Fresh Loaf

Number of Georgia jobs created or retained by the national stimulus package: 23,879

Estimated number of jobs created or retained nationally by stimulus money: 1 million

Current Georgia unemployment rate: 10.2 percent

Georgia unemployment rate at the end of 2008: 7.5 percent

Current national unemployment rate: 9.8 percent

Amount of money allocated to 18 Georgia agencies by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: $3.2 billion

Amount of that allocated money spent by those agencies so far: $702 million

Amount of money spent per job created or retained across the state: $29,380

Georgia’s median income for an individual: $40,760

Sources: AJC.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau

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1) Atlanta Ballet’s Don Quixote continues at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

2) Star Trek opens in area theaters.

3) Blast-Off Burlesque stages Stimulus Package at East Atlanta Icehouse.

4) Jayne County headlines (You Could Tell I Was No) DebuTAUNT Ball to benefit PAWS Atlanta at Manuel’s Tavern.

5) The Sweet Auburn Springfest kicks off.

(Photo by Charlie McCullers)

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Obamabucks! They don’t just pay for “comfort stations!”

Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:

Georgia will be on the receiving end of $665 million in federal stimulus funds to help educate students with disabilities or from low-income families.

The Georgia Board of Education unanimously approved the allocations on Tuesday in a special called meeting.

More than half of the federal aid — $351 million — will go to Georgia school districts through the federal Title I program, which provides funding for economically disadvantaged students. The rest of the money will come from a federal program dedicated to students with disabilities.

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The Atlanta Business Chronicle has put all of its stories about local spending of federal stimulus money on a single page called the ABC Stimulus Tracker.

Among the local projects I learned about on the site: Cochran Shoals in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area is getting a new “comfort station” as well as repairs on its old ones.

All Metro Atlantans who think the federal stimulus is a power grab by the fascistsocialistmuslimfundamentalistKenyanpirate Obama Regime are advised to go potty before visiting the park or to bring adult diapers, lest their bodily excretions be interpreted as stinky tacit approval of Obama’s wasteful, tyrannical policies.

And don’t forget, kids, tea is a diuretic.

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The most tangible component of President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan — transportation projects — is starting to take shape in metro Atlanta and Georgia.

Yesterday, the State Transportation Board today approved 135 projects — most of which involve bridge maintenance and road resurfacing — valued at more than $512 million.

And today, the Atlanta Regional Commission approved stimulus projects totaling more than $270 million — $95 million of which will help metro region transit agencies replace aging vehicles, complete maintenance projects, and improve park-and-ride facilities. MARTA has been allocated $55 million. Some pedestrian improvements are included in each agency’s project lists.

If Gov. Sonny Perdue approves the projects, bids will be solicited. Work is expected to begin immediately thereafter.

Georgia was allocated $1.1 billion in transportation funding under the plan — $931 million for roads and $144 million for transit projects. GDOT oversees 70 percent of that cash. The remaining funds are distributed among metropolitan planning organizations — i.e. the ARC.

After the jump, screenshots of GDOT’s approved projects in Fulton and DeKalb Counties. To view the entire list and monitor how the agency spends Obamabucks, visit its stimulus projects website. To download a PDF of the ARC’s approved stimulus projects, click here. I’d post screenshots for you, dear reader, but since the projects are all local, it’s best to read the list in full.

(more…)

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The site, which lets residents view how stimulus funds are doled out and spent by Georgia agencies, is different than the state Department of Transportation’s, which focuses on people-moving projects and bridges.

Says Gov. Sonny Perdue via press release:

“The accountability website will allow all Georgians to hold their state government responsible for how we spend their tax dollars,” said Governor Perdue. “I want to be able to point to concrete results when my grandchildren ask me how we spent stimulus money.”

Residents can also use the site to report fraud or waste.

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The Georgia Department of Transportation has unveiled a website to allow residents to track projects that are part of President Barack Obama’s stimulus program.

