PORT ST. LUCIE — Put a kid on a bike on a race track sprinkled with jumps, lumps and bumps, and you’re likely to have one happy kid. Or teenager. Or adult, for that matter.

A new bicycle track for riders who love speeding through 1,000 feet of tricky obstacles is expected to open near Crosstown Parkway and Interstate 95 in Port St. Lucie in October. (more…)

The $10 billion spending bill signed Wednesday by President Obama provides $183 million for Everglades restoration projects, including $4.5 million earmarked for the Indian River Lagoon.

The legislation was approved Tuesday night by the U.S. Senate; the House of Representatives approved the bill in late February.

Nanciann Regalado, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Jacksonville, which is overseeing the Indian River Lagoon project, said it wasn’t clear Wednesday evening where the money would go. She said the Corps has asked Congress for $4.5 million to design a reservoir and stormwater treatment area for the C-23 and C-24 canals, which drain much of St. Lucie and northern Martin counties.

“We’re still determining exactly how the money will be used,” Regalado said, “but it definitely will go toward the Indian River Lagoon Plan.”
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Several long-awaited Everglades restoration projects got a cash infusion from the $410 billion spending bill President Obama signed into law Wednesday.

The bill included nearly $200 million for seven projects aimed at restoring flows and reducing pollution in the struggling and shrinking ecosystem. The Everglades Foundation cheered the spending, saying the projects would create hundreds of jobs, protect the drinking water supply and contribute to the long-term health of the tourism, fishing and other dependent industries.

The bill includes $74 million to reinforce Lake Okeechobee's Herbert Hoover Dike, $4.5 million to clean and restore the Indian River Lagoon and $60 million to raise a segment of Tamiami Trail so water can flow underneath. Other Everglades projects that will receive money include restoration work in Florida Bay and the Kissimmee River.