QLD:Expert holds hope Migaloo is alive

AAP General News (Australia)
08-10-2011
QLD:Expert holds hope Migaloo is alive

A marine expert says a white whale found dead off north Queensland is unlikely to be
the rare albino humpback Migaloo.

Fishermen spotted sharks feeding on a white whale carcass off Palm Island, near Townsville,
earlier this week.

Whale Research Centre founder OSKAR PETERSON says he's been told by Aboriginal elders
on the island that it's not Migaloo, and he doesn't believe it is either.

He says Migaloo is 100 per cent white and can be identified by a photo of its tail
- the equivalent of fingerprints - while DNA on a database for confirmation.

AAP RTV dac/tnf/jmt

KEYWORD: MIGALOO (BRISBANE)

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Man critically injured in fall from Sydney balcony

AAP General News (Australia)
02-02-2006
NSW: Man critically injured in fall from Sydney balcony

SYDNEY, Feb 2 AAP - A man has been critically injured in a fall from a balcony of a
Sydney apartment.

The 25-year-old man was apparently trying to gain access to a second floor unit at
the Artarmon apartment block when he fell from the first floor balcony, police said.

A nurse, who is a resident of the Broughton Street unit block, saw the man fall about
four metres to the car park below.

She rendered first aid until ambulance officers arrived.

The man was admitted to Royal North Shore Hospital with head, chest, foot and possible
spinal injuries.

His condition was described as critical.

AAP was/cdh/sd

KEYWORD: FALL

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW:Hanson ponders vote challenge

AAP General News (Australia)
04-13-2011
NSW:Hanson ponders vote challenge

Eds: Correcting 3rd par to reflect that Ms Hanson previously served in the federal
lower house and not the Senate.



SYDNEY, April 13 AAP - Former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says she is seeking
legal advice on requesting a recount for the NSW upper house election count in which she
failed by just 1306 votes to gain a seat.

Ms Hanson, who ran as an independent, claims preferences weren't distributed fairly
and has raised concerns about the randomised preference system used by the NSW Electoral
Commission to distribute surplus votes.

Nationals candidate Sarah Johnston, who took the 21st and last spot up for grabs in
the Legislative Council, was just 1306 votes ahead of the former federal MP.

Before preferences, Ms Hanson led the Nationals by 7540 votes and the Greens - who
took the 20th spot - by 15,470.

Ms Hanson on Wednesday said she was seeking legal advice about requesting a recount
and would write to the Electoral Commission about her concerns.

"It's not just about Pauline Hanson," she told AAP.

"We need to make sure that this is a fair and just election.

"I just don't fell that this election was conducted this way."

Apart from her concerns about the random distribution of preferences, Ms Hanson was
also upset by reports a scrutineer had discovered 15 votes for her in a bundle of blank
votes.

"These were supposed to be bundles of blank votes and that's just one bundle that we
found," she said.

"I haven't got the resources that major political parties have for people to stand
there watching it.

"I want to ensure I did get every vote I was entitled to."

The NSW Electoral Commission said Ms Hanson had 40 days in which to request a recount.

The application would be heard by the Supreme Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns.

"The position of the Electoral Commission is that this is the right result as it stands,"

the commission's spokesman Richard Carroll said.

"She would have to come up with reasons why she this believes the result should be looked at."

AAP ab/tr/dep

KEYWORD: POLLNSW HANSON (REISSUING)

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

VIC:Main stories on 1200 3AW news

AAP General News (Australia)
12-24-2010
VIC:Main stories on 1200 3AW news

MELBOURNE, Dec 24 AAP - Main stories on Wednesday's 1200 3AW news:

- Police block streets as they search for two armed gunmen in Clayton.

- Teenage girl in St Kilda nude pix affair says there's a 60-40 chance she'll turn
up for Federal Court hearing on Friday.

- Head of the navy praises the work of the rescue crew in the Christmas Island tragedy.

- Police angry that dangerous drivers continue to put people's lives at risk.

- Safety of Santa's flight across Australia is paramount, according to air traffic controllers.

- ASX down 21 points at 4867.

- Ricky Ponting completes hour of batting practice in fitness test before Boxing Day Test.

AAP stu/jxt/apm

KEYWORD: MONITOR 3AW 1200

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

WA:Man charged over fatal Perth stabbing

AAP General News (Australia)
08-16-2010
WA:Man charged over fatal Perth stabbing

PERTH, Aug 16 AAP - A man has been charged with murder after allegedly stabbing a man
to death in Perth's entertainment district during an argument.

