claims. On the ground at the American Legion, Veteran Service Officer Eric Isaksen says it's not as easy for service organizations to match the VA’s hiring with new volunteers. Some vets wait for appointments. “To be a good service officer. It's hard to work a full time job and do this. And so you got to be retired.” So far, hypertension is the number one claim under the PACT Act - more than 100,000 of the nearly 400,000 claims. That's because the law now grants benefits for hypertension as another condition tied to Agent Orange - the toxic defoliant used in Vietnam. Veterans of that war have been quick to apply, But the VA needs to do a better job finding Post-9/11 veterans, says Kaitlynne Yancy with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “Reaching the veterans in their local communities. So food banks, community centers, anywhere that you can think of, the local grocery store, just putting out information and making sure that it's as inclusive as humanly possible.” The largest group covered by the law is Gulf War and Post-9/11 veterans. For the first time, the law acknowledges the long term health impact of burn pits. Eric Hall served in Iraq in 2007/2008 where he was around troops burning car batteries, dead animals, even human waste all mixed with jet fuel. “And you have to literally sit there and stir. And so you're over it. It's not a set and forget type thing. So, yeah, I mean, being over there at the time I was, it was definitely, you were exposed to a lot of those exposures.”Originally, he didn’t associate his chronic pneumonia and asthma with his experience in Iraq, which is not uncommon among younger veterans. “As an infantry guy, we're conditioned to be like, you just push through it. It was one of the same issues we had to get people to admit they had PTSD.” When he did finally apply, the VA turned him down. He’s now appealing. “I'm hoping this is not a sign of things to follow. This is supposed to be super streamlined. It's supposed to be assumed to be service is connected.” So far, veteran organizations which fought for these benefits for years are giving the VA relatively high marks. Veterans and their survivors have an extra incentive to apply by August 9 because their claims will be back dated to when the law passed last year. It’s also the next test for how well the VA has been able to handle the surge. In Norfolk I’m Steve Walsh.

TAG: This story was produced by the American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans.

Locally, at the Chula Vista Veterans Center, an event called Vet-Fest will help folks learn about their benefits.

That’s on August sixth.

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The Port of San Diego is celebrating the arrival of two massive electric powered cranes that’ll move cargo at the Tenth Avenue marine terminal.

Environment reporter Erik Anderson says the first of their kind cranes in North America will help clean up air.

The cranes tower over the dock where they will be used to load and unload cargo at the marine terminal.  Board of Port Commission chair Rafael Castellanos says  The port spent 14 million dollars to buy the cranes and another nine million for the infrastructure to operate the machines. “If we’re going to grow our cargo operations and do it in a way that our communities can support then we have to make big investments.  We have invested or committed to spend about 63 million dollars and committed with our partners about 103 million dollars. That’s a massive investment to help move the port in that direction.” The cranes are expected to start working later this year.  They help the port move closer to making all cargo handling equipment zero emission vehicles by 2030. Erik Anderson KPBS News.

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Coming up.... More San Diego Unified campuses will soon become community schools. We’ll tell you what that means, just after the break.

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Two school districts in the South Bay are back in session…with an early return for the fall semester.

Education reporter M.G. Perez has the story.

It was the first day of school for both Chula Vista Elementary and Sweetwater Union High School districts, Wednesday. Those 65-thousand students in the South Bay are on a year round school schedule…which provides breaks from classes every 9-to-10 weeks. Isabella Castro is an incoming senior at Montgomery High School in the Sweetwater district. She is ready to get back to the books and focus on graduation. “I would say staying focused because I know senioritis is a big thing…like slacking off because it’s our last year…I’m trying to stay focused this school year.” In the Chula Vista district…two new community schools opened this week…offering families many more resources and learning opportunities beyond the regular school curriculum and services. MGP KPBS News.

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San Diego Unified will soon also have more community schools … a move it hopes will improve absences and enrollment.

Here’s inewsource reporter Andrea Figueroa Briseño with more.

BRISENO: Ten more San Diego Unified campuses will become community schools this upcoming year. That means services like food pantries and medical care could be offered on site with the help of a thirteen-million-dollar state grant. Research shows these schools can improve academic progress while reducing disciplinary incidents. But it’s unclear how the district will keep up with funding especially as it projects rising costs and a deficit in the coming years. Officials will need to provide the state with a funding plan by twenty-twenty-five. For KPBS, I’m inewsource reporter Andrea Figueroa Briseño.

TAG: inewsource is an independently funded, nonprofit partner of KPBS.

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That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join us again tomorrow for more of the day’s top local stories, plus, I talk all things soccer with one of our producers, as the Women’s World Cup is playing out. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Thursday.