jwilkinson@thestate.com
February 26, 2014
COLUMBIA, SC — A program (click here) that has slashed
unemployment to less than 4 percent from 16 percent in 2011 among S.C.
National Guard members is being expanded statewide....
The advisers will work one-on-one with the service members to literally translate the skills they learned in the military with businesses that want to hire veterans....
However, there are some veterans that seem stranded with discrimination.
Written by B.C. Kowalski
Stevens Point Journal Media
Gabriella Barrett, 23, right, poses for a picture on Veteran's Day at Square Scoops in Stevens Point with owner Norb Hojnacki. The ice cream shop held a special for Veteran's Day. / File photo
STEVENS POINT — A local Army veteran (click here) is reconsidering taking a job at a major Stevens Point-area employer after the company’s employment recruiter told her soldiers don’t defend freedom and only serve for their paychecks.
Gabriella Barrett, 23, of Stevens Point was told in January that she had been accepted for a customer service job at the local company after the company’s recruiting contractor, Randstad, screened her. She intended to start the new job after a visit to Arizona, but while in Arizona, Barrett received an email from Sergio Ortiz, a recruiter at Randstad, that enraged her.
“I believe you choose to go into the Army for a paycheck not my freedom,” Ortiz’s email said. “So you will not be getting a thank you from me. I would have freedom regardless of your voluntary service.”...
Veterans state Republicans are compromising their legislative effort.
The American Legion (click here) on Wednesday slammed a move by some Senate Republicans to use veterans legislation backed by Democrats to get a new package of Iran sanctions through the chamber.
In the opening hours of debate on a bill that will extend health care to more veterans, Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire urged Senate Leader Harry Reid to allow a vote on the sanctions amendment.
An Ayotte spokeswoman said the senator is asking for a vote on the bill that would be offered as an amendment to the veterans' health care and education bill introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, has an alternative veterans' bill ready to go that includes the sanctions language, according to Bloomberg News....