The 23-year-old man was stabbed in the chest in Northbridge around 9.30pm (WST) on
Sunday and was announced dead at Royal Perth Hospital later in the night.

Police have laid a murder charge against another 23-year-old man from Stratton in the
city's east.

He was with his wife when he became involved in an altercation with the 23-year-old
victim in a laneway near Aberdeen Street, police allege.

The accused man was due to appear in the Perth Magistrates Court on Monday or Tuesday.

On Monday morning several streets and laneways in Northbridge remained blocked off
as detectives investigated the death.

A line of blood spots was marked to retrace the man's steps.

AAP ldj/maur

KEYWORD: STAB UPDATE

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Main stories in the Melbourne newspapers

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-2010
Vic: Main stories in the Melbourne newspapers

MELBOURNE, April 8 AAP - Main stories in Thursday's Melbourne newspapers:

HERALD SUN

Page 1: I let you down, says Christine Nixon, who went for lunch as Victorian burned.

Page 2: Don't expect a rate rise if you have money in the bank, says banking industry.

Page 3: Football great Lou Richards gets the key to Melbourne.

World: Women arrested after trying to wheel dead man on to plane.

Finance: Suncorp moves its AAMI general insurance subsidiary to Sydney.

Sport: Adelaide clubs get coach's box behind the goals at AAMI stadium.

more jxt/ash

KEYWORD: MONITOR FRONTERS VIC

2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Qld: Piggery in lockdown for suspected swine flu

AAP General News (Australia)
08-25-2009
Qld: Piggery in lockdown for suspected swine flu

By Angela Harper

BRISBANE, Aug 25 AAP - A Queensland piggery is in lockdown due to a possible swine
flu outbreak, with pigs testing positive for Influenza A.

Tests are underway to confirm infection of Influenza A(H1N1) - pandemic human swine
flu - which is suspected at the unnamed quarantined piggery on the outskirts of Dalby,
west of Brisbane.

Biosecurity Queensland chief vet Dr Ron Glanville said swabs and blood samples were
taken from pigs on Monday after a vet reported a large number of pigs in a shed of 450
were showing flu-like symptoms.

"Biosecurity officers have placed the piggery under quarantine and are implementing
strict on-site biosecurity measures," Dr Glanville said.

"This comes after positive tests for Influenza A were delivered to us late last night (Monday)."

Officials say no pigs had recently left the property.

Results of the swine flu tests are expected in the next few days but Dr Glanville suspects
the animals will test positive to the same strain affecting humans.

"The infection should be self-limiting within the piggery and the response is designed
to allow the disease to burn out as quickly as possible," he said.

Western Downs Regional Council mayor Ray Brown said he had confidence that all proper
measures had been taken.

"I have got faith in the government organisations to keep this under control," he told AAP.

"Also, the owners of this piggery are very professional people and I have great faith
in their ability to control this."

Australian Pork Limited chief executive Andrew Spencer said it was important to remember
there is no chance of the virus infecting meat.

"We have a situation where there are hundreds of thousands of Australians walking around
spreading these flu viruses around, so the expectation that we are not going to suffer
in the pig industry is a little over-optimistic," Mr Spencer told AAP.

"A number of piggeries are starting to become affected by this virus and that's an
issue we need to deal with on those piggeries and to again clean up the health status
of those piggeries and get rid of the disease."

A case of swine flu was detected at a piggery in northern Victoria last week and in NSW in July.

The initial outbreak of swine flu in April this year had a severe impact upon sales
of pork, which had since been restored, Mr Spencer said.

"Fortunately consumers are getting the message that there's absolutely no issue with
this disease and eating pork," he said.

Authorities are warning all pig owners to maintain strict biosecurity measures on their
properties and, if swine flu is suspected, call Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23.

Meanwhile, the deaths of a 35-year-old Cairns man and a 29-year-old woman from the
Gold Coast take the number of Queensland swine flu-related deaths to 30.

Ninety-three people with the swine flu are in hospital, including 32 in intensive care.

AAP ahe/pjo/dep/apm

KEYWORD: FLU QLD WRAP

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Chemical leak cost company $80,000

AAP General News (Australia)
04-16-2009
Vic: Chemical leak cost company $80,000

By Daniel Fogarty

MELBOURNE, April 16 AAP - One of the world's largest marine terminal operators has
been ordered to pay $80,000 over a leak that sent a putrid chemical odour across Melbourne's
northern suburbs.

Residents up to 12km away feared for their health as the pungent odour chocked the
air in September 2007.

