Recovery in action: AZ, KS, MD, MA, MS, MO, OH, PA, SC, VA

Arizona [East Valley Tribune, 3/10/09]:

About $7 million in federal stimulus money will enable Maricopa Workforce Connections to help hundreds more displaced workers upgrade their skills for future employment. The U.S. Department of Labor this week announced state allotment levels for employment and training programs funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The work force investment system will use the $3.5 billion to help Americans get back to work through the national network of one-stop career centers. "It can be used to help folks who have been laid off through education and training programs," said Peggy Abrahamson, Department of Labor spokeswoman. "Primarily the states do this through the one-stop career centers, and there's well over 3,000 around the country."

Kansas [Topeka Capital Journal, 3/12/09]:

Money from the federal stimulus program may reduce the three-month wait time for an appointment at the Shawnee County Health Agency Clinic. Shawnee County commissioners authorized Anne Freeze, health agency director, to speed the process of preparing the application and sending it to Washington.

Maryland [Gazette.net, 3/11/09]:

Stimulus road workers happy to be back on job… When American Infrastructure won the contract to repave a section of New Hampshire Avenue, Bryan White, 47, of Aberdeen, was one of the employees who got the call to return to work. "It's wonderful," White said of the project, cited as the first in the nation under the $26.6 billion released by President Barack Obama from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to state and local governments to repair and build roadways and bridges. "It's going to create more jobs. I know I'm happy."

Massachusetts [The Boston Globe, 3/12/09]:

The city plans to put its first millions in federal stimulus cash to work as early as next month as part of the redevelopment of the Washington-Beech housing development in Roslindale, Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday. Future phases of the redevelopment, which already have received significant federal funding, will mean a total of 342 new affordable housing units at Washington-Beech and in the surrounding area. Menino said yesterday that he believes the planned April 1 start date of construction on the Washington-Beech project made the city one of the first in the nation to use stimulus dollars aimed at housing. Other stimulus-funded projects slated to begin in 2009 include the installation of more energy-efficient lighting and heating at several housing developments ($5 million); upgrades to bathrooms in several of the housing authority's oldest developments ($10 million); heating and cooling system improvements ($5 million); and security camera installation ($1 million). "Washington-Beech is just the beginning," Menino said.

Read more on the other states of the recovery.


Also this:


LA Times:

Chris Schultz breaks down as he worries that his younger brothers will become homeless because his family is four months behind in rent.

Evelyn Aguilar's home was foreclosed, so her family is among a dozen people sharing a one-bedroom apartment.

Victoria Gonzalez may delay college for a year to support her family.These students, all 17, and 14 of their classmates tell their tales in "Is Anybody Listening?", a nine-minute video made by students at Village Academy High School in Pomona.

The production quality is minimal; students speak directly to the camera in front of a blue background, laced with footage of foreclosed homes, abandoned storefronts and others advertising going-out-of-business sales.But the tales of families dealing with the economic crisis are deeply personal.

This week, in his first major speech on education since taking office, President Obama described the video and spoke directly to the Pomona students."I am listening. We are listening. America is listening," the president said. "And we are not going to rest until your parents can keep their jobs, your families can keep their homes, and you can focus on what you should be focusing on: your own education."Although the subject is dispiriting, the story of how the documentary came to be made at a low-income yet high-achieving public school -- and ended up in a speech by the president -- is extraordinary.

Read the rest, or watch the video.