U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

By Tom Philpott Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the furlough of 680,000 civilian employees for one day a week, from early July through September, to avoid taking deeper cuts in training and maintenance, which could have degraded readiness to the...

— Over two weeks, the Pentagon has suffered a string of embarrassments in its effort to show progress in curbing sexual assault within the ranks. A Defense Department anonymous survey estimated a 35 percent increase in sexual assault and related...

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, a recent visit to Afghanistan and Bahrain confirmed my deep appreciation for service members and citizens who willingly put themselves in harm's way for the sake of our nation. Over the course of an...

Until it happened to him, Itzhak Brook, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Georgetown University School of Medicine, didn't think much about the problem of misdiagnosis. That was before doctors at a Maryland hospital repeatedly told Brook his...

Jesse Ballard III, the head of internal investigations at the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, will retire in June to take a federal job, the state agency said Friday. The move comes as the department continues to handle the fallout...

The Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training's Baltimore complex is full of neatly made beds and shining-clean floors, a military-like environment for homeless former service members working to get their lives back on track. Its executive...

Rabies prevention The Department of Health offers information on how to prevent the spread of rabies and what to do in the event of exposure. Rabies is most often seen in raccoons, bats, foxes and skunks. Information: 410-222-7168 or visit aahealth.org....

Over the objections of Los Angeles County mental health officials, a judge Thursday ordered an 86-year-old murder defendant to remain in the government's care and not be released to a family member. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Norman Shapiro...

Sen. Mark Warner is pressing his case for law schools across the country to follow a "playbook" developed at the College of William and Mary to reduce the nation's backlog of veteran disability claims. And he's trying to enlist 99 influential people to...

Base commissaries face turbulent times as staff vacancies swell under a federal hiring freeze, employee furloughs remain a worry and the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) digests budget guidance for fiscal 2015 that will force new efficiencies on stores...

Vietnam veteran John Otte did his best to forget the war. He got married, raised two sons and made a career working at credit unions. But as Otte neared retirement, memories of combat flooded back. Starting in 2005, he filed a series of claims with...

SIOUX FALLS-STORM CLEANUP Ice storm cleanup in Sioux Falls nearly done SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Cleanup of tree branches downed by an ice storm in Sioux Falls a month ago is nearing completion. Public Works Director Mark Cotter says about 80...