-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! 001655. Air-quality tests show no harmful contaminant exposure VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- Personal air sample tests conducted throughout October on people working near the Barka Slough Peat Bog fire displayed no signs of harmful levels of contaminants, said bioenvironmental officials here Nov. 1. "Preliminary air sample results for the personal breathing zones of support crews and firefighter personnel working to suppress the peat bog show that contaminants of concern were all non-detected or below the worker exposure standards," said Maj. Roger Nelson, commander of the 30th Aeromedical Operations Squadron bioenvironmental engineering flight here. "Therefore, the results received so far show that our response personnel have not been exposed to any hazardous pollutants above acceptable worker limits." Vandenberg Air Force Base and Santa Barbara county, Calif., officials stepped up air quality testing in October to ensure the well-being of firefighters, support crews and residents in surrounding communities stemming from a Sept. 14 fire. The fire consumed more than 9,700 acres of wildland between the California communities of Lompoc and Casmalia, including the 65-acre peat bog. The peat bog fire took firefighters more than a month to completely extinguish. People working in the peat bog wore personal air-quality monitors to test the air they were breathing at the fire. Air-quality measurement devices were also placed throughout the bog area and in the surrounding communities. Extensive particulate air-quality testing of the communities around the fire area, including Vandenberg Village, Los Alamos, Santa Maria and Lompoc is being conducted by the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District and the California Air Resources Board. Particulate matter refers to particles suspended in the air, and is typically considered the pollutant in wildfire smoke that is of greatest concern to people, said Kathy Patton, Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District technology and environmental assessment division manager. National and state standards apply to fine particulate matter. The smallest particles of these sizes can stay in the lungs, diminishing lung function and aggravating respiratory illness. County officials issued a health advisory Sept. 18, stating that if there is smoke in the area, individuals should try to stay inside and avoid outdoor activity. This is considered especially important for people with existing lung or heart problems, Patton said. Base officials will continue to monitor the air quality daily in cooperation with state and county officials. The results of ambient air-quality tests will be released to the public in mid-November. 001658. Troops on food stamps may get special allowance by Army Staff Sgt. Kathleen T. Rhem American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Service members currently receiving food stamps may soon be eligible for a special Department of Defense subsistence allowance. The Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001, signed by President Clinton Oct. 30, provides for the allowance to partially address the issue of service members receiving food stamps. The act allows for a cash allowance in the amount of the food stamp allotment or $500, whichever is less, said Navy Capt. Elliott Bloxom, the DOD's director of military compensation. The allowance is scheduled to begin in spring or summer 2001. Defense Department and service officials are still working out the details of how it will be implemented. "For instance, if a person gets $350 a month in food stamp allotments, he would get a $350 cash payment," Bloxom said. Individuals who receive more than $500 in food stamps would get $500 cash. There is one major caveat to this example, Bloxom said. The value of base housing will be added to the income of members in computing their eligibility for the new allowance. "For example, for someone living in government quarters in Jacksonville, Fla., we'd have to count the value of what somebody in Jacksonville at that pay grade and dependency status would get in (basic allowance for housing) into determining whether they would still be eligible for food stamps, and what their allotment would be if that value counted," Bloxom explained. He said this provision wouldn't effect whether those individuals still qualified for food stamps, just whether they qualified for the additional DOD allowance. "Many of those living on base and receiving food stamps may not be eligible for this special subsistence allowance," Bloxom said. Receiving the special subsistence allowance doesn't disqualify an individual from receiving food stamps, although it could lower the member's food stamp entitlement because it's paid in cash. "There is nothing in the law that says people who get this allowance can't receive food stamps," Bloxom said. "We believe that many people will receive the special subsistence allowance of a cash value and still be eligible to receive food stamps. Based upon their additional income, their food stamp allotment may go down somewhat but not to zero." Defense officials have noted current Department of Agriculture food stamp rules create an inequity among service members because they count monthly cash housing allowances as income but not the value of government quarters. Military members who live off base appear to have larger incomes than their peers who live on base. Ironically, the allowance members forfeit to live in base housing covers their costs in full while a cash allowance by law is supposed to cover only 85 percent of off-base housing costs -- but actually covers only 81 percent on average, according to DOD statistics. The DOD does not keep track of individual service members receiving food stamps, but officials estimate there are currently about 5,000. Bloxom said compensation experts estimate this new allowance will remove about 500 of those from the food stamp rolls. The new allowance is in lieu of a plan DOD officials had proposed in April to provide eligible members with commissary debit cards in the amount of their food stamp allotment. Instead of counting the value of base housing in determining eligibility, as the new allowance does, the debit card plan would have addressed the equity issue by not counting the housing allowances of those living off base. This plan would have made more families eligible for additional subsistence assistance, DOD officials said. 1654. Air Force, N.Y. officials break ground for research site ROME, N.Y. (AFPN) -- Air Force and New York officials broke ground on a $23.8 Air Force Research Laboratory research facility Nov. 1. This new facility at Griffiss Business & Technology Park will be the centerpiece of a partnership between the Air Force and New York. The consolidation project is the result of joint funding and Air Force Military Construction Program and New York's Empire State Development Corp support. "This partnership is truly unique," said Brig. Gen. David M. Cannan, command civil engineer for Air Force Materiel Command. Cannan expressed gratitude to the state and local community leaders involved with bringing the plan to fruition. Governor George Pataki described the project as "another step in the rebirth of the Mohawk Valley" that holds potential for spin-off jobs in high-technology industries. The new building, scheduled for completion in October 2002, is the second phase of a consolidation plan that will result in a state-of-the-art laboratory and research facility. The program's first phase calls for demolishing about 200,000 square feet of space in the east wing and front portion of a sprawling World War II era warehouse here. The structure's west wing has been remodeled and occupied by directorate support offices as a result of the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision on the former Griffiss Air Force Base. Approximately 115,000 square feet of new space will enhance research collaboration among the directorate staff. (Courtesy of Air Force Material Command News Service) *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! ****************************************************************************** ******************* A vote for Bush or Gore is a vote to continue Clinton policies! A vote for Buchanan is a vote to continue America! Therefore a vote for Gore or Bush is a wasted vote for America! Don't waste your vote! Vote for Patrick Buchanan! Today, candor compels us to admit that our vaunted two-party system is a snare and a delusion, a fraud upon the nation. Our two parties have become nothing but two wings of the same bird of prey... 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