PPRNistas, we got an enthusiastic call-out today from CNN’s Money Blog:

“This will be an interesting project to watch. Sure, it lacks the institutional analytic chops of the Government Accountability Office, but there’s something compelling about trying to amass a national picture of how the money is being spent through a network of local citizens. President Obama has made transparency a priority for his administration. The Adopt-a-Stimulus Project may just provide more transparency than even the president could imagine.”

Welcome, newbies! Make sure you read through the project FAQ before departing for the day.

Shortly after Carol Nichols, a member of ProPublica’s Reporting Network (our citizen journalism initiative), volunteered to monitor a stimulus project in her area, she set up a Google alert for the project—the Fort Duquesne Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pa. The bridge is one of the more trafficked bridges in the Pittsburgh area, and Carol crosses it on her way to the city’s sports stadiums.

On Tuesday two e-mails arrived in her inbox. The first led her to a breaking news article on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Web site, reporting that a $24 million contract had been awarded for the project. The second went straight to a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review piece, letting her know that “motorists should brace for lane and ramp closures ... starting this summer.” She has since filed a report with us stating the project’s start date, the winning bid amount and the company awarded the contract.

What’s next? Carol is on the lookout for any pre-construction activity and will check to see if the project starts on time. As for the stimulus’s impact on Pittsburgh in general, Carol tells me: “The thing I’ve noticed most is politicians and other groups talking about the stimulus money. For example, the University of Pittsburgh, my alma mater, has been talking about how it and the other universities in the state aren’t getting as much help from the stimulus as the state schools are, and that if they don’t get some of the stimulus funds, they’ll have to raise tuition again.” (The Post-Gazette has more on that story here.)

Here’s how you can set up a Google news alert.

Today's stimulus coverage roundup:

While at a conference in Singapore, a White House economic adviser said the United States could use a second stimulus, Reuters reports. The adviser also said the current stimulus is "performing close to expectations but not in timing." Just who is this adviser? She's Laura D'Andrea Tyson -- the former chairwoman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton administration, and the former director of the National Economic Council. Tyson told the audience that "we should be planning on a contingency basis for a second round of stimulus," implying that a second stimulus may be on the back burner rather than off the table for this administration.

Tyson's admission is timely. Rising budget deficits and unemployment have rekindled an already contentious debate over the stimulus. What is an administration to do? In today's lead Wall Street Journal op-ed, Gerald F. Seib descibes the administration as "boxed in, politically and rhetorically. If the White House is going to argue that the main problem with the existing stimulus plan is that it hasn't had enough time to kick in, it's hard to simultaneously argue that a second stimulus is needed."

Read more...