Ohio: Northeast Ohio

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Dennis Kucinich wants to kill federal funding for an immense traveling video game exhibit that acts as an Army recruiting tool by letting kids as young as 13 play soldier in modified Humvees armed with realistic weapons.

The 19,500-square-foot game called "Virtual Army Experience" is recognized as the world's "Largest Traveling Game Simulator" in the upcoming "Guinness World Records 2009: Gamer's Edition."

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It includes six life-size vehicles fitted with modified laser guns and surrounded by more than 70 flat screens.

Search for proposals in your community and thousands of others across the state

Ancient water mains, crumbling roads and bridges, undersized sewer systems spewing waste into waterways.

The extent of Northeast Ohio's aging and neglected infrastructure are painfully apparent in thousands of requests for federal stimulus money that have been submitted by cities, counties and agencies.

Two failing retaining walls on Wiese Road near Riverview Road in Brecksville are considered potentially dangerous for vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists who visit the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

An 70-year-old water main in Lyndhurst is causing extremely low pressure at hydrants on Bridgewater Road.

Faulty septic tanks in Kirtland in Lake County could be replaced with a pumping station that would reduce the amount of pollution going into the Chagrin River.

That's not a value judgment. Its an economic reality, a result and symptom of the global economic downturn in which fewer manufactured products are being made. As a result, factories from China to California don't need as much recycled material for televisions, refrigerators, molded toys or the boxes to ship it all in, according to recycling industry managers and experts involved in waste management and recycling.

This has bottom-line implications for communities, trash haulers and their customers, as revenue for bringing materials to commercial recycling centers in some cases has dropped off. Northeast Ohio officials say they're not aware of any successful attempts so far to pass the costs on to taxpayers.

Who gets what

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has provided $417 million in economic stimulus money to Ohio for public housing and other community projects. Here is a breakdown of community block grant awards to Northeast Ohio communities and counties:

Akron, $1,824,341; Cleveland, $6,409,225; Cleveland Heights, $467,840; Cuyahoga County, $1,013,462; Cuyahoga Falls, $189,270; East Cleveland, $299,972; Elyria, $179,686; Euclid, $281,140; Kent, $81,024; Lake County, $375,584; Lakewood, $589,901; Lorain, $328,220; Mentor, $47,861; Parma, $264,096; Summit County, $275,269.

Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

The Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority will receive $35 million in economic-stimulus money -- one of the five largest allocations given to a housing agency in the nation.