Photo by George Lauby CNN's truck at Autumn Park Drive

Photo by George Lauby Production manager Styke Dimas, at left, and cameraman Jeff King discuss the set before the show.

Photo by George Lauby CNN producer Jim Spellman.

Photo by George Lauby Ed Rieker, Dee May

Photo by George Lauby Dave Harrold, Deb Morgan

National television viewers got a look at North Platte Thursday night during a special CNN show on the federal stimulus money and the economic crisis.

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News anchor Anderson Cooper asked questions of local housing authority officials during a live news program from the Autumn Park housing center in North Platte.

Cooper asked the questions from New York during “Main Street and Money”, an hour-long program about the economy.

Cooper talked directly with Ed Rieker, Dave Harrold, suspended housing authority executive director Deb Morgan and housing authority commissioner Dee May.

North Platte was one of four national broadcast sites for the program.

Rieker, May and three other housing authority commissioners recently rejected $588,000 in federal stimulus money, attracting national attention. They said the authority had plenty of money already. May recently told the Bulletin that cash reserves total $1.8 million, and the 250 housing authority residences have been remodeled during the last 10 years.

Harrold, the chairman of the Original Town organization that supports the central and north side of North Platte, strongly criticized the board for turned down the money, as well as other actions.

Rieker recently was featured in a Wall Street Journal article about the decision, an article the garnered the interest of CNN.

"The housing authority is in great shape," May said. "I felt like it would be pure greed to take that money. There are others who need it more than we do."

But Harrold told the audience that the board made a mistake.

"It was not to be used to operate the Housing Authority; it was for rehab, energy conservation, increased efficiency and ADA (American Disability Act) accessibility," Harrold said. "It was an investment in low-income housing."

After the broadcast, Rieker and May told the Bulletin that the board had no descretion in how the federal money was to have been spent -- that Morgan had given them a spending list and said it had to be spent for specific things.

Harrold has said the board had more discretion than that.

About 40 people were in the studio audience, including North Platte Mayor Marc Kaschke, city councilman Don Kurre and numerous housing authority residents.

Big news, big crew

A six-person television crew, with members from California, Atlanta and Chicago spent several hours Thursday in the conference room at Autumn Park preparing for the show.

“People here are active,” producer Jim Spellman said. “What’s going on in North Platte represents what’s going on all across the country. People are asking about the effects of the stimulus money and the long-range impact on the national debt, in living rooms and in board rooms.”

Spellman, who lives in and works from Denver, often follows the news in North Platte. He worked two weeks to prepare for the show, interviewing the participants and studying the issue.

He said more of the discussion and comments will be available at CNN.com.

The entire show will be rebroadcast Saturday and Sunday nights at 7 p.m. central time.

Next meeting

The commissioners of Autumn Park will meet at 6 p.m. Friday to discuss the fate of Deb Morgan, the executive director who is on suspension.

The board has alleged that Morgan improperly used funds and was insubordinate. They are compiling a written list of specific improprieties to which Morgan will be able to respond, chairman Ed Rieker has said.