Ethyl acrylate, a substance used in the manufacture of fibreglass and plastics, leaked
into the ground after a valve in a storage container was damaged at the DP World Australia
terminal at Coode Island in inner Melbourne, the Melbourne Magistrates court heard on
Thursday.

A container of the substance was being off-loaded from a ship by a crane at the time
of the incident.

Workers operating the crane did not notice the leak, the court heard.

Two workers at the terminal, two fire brigade personnel and a paramedic reported feeling
nauseous and suffered eye and respiratory irritation.

Sixty residents complained to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about the odour.

In statements to the EPA residents described a strong glue-type smell.

The following day a further 60 employees of DP World reported feeling ill.

DP World Australia, which previously traded as P&O Ports Ltd, on Thursday pleaded guilty
to polluting the atmosphere in a manner that was offensive to the senses of human beings.

The company's barrister Graeme Peake said that with such a large volume of dangerous
goods at the Port of Melbourne it was "almost inevitable" that one day there would be
an incident.

But, he said, the consequences of this incident were at the lower end of the scale
given there was no harm to the environment and no permanent harm done to humans.

Prosecutor Henry Jackson said it was incumbent upon companies like DP World to ensure
they exercised the utmost care when dealing with dangerous goods.

The court heard the parties had reached an agreed penalty which included an $80,000
payment by the terminal operator to Future Canvas, an organisation building a community
garden at Victoria Harbour.

The penalty also involves DP World Australia advertising in newspapers that they were
convicted by a court.

Magistrate Ian von Einem agreed the penalty was suitable.

He convicted DP World and ordered they pay $10,000 court costs.

AAP df/mh/cdh

KEYWORD: DP WORLD

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

WA: Main stories in today's Perth newspaper

AAP General News (Australia)
12-11-2008
WA: Main stories in today's Perth newspaper

PERTH, Dec 11 AAP - Main stories in today's The West Australian newspaper:

Page 1: Taxpayers secretly footed a $190,000 superannuation tax bill for former Governor-General
Michael Jeffery when he retired three months ago after he complained to the Rudd Government;
Thousands of WA jobs are at risk after a Rio Tinto call to slash 14,000 jobs worldwide
because of the global economic crisis.

Page 3: Senior WA public servants are under investigation by police over allegations
that millions of dollars of taxpayers' money earmarked for the State's premier technology
development centre are missing.

Page 5: A man who saw his friend killed with a cricket bat during a clash with a group
of teenagers told police twice they had charged the wrong person over the attack, a jury
has been told.

World: The US was stunned yesterday at the greed and arrogance of Illinois Governor
Rod Blagojevich, who was roused from bed by the FBI and arrested for plotting to sell
the vacant Senate seat of president-elect Barack Obama for cash or a plum-job with the
Obama administration. (CHICAGO)

Business: Rio Tinto has issued a dire warning to rivals BHP Billiton and Fortescue
Metals Group about the appetite of the Chinese for iron ore next year.

Sport: Ben Cousins has the hope Richmond may pick him up after the club's application
to have injured Graham Polak put on its rookie list.

AAP ah

KEYWORD: MONITOR FRONTERS WA

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Call for government to maintain textile industry protection

AAP General News (Australia)
08-07-2008
Fed: Call for government to maintain textile industry protection

CANBERRA, Aug 7 AAP - Workers in the textile, clothing and footwear industry are calling
for greater federal government support, including the retention of current tariff protection
levels.

The Textile Clothing and Footwear Union (TCFUA) warns the industry will lose more jobs
if tariffs on imported goods are cut.

The Productivity Commission has called for the removal of tariffs.

TCFUA national secretary Michele O'Neil says the industry has suffered under a decade
of neglect from the former Howard government, but remained a vital part of the Australian
economy.

"We call on the Rudd government to reject the Productivity Commission's short-sighted
tariff-slashing approach, and implement a forward-looking industry plan that supports
jobs, innovation, skills and export development," she said.

A strong local manufacturing base could only prosper once exploitative conditions were
acknowledged and addressed, Ms O'Neil said.

"Australian taxpayers expect that government funds delivered to the industry should
go to companies that ensure that their workers are paid properly under fair conditions
and that goods are made according to the best environmental standards."

AAP kms/rl/cjh/cdh

KEYWORD: TARIFFS TCFUA

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Out-of-control car veers sideways, then into teens: witness

AAP General News (Australia)
02-13-2008
Vic: Out-of-control car veers sideways, then into teens: witness

MELBOURNE, Feb 13 AAP - An out-of-control car screeched its tyres then veered sideways
into a group of people, a trial into the deaths of six pedestrians has been told.

