Veterans

Washington University’s School of Law launched the Veterans Law Clinic to provide free legal services for veterans.

This Veterans Day also marks a special day for Duckworth, a veteran herself — who’s celebrating the 20-year anniversary of surviving being severely injured in the line of duty.

All together, $19.3 million will be going to support veterans this year: $13 million from medical marijuana sales and $6.3 million from adult-use.

After the pandemic, the backlog grew to 600,000 requests, leaving veterans waiting for needed services. Last week, the National Personnel Records Center based in St. Louis County reported it’s nearly caught up.

No one knows how the fire started. It burned 16-18 million military records.

Grafton’s mayor said the city has raised about $130,000 so far. If the city meets its goals, it will finish the new memorial, museum and plaza in the next four years.

The goal of the nonprofit Veterans Community Project of St. Louis is to help transition homeless veterans to permanent housing.

Illinois quit collecting property taxes from disabled veterans in 2015, but that has cost Metro East school districts and other taxing bodies near Scott Air Force Base hundreds of thousands — or sometimes millions of dollars.

The VA St. Louis Health Care System is encouraging area veterans to apply for toxic exposure related health care and benefits. In August, a new law known as the PACT Act expanded benefits and health care for veterans exposed to hazardous toxins like radiation, smoke, Agent Orange and burn pits.

The VA Infrastructure Powers Exceptional Research (VIPER) Act introduced by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs could support medical advancements on prosthetics and mental health.