The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)/The Associated Press – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proposing to spend about $1.2 billion on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast to buy some 2,000 seaside properties, relocate a small town’s public buildings and restore hurricane-damaged wetlands and beaches. [read more…]

Orlando Sentinel (Fla.) – The cost of Central Florida’s planned $1.2 billion commuter-rail system could go up, or project planners will have to settle for less for the money.

That was the bottom line Monday for the Florida Department of Transportation, which received no bids for work estimated at more than $158 million. Three companies expected to bid backed off about a week ago, saying FDOT’s maximum price was too low. [read more…]

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)/Business blog – The Army Corps of Engineers estimates it will cost $250 million to $300 million to dike 157 acres of the lake north of East 55th Street, to serve as the port’s new home.

Leaders of the Cleveland port authority think the estimate is too high. The port could bear up to 35 percent of the cost with the federal government paying the rest. [read more…]