Thomas Graham Towle, 36, allegedly ran into a group of teenagers walking on Myall Street
at Cardross near Mildura as they left a 16th birthday party.

He is on trial in the Victorian Supreme Court facing 14 charges, including six of culpable
driving, over the incident on February 18, 2006.

Witness Justin Poulton, 21, was being driven to the party in Myall Street when he saw
the car approach.

"The car to me looked to be very much out of control," he told the court.

"I believe it was going very fast.

"I could hear the screeching of the tyres as it went past.

"It was then that the car began to slide sideways across the intersection, where it
hit a group of people which were on the right-hand side of the road."

He said he ran to the crash scene, while calling 000 on his mobile phone, and helped the injured.

His mother, Julie Poulton, who drove him and two friends to the party, said she earlier
saw a group of people on the left side of the road and slowed down.

She had pulled over to drop them off and had her blinker on ready to do a U-turn, but
said she stopped when she heard a fast car approach.

"It was just coming too fast. It was such a still night. It was flying," she said.

"I had my blinker on ready to go, but I thought, no, I'll wait till this car comes."

Ms Poulton said she later heard tyres screech, saw dust and heard screams.

"I knew he hit these kids," she said.

Witness Daniel Boeder, 34, said dust filled the air and people were screaming and yelling.

"People were yelling out for the driver," he said.

Several witnesses reported the car was travelling above the 100km/h speed limit.

The crash took the lives of Shane Hirst, 16, his sister Abby Hirst, 17, Stevie-Lee
Weight, 15, Cassandra Manners, 16, Cory Dowling, 16 and Josephine Calvi, 16.

The trial before Justice Philip Cummins continues.

AAP mi/pmu/jm/bwl

KEYWORD: TOWLE

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED: Doctor proposes cervical vaccine trial on babies - report

AAP General News (Australia)
08-27-2007
FED: Doctor proposes cervical vaccine trial on babies - report

SYDNEY, Aug 27 AAP - A doctor who played a key role in trials of a cervical cancer
vaccine is proposing testing it on babies.

Suzanne Garland, the director of microbiology and infectious diseases at the Royal
Women's Hospital in Melbourne, is flying to the US to meet with drug companies and will
discuss trialling the vaccine on babies up to a few months old, Fairfax newspapers report.

Professor Garland said there were benefits to immunising babies instead of schoolgirls,
but one of the questions that would need to be answered was how long the vaccine would
last, and whether a booster shot would be necessary years later.

The vaccine has been tested in children only over the age of 10.

AAP kd/rs

KEYWORD: CERVICAL

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Government bribing business to push IR laws, Gillard says

AAP General News (Australia)
04-12-2007
Fed: Government bribing business to push IR laws, Gillard says

By Vincent Morello

SYDNEY, April 12 AAP - Labor has accused the federal government of bribing Australian
business to push its controversial industrial relations laws.

Fairfax reported today that 40 industry, business and employer groups have received
a total of $20.7 million from the government to educate their members about the year-old
Work Choices laws.

In exchange, the government wants the organisations to fund their own advertising campaigns
in support of Work Choices.

Labor has vowed that if it wins the upcoming federal election it will abolish the new
laws and let workers on Australian Workplace Agreements decide if they want to remain
on an individual contract or enter into a collective bargaining agreement.

In the meantime, Labor's spokeswoman for industrial relations Julia Gillard has accused
the government, but not business, of foul play.

"Now I don't blame Australian businesses or business organisations for taking money
from the government for training in industrial relations laws," Ms Gillard told reporters
in Sydney.

"But I do blame the Howard government for offering taxpayers' money as a political
bribe on the one hand and requiring a political favour in support of the Howard government
on the other.

"Every Australian would know that that isn't right."

MORE vpm/wjf/jt/de

KEYWORD: WORKPLACE GILLIARD

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

SA: Consumers warned on Christmas loans

AAP General News (Australia)
12-11-2006
SA: Consumers warned on Christmas loans

People are being urged to avoid some short-term loans over Christmas .. which could
slug them interest rates as high as 420 per cent.

South Australian Consumer Affairs Minister JENNIFER RANKINE says buying presents with
high-interest loans could make this the most expensive Christmas ever for some families.

Ms RANKINE says people want to be generous .. but doing it on credit or borrowing from
a high interest finance lender can be a financial trap.

