As much as I’d love to talk about something -- anything -- other than the debt ceiling debate, it’s unavoidable. There’s too much at stake and too many funding streams that could be impacted for us to ignore the ongoing talks.

August 1 marks six months since Funding Attractions was launched and we wanted to do something special to thank our readers.  As you may remember from one of Liza's recent posts, we recently released eight new titles for grantseekers, grant managers and auditors. We've decided to give away one of those per week through Labor Day, and you get to tell us which one you want!

As you may have noticed last week, we’ve started to roll out some of the changes we said were coming down the pike. We’ve added a regularly occurring feature, Roundup Reel, to bring you some of the top news stories and happenings that you may have missed, and we’re adding video when and where we think it’s appropriate. Let us know what you think of those changes and what you’d like to see more of.

(This post is based on an upcoming article in the Federal Grants Management Handbook.) Public housing agencies would have to consider the health of their facilities over the next two decades under proposed regulations that the Department of Housing and Urban Development said would enhance long-term PHA modernization and repairs.

About every guy I know has it happen every so often. He’s discussing important business details with a buddy, mind focused on the key points he intends to make. Then an attractive female walks by, he pauses to glance, and next thing you know he’s asking himself, “Now, what was I talking about?” This distraction (albeit in this case a pleasant one) succeeded in leading him off course. This year seems like the year of distractions for grants management thanks to our elected officials in Washington.

With this year's Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement coming out months later than originally anticipated by the Office of Management and Budget*, you may still be scrambling to get up to speed on it.  Luckily for you, we can help -- our Thompson Interactive colleagues are hosting an audio conference about the very subject this Thursday!

(This post is excerpted from an article in the Aug. 1 issue of Local/State Funding Report.) Earlier this year, the National Endowment for the Arts replaced its category of grants for television and radio with a new, broader category that reflects the ways in which the media world is changing.

Have you noticed the ads for school supplies starting to appear in the weekend papers?  Although it's a little hard to believe in the midst of the current heat wave, the start of another year is just a few weeks away.  Our colleagues over at Title I-Derland have been keeping up with their summer reading, following the latest developments in the world of federal K-12 policy.  They've published a number of interesting posts lately that are worth a read:

The debt ceiling debate has been a fast-moving target for the last several weeks, with life seemingly breathed into a different proposal every day as the clock inexorably ticks down. Today marks the deadline the president has identified for the negotiations to conclude, but there are still two weeks until the government default becomes a reality according to the Treasury Department.

As talks over the debt ceiling drag on (despite President Obama’s stated deadline tomorrow and the Treasury Department’s hard deadline two weeks out), it’s important not to lose sight of the unfinished fiscal year 2012 appropriations bills. Many of them contain proposals that would have significant impacts on local and state governments, agencies and organizations, regardless of how the debt debate plays out.