In Ohio, Stim Money Builds a Road but Threatens a Downtown
Today's roundup of stimulus coverage:
A small city in Ohio is demonstrating the law of unintended stimulus consequences. The Associated Press reports that Ohio is spending $150 million in stimulus money to complete a highway bypass around Nelsonville (population: 5,000), a project that will speed the drive along Route 33 from Columbus to Charleston, W.Va. But the bypass, which was begun in 2007 but stalled because of state budget problems, will also divert traffic away from the shops and art studios in the city's downtown. The state Department of Transportation has said it will install highway signs telling drivers about the alternative route through Nelsonville, a step that some merchants worry may not be enough to stem the likely decline in business from out-of-towners.
President Obama defended the "Buy American" provision of the stimulus package in talks with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts. Speaking from Guadalajara, Mexico, at the close of a two-day meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Obama said the provision, which says products purchased with stimulus funds must be made in the United States, has not damaged trade with the country's neighbors. (Canadian officials disagree.) Obama and Harper discussed ways for individual states and provinces to reach their own agreements, working around the Buy American provision.
It's official: Alaska will say yes to $28.6 million in stimulus money that former Gov. Sarah Palin vetoed. The Legislature voted 45-14 on Monday to override Palin's veto of stimulus dollars for energy efficiency projects. State Sen. Bill Wielechowski said rural Alaskans needed the money offered by the program. "We heard tearful pleas for help from the community," he said, according to the Huffington Post.
Are you tracking the stimulus? ProPublica has set up a mailing list for reporters covering the stimulus, and you're welcome to join.
Latest Stories in this Project
Get Updates
Our Hottest Stories
- Donations to Scott Walker Flagged as Potential Fraud
- In Race For Better Cell Service, Men Who Climb Towers Pay With Their Lives
- Billion Dollar Bait & Switch: States Divert Foreclosure Deal Funds
- Pardon Attorney Torpedoes Plea for Presidential Mercy
- Patient Died at New York VA Hospital After Alarm Was Ignored
- Introducing the ProPublica Patient Harm Community on Facebook
- Got Student Loans? Share Your Documents With Us
- Built for a Simpler Era, OSHA Struggles When Tower Climbers Die
- Remember Stuxnet? Why the U.S. is Still Vulnerable
- Congressional Leader Calls for Investigation of the Pardon Office
- Donations to Scott Walker Flagged as Potential Fraud
- Pardon Attorney Torpedoes Plea for Presidential Mercy
- In Race For Better Cell Service, Men Who Climb Towers Pay With Their Lives
- Air Force Pilots Balk at Flying the World’s Most Expensive Fighter Jet
- Watchdog Group Calls for Probe of Lobbyists Behind Congressional Trip to Taiwan
- Patient Died at New York VA Hospital After Alarm Was Ignored
- Billion Dollar Bait & Switch: States Divert Foreclosure Deal Funds
- N.Y. Congressman Will Reimburse Costs for $22,000 Taiwan trip
- Remember Stuxnet? Why the U.S. is Still Vulnerable
- Happy Graduation! Here's The Best, Most Depressing Journalism on Student Debt







1 comments
Mark H
Aug. 11, 2009, 3:40 p.m.
I have not encountered a sound-minded economist that will endorse protectionist measures, especially in times of economic distress.
Commenting on this story is closed.