Ms RANKINE also says there's an influx of complaints against businesses that failed
to provide goods or services .. paid for in advance.

In one case a consumer paid 17 thousand dollars for computer equipment that was never
supplied .. while an elderly woman paid eight thousand dollars upfront for a roof restoration
.. never to see the tradesman again.

AAP RTV tjd/cp/bart

KEYWORD: XMAS LOANS (ADELAIDE)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Main stories in today's Sydney newspapers= 2

AAP General News (Australia)
08-04-2006
NSW: Main stories in today's Sydney newspapers= 2

THE AUSTRALIAN:

Page 1: Hundreds of suicide bombers have been dispatched from south-east Asia across
the world to attack Jewish interests. States downgrade plans for a multi-billion dollar
carbon trading system. The Boy from Oz opens in Sydney. Rio Tinto records a 75 per cent
hike in first-half earnings.

Page 2: Smuggling of guns from Australia into PNG threatens to derail a multi-billion
dollar gas pipeline project.

Page 3: Survey shows doctors regularly ask drug companies for gifts, free travel and donations.

World: Israeli prime minister warns UN not to sent a "Dad's Army" of peacekeepers to
enforce a ceasefire in southern Lebanon.

Finance: Rio Tinto considers returning more capital to shareholders after recording
a 75 per cent rise in first half profit.

Sport: Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse admits he picked troubled stars Chris Tarrant
and Ben Johnson because the club is in a position to make the finals.

MORE nr/cjh

KEYWORD: MONITOR FRONTERS NSW 2 SYDNEY

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Danna Vale isolated on Muslim comments=2

AAP General News (Australia)
02-14-2006
Fed: Danna Vale isolated on Muslim comments=2

Ms Vale later denied telling ABC radio that Muslims were having too many children.

"I was verballed this morning by the ABC," she later told Macquarie Radio.

"I would never say such a thing and I did not say it.

"I did say that Australians are aborting ourselves out of existence, and that is an
entirely different thing to say."

Ms Vale said a lot of people were concerned about the high rate of abortion and its side effects.

"It does have a ramification on our nationhood. You just can't get away from that," she said.

"It has moral, social and political ramifications."

Because of this, Ms Vale said a bureaucratic body should not be responsible for making
decisions about abortion drugs.

"The TGA does not have the capacity to actually deal with such things," she said.

"It should be right at the feet of the minister responsible, the elected member of parliament.

"This is a particular drug that can actually end a developing human life."

AAP tr/tam/rj

KEYWORD: ABORTION VALE 2 CANBERRA (REOPENS)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

COLUMN: Suing does not sell more products

Adam Kemp
University Wire
10-18-2005
(The Battalion) (U-WIRE) COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- In the past few years, the music and movie industries have made fighting piracy one of their top concerns. One of their favorite methods, it seems, is suing individual people who share copyrighted materials on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. Apparently they think that suing people is a good way to convince them to buy their products. This may be an effective deterrent, but I doubt that it will have any significant effect on sales.

The real problem is that the movie and music industries just don't get it. They are not giving their customers what they want. The Internet has opened the door to a completely different method of distribution, one that is cheap and easy and doesn't even require leaving your room. People like this. They want to get music online. Only recently has the recording industry begun to figure this out, and the movie industry has a long way to go.

With the rise of popular pay sites such as Apple's iTunes Music Store, it is obvious that people are willing to pay for online music. "Browsing in a store is horrible because you need to know what to look for," says graduate computer science student James Esslinger. "On the Web you can find exactly what type of music you like, then go purchase it from iTunes."

At the same time, it is clear that online customers still have certain demands that the recording industry does not understand. The industry wants to use Digital Rights Management technology to limit what users can do with the music they purchase online. For instance, iTunes limits the number of times that a purchased song can be burned to a CD. It also does not allow purchased music to be transferred to other computers without first burning it to a CD and then ripping it back from the CD.

Online pricing is also an issue. So far, people seem happy with the standard iTunes price of 99 cents per track and $9.99 per album, but some record labels are pressuring Apple to raise those prices and even threatening to pull their songs if Apple does not cooperate. They also want the option to make popular songs more expensive.

The music industry wants to blame piracy on falling sales, when they should be blaming themselves. While demand for CDs has fallen in the last decade, the price has steadily increased. Did anyone in this industry ever take an economics course? Raising prices causes demand to go down.

Another good economics lesson for the industry to learn is that giving consumers what they want leads to profit. Consumers want to purchase individual songs online, not pay up to $20 for an album with one good song on it.

