The Effects of the Government Shutdown, Mapped

Depending on your outlook, the government shutdown that began Tuesday at midnight is either a sort of legislative diet or it is an unnecessarily damaging disruption of the lives of millions of Americans. We scoured local news sites (and the very helpful Twitter feed of the Huffington Post's Sam Stein) to find examples of how the shutdown has affected people across the country.

Below, a map of the United States allowing you to click on states and see the news stories we've turned up. Not included: the 800,000 people currently furloughed or the closure of national parks in nearly every state. The bright red states on our map are those we thought we particularly striking examples of how the shutdown is affecting America. (Washington, D.C., is pretty small, so click here to view it.) We also tried to categorize the negative effects for the sake of clarity.

Have suggestions for stories that should be added? Let us know in the comments.

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Ohio Twenty-seven 8th graders from Columbus raised money with bake sales and babysitting for a class trip to D.C. this week. They were disappointed to find that they couldn’t visit any of the museums on their itinerary
Link. Rating: Inconvenience Virginia Up to 5,000 civilian employees at military base Fort Lee near Richmond have been furloughed. Many expressed worries about not receiving their paychecks
Link. Rating: Financial burden Hawaii Medical research halted on “a vaccination for rat lungworm disease -- a gastrointestinal infection that causes eosinophilic meningitis in humans.”
Link. Rating: Life-threatening Alaska Geological research halted in Anchorage, scientists unsure when they’ll be let back in their building
Link. Rating: Financial burden Pennsylvania National Cancer Institute conference canceled in Pittsburgh
Link. Rating: Inconvenient Massachusetts Pay delayed for workers at the Westover Air Base
Link. Rating: Financial burden D.C. NIH had to deny child cancer patients for clinical trials
Link. Rating: Life-threatening Veterans have launched an informal protest of the closure of national memorials
Link. Rating: Inconvenience Minnesota Three hundred Air Force Reserve workers and 1,200 military technicians with the National Guard are furloughed without pay in Minneapolis
Link. Rating: Financial burden Missouri GI Bills processing delayed because workers in the St. Louis VA office are furloughed
Link. Rating: Financial burden Columbia College is offering payment plans for students relying on military assistance
Link. Rating: Financial burden New Hampshire 2,000 shipyard workers out of work in Portsmouth
Link. Rating: Financial burden New Mexico A recent widow of a Forest Service firefighter in Albuquerque was told she won’t receive benefits for weeks. She has two children
Link. Rating: Financial burden Arkansas 85,000 meals for children and 2,000 for infants will not be provided through WIC in Little Rock
Link. Rating: Life-threatening Public service workers who assist at homeless shelters will see a pay drop (they were only making $11,000 a year before the shutdown)
Link. Rating: Financial burden California There are only 287 workers containing the Rim Fire now, down from 4,500 a month ago
Link. Rating: Life-threatening Alcatraz is losing revenue from 5,000 visitors a day while it’s closed
Link. Rating: Financial burden Some tech companies with government contracts aren’t getting paid
Link. Rating: Inconvenience Illinois At least 73 federal workers in Chicago have been temporarily laid off
Link. Rating: Financial burden Colorado Summit County firefighters furloughed without pay. An entire unit was shutdown
Link. Rating: Financial burden / Life-threatening Connecticut Thirteen Head Start programs shut down, meaning parents have to scramble to find alternate daycare arrangements for their kids
Link. Rating: Financial burden Florida Army contract workers in Germany from South Florida were told to sign up for unemployment in light of the shutdown. One woman is stranded in Germany with no way to pay her bills
Link. Rating: Financial burden Social Security offices are not issuing new Social Security cards, Medicare cards, or proof of income letters
Link. Rating: Inconvenience Jacksonville’s Naval Hospital had to furlough part of its workforce, so it will be harder to get appointments at the hospital and fill prescriptions
Link. Rating: Inconvenience South Carolina A Headstart program in York County will cancel pre-kindergarten programs for almost 900 children starting Friday
Link. Rating: Financial burden North Carolina 4,500 federal workers have either been furloughed or had their hours cut. This is especially affecting the Department of Health and Human Services, which may not be able to carry on with hospital inspections
Link. Rating: Financial burden North Dakota A National Park worker wrote furlough notices for 40 employees, and then one for herself. Their backpay is not guaranteed when the government reopens
Link. Rating: Financial burden Idaho Meals for 42,500 pregnant women and children in the state are in jeopardy -- there won’t be any vouchers left by Monday
Link. Rating: Life-threatening A search for a 63-year-old missing woman was slowed after federal workers at the Craters of the Moon National Monument were furloughed. The woman’s family is now reaching out to experienced hikers to help
Link. Rating: Life-threatening Louisiana The state had to close its Commodities Supplemental Food Program, which serves 64,000 pregnant women, children, and seniors each month (via Anita)
Link. Rating: Life-threatening