From the department:

Visitors to the site will find links to topics including Georgia’s stimulus transportation funding chart, project categories, the Department’s current efforts, links to other sites and resources, frequently asked questions and much more. The Web site will be closely monitored and periodic updates will be added continually.

The department’s December call for transportation project proposals generated more than 850 responses from Georgia cities and counties. The president’s $787 billion plan allocated $932 million for transportation projects in the Peach State.

The department says it’s combing through the cities and counties’ wishlists — which totaled more than $1 billion — and will post information about projects once they are approved. That could be as early as Friday or Monday.

(Photo courtesy the gubment)

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Maybe Gov. Sonny Perdue, in Washington, D.C. this weekend for the National Governors Association’s winter conference, has the flu. If so, get better and come home soon, sir! We wanna talk to you about this whole might-not-take-some-of-that-stimulus-money thingy.

From the Huffington Post’s frontpage (photo by Charles Dharapak of the Associated Press):

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Current amount, in dollars, of President Obama’s stimulus plan aimed to create jobs and spur the economy: 827 billion

Amount, in dollars, Mayor Shirley Franklin recently requested for Atlanta projects: 1.88 billion

Estimated number of city jobs Franklin says the federal stimulus plan could create: 40,000

Number of police officers Franklin wants to add with stimulus money: 200

Dollar value of sewer projects the city wants to build using stimulus funds: 801 million

Amount, in dollars, the city requested to build the International Terminal at Jackson-Hartsfield International Airport: 500 million

Number of federal dollars Franklin says would go to offset the city’s budget deficit: 0

Amount, in dollars, the Georgia Department of Transportation has requested for state projects: 3.4 billion

Estimated number of jobs Georgia could gain because of the stimulus package: 143,000

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, U.S. Conference of Mayors

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Hey! Not so fast!

And then come back in June! Woo hoo!

Aaron Gould Sheinin of the AJC reports:

The state House just voted unanimously to split the 40-day legislative session into two parts, which lawmakers hope will give them flexibility to deal with whatever economic stimulus package comes from Washington.

The House voted 165-0 to meet three days a week through March 25 and then return in late June. The General Assembly is constitutionally required to meet for no more than 40 days a year, although those 40 days do not have to run consecutively.

House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons) said Senate leaders have also agreed to the change, although that body must approve the adjournment resolution before it takes effect.

This, Keen said, allows the Legislature to be “responsive to things that may or may not come down from Washington.”

Sheinin has more details at the link above.

(Photo by li’l ole me from last session’s Sine Die liveblog)

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AAHH!: Real monsters

• >> Be afraid, be very afraid — cyber thieves are on the prowl.
• >> So, the stimulus plan passed, no thanks to House Republicans. What does this mean for you?
• >> AOL picked a bad time to become an ad business…
• >> FAIL: Ford wins the award for most prideful of the Big Three but that’s pretty much all they’re winning right now….
• >> WTF: SarahPac? Seriously? Someone put a muzzle on this lady.
• >> This is what you do when everyone else is losing their jobs and killing themselves over it — you spend $155,000 on a cloned dog.
• >>GEORGIA’S LEGACY: Largest food recall in history. Awesome.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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>> Obama shifts focus from Iraq to Afghanistan with the deployment of 3,000 U.S. troops to the country.

>> Getting more “socialist” by the day… Sorry, right-wingers, read the writing on the wall. Helping people is the wave of the future.

>> The “Lord of the Underworld’s lair” is now visible to us regular humans. You can Google Map the hell out of One Observatory Circle.

>> If escapism is your bag, check out the brightly-colored hues of fame and fortune on the SAG Awards’ red carpet…. Further proof that even when Angelina wears a sack, she’s the hottest woman on the planet.

>> TV isn’t just toxic to your soul, it also kills the environment! Who knew?

>> The new administration ushers in a groundbreaking concept in American foreign policy — listening.

>> No condoms for you!

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