Recovery.gov - Track the Money

​Nearly two years ago, NTIA launched the National Broadband Map, and today we are updating it, as we have every six months since its inception.  The map provides the first-ever detailed datasets of broadband availability across the country, and it would not be possible without a unique partnership between the federal government, states, and the voluntary participation of many broadband providers. With funding from NTIA, made available by the Recovery Act, each state undertook a massive effort to locate broadband availability by census block, essentially dividing the country into more than 11 million distinct areas.

​More than a century after U.S. Army troops harnessed the power of flowing water to light Fort Yellowstone, the park is generating electricity from water again. The idea of tapping into a sustainable resource to power Yellowstone came to the park in 1903, when the U.S. Cavalry under the direction of engineer Hiram Chittenden installed the first 100-kilowatt water turbine generator near its Mammoth Hot Springs headquarters. Relying on water flowing from Glen Creek down through Golden Gate, the power plant supplied ample energy to power residences, administrative offices, maintenance shops, lights on the parade grounds and the occasional picture show at the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel to great attendance.

​WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today participated in a ceremony to sign an agreement to provide $1.55 billion to the City and County of Honolulu on the island of Oahu to build Hawaii’s first-ever rail transit system. The project is expected to shorten commutes in one of the most congested cities in the nation, provide greater transit options to Oahu’s residents and visitors, and create tens of thousands of construction-related jobs.

​Lincoln, Nebraska, Dec 18, 2012 -- Infrastructure investments in rural communities help create jobs and boost economic development. “Quality hospitals, schools and libraries are the building blocks for a vibrant rural America,” said USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. That is true in Nebraska, especially with Critical Access Hospitals that serve our rural residents. Over the past seven federal fiscal years, USDA Rural Development has assisted 18 Critical Care Access hospitals in Nebraska, through nearly $197.5 million in funding. The Community Facilities funding came in the form of $64,851,000 in loan guarantees, $132,351,300 in direct loans and $250,030 in grants.

​Steve Koonce, a Civil Engineering Technician with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), remembers swimming in Tennessee’s Cane Creek as a youngster, when he and friends would jump from a bridge into the water 15 feet below. But today, because of a catastrophic erosion problem, that activity would be a lot more dangerous. “Today if you jumped off the same bridge, you would need a parachute,” says the Lauderdale County native.