The industry needs to wake up, because their market is changing with or without them, and suing their customers can only take them so far.


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(C) 2005 The Battalion via U-WIRE

structure factor

scan needed?structure factor A quantity denoted F_hkl, where h, k, and l are the Miller indices of the crystal, which occurs in X-ray crystallography and other experiments involving scattering in crystals. F_hkl is defined by the equation: F_hkl = ∑₁f_iexp[2πi(hx_i + ky_i + lz_i)],

where the sum is over all atoms of the unit cell and f_i is the scattering factor for atom i defined by: f_i = 4Π(ρsinkr/kr)r²dr

Here k = 4Πsinθ/λ, where θ is the Bragg angle (see Bragg's law), λ is the wavelength of the X-rays, and ρ is the electron density distribution of the atom i. The structure factor is used in Patterson synthesis.

compass point

compass point plane angle ¹/₃₂ revolution (= , 11° 15′); see point.

VA Awards Homeless Assistance Grants; Six Public and Private Nonprofit Groups in California Included.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Oct. 19, 1999--

California Secretary of Veterans Affairs Tomas Alvarado today announced that 51 public and private nonprofit groups, including six groups in California, will receive awards from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), under its Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program, to develop new programs to assist homeless veterans.

"VA is taking another great step...to break the cycle of homelessness among America's veterans," said U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo West.

"Veterans who find themselves homeless in America will have a variety of transitional houses and other assistance available as a result of the new programs we fund..."

Awardees from 26 states and the District of Columbia will receive grants totaling approximately $15 million. The grants, ranging from $25,000 to nearly $1.5 million, will provide up to 65 percent of the cost of acquiring or renovating facilities that will be used for housing or service centers. Nearly 100 organizations applied for this year's VA grants.

Noting there are currently more than 800 veterans who sleep each night in beds already funded under this program, West said that approximately 4,000 community-based beds will be available when these projects and previously funded projects are completed.

With this new round of grants, VA has assisted 178 public and private nonprofit grant recipients in 42 states and the District of Columbia, with new recipients in three more states (Arkansas, Hawaii, and Mississippi). VA has awarded more than $41 million in grants since the program began in 1994.

VA, which has directed more than $100 million to its specialized homeless assistance programs in fiscal year 1999, is the only federal agency providing substantial hands-on assistance directly to homeless persons. In addition to the grant and per diem program, the department administers specialized homeless assistance programs including health care, rehabilitation, outreach and counseling for homeless veterans.

Information on the program is available on VA's home page which can be reached through the Internet at http://www.va.gov/health/homeless/index.htm.

The following is a list of the California awardees including names of the organizations, locations and program descriptions.

VA Grants for Homeless Programs Fiscal Year 1999

The following six public and nonprofit groups in California have been awarded grants to assist homeless veterans under the VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program.

Eureka, Vietnam Veterans of California Inc.

This organization requests $308,750 from VA for the acquisition and renovation of 4041 F St., Eureka, Calif., to create transitional housing that will provide 30 beds for homeless veterans.

Los Angeles, California Council for Veterans Affairs Inc.

This organization requests $390,000 from VA for the acquisition and renovation of 8652 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, Calif., to create transitional housing that will provide 32 beds for homeless veterans.

Novato, Homeward Bound of Marin

This organization requests $669,500 from VA for the construction of New Beginning Center, 1399 N. Hamilton Parkway, Novato, Calif., and the renovation of Building 829 at 829 State Access Road, Novato, Calif., in order to create transitional housing that will provide 16 beds for homeless veterans and a service center that will provide 400 contacts with veterans per month.

San Diego, San Diego Urban League

This organization requests $555,750 from VA for the acquisition and renovation of 5412 and 5418 Imperial Ave., and 5347 Groveland Drive, San Diego, Calif., to create transitional housing that will provide 34 beds for homeless veterans.

March Air Force Base, Los Angeles Veterans Initiative Inc.

This organization requests $397,000 from VA for the renovation of Building 977 at March Air Force Base, Calif., to create transitional housing that will provide 98 beds for homeless veterans.

Fresno, Central Valley Association for Community Services Inc.

This organization requests $357,500 from VA for the acquisition and renovation of 1383 N. Motel Drive, Fresno, Calif., to create transitional housing that will provide 120 beds for homeless veterans and a service center that will provide 300 contacts with veterans per month.

Note to Editors: This release and previous CDVA news releases are available via e-mail (steve.dakota@cdva.ca.gov) or via fax by News On Demand at 800/356-8440.