Oklahoma Stories | Community Development Digest

USDA Expands ‘StrikeForce Initiative’ for Rural Growth

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announces an expansion of the USDA “StrikeForce Initiative for Rural Growth and Opportunity” in order to address chronic rural poverty in 32 identified counties in Oklahoma and the entire island of Puerto Rico.

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Watershed Rehabilitation Funding to Repair Dams in 26 States

Communities across the nation will benefit from a $262 million investment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to rehabilitate dams that provide critical infrastructure and protect public health and safety.

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Oklahoma Gets Storm Recovery Aid

HUD sends Oklahoma and the city of Moore an additional $109 million to help communities recover from a spate of devastating storms, including a powerful tornado that struck Moore, in 2013.

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Obama Names First Communities in ‘Promise Zone’ Initiative

In an initiative aimed at helping distressed communities and regions, President Barack Obama on Thursday announced his administration's first five "Promise Zone" designees: San Antonio, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Southeastern Kentucky, and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

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Building Partnerships: The Reinvention of Oklahoma City

Strong community partnerships have been a key ingredient in the success of Oklahoma City's downtown revitalization efforts. Today, the city is on the rise and poised for a major renaissance.

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State and Local Briefs

Massachusetts: The city of Fall River will have about $1.1 million less to spend on Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnership programs in the current fiscal year due to federal budget cuts. Community Development Agency officials say the city lost $800,000 in CDBG and $338,000...

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(DEVELOPMENT) Local Briefs

Kansas: Edgerton officials are poised to use $275,000 in Community Development Block Grant money for three sewer system projects. About $182,000 in CDBG money was received from Johnson County with the remainder coming from the city's sewer reserve funds.Massachusetts: Officials in Amherst seek propo...

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(OIG) Tulsa Asked to Justify or Repay $50,000 in CDBG Costs

Tulsa, OK officials are being asked to justify or repay nearly $50,000 in Community Development Block Grant stimulus funding that the city spent without a contract and improve controls over its grant programs.HUD's Office of Inspector General made the findings...

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(HUD) Counties in IL, MN, OK to Use Disaster Aid Tools

Illinois, Minnesota and Oklahoma have become the latest states to receive HUD disaster assistance in the wake of storms and floodingthat racked the Midwest during May.President Barack Obama on June 8 issue disaster declarations for 14 counties in Illinois and two in Minnesota hit by flooding and six...

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(MAYORS) Mayors Lobbying Senate to Restore CDBG Funding

The leadership of the U.S. Conference of Mayors is determined to lobby the Senate for the restoration of Community Development Block Grant funds, which the House reduced by more than two-thirds in its FY 2011 budget bill (HR 1). HR 1 is getting no immediate attention from the Democrat-led Senate, l...

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