NATIONAL NEWS

Money Week: Profit from more infrastructure stimulus
http://www.moneyweek.com/investment-advice/share-tips-us-infrastructure-stimulus-02702.aspx
"Every problem is just an opportunity in disguise." Given my optimistic nature, that's my mantra. And I saw plenty of the problem equals opportunity equation on a 175-mile bike ride through Cape Cod last weekend. The event was a fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the sorry state of the roads on our route was apparent. Our team spent much of its energy dodging potholes.

Reuters: $800 Million in Stimulus Will Expand Broadband
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/03/technology/03broadband.html
President Obama on Friday announced nearly $800 million in loans and grants for building broadband networks to reach homes, schools and hospitals.

STATE NEWS

EVENT: NLC to Co-Host Annual Transportation Summit
http://www.nlc.org/articles/articleItems/NCW070510/TransInfraSummit.aspx
NLC will be participating once again as a national co-host organization for the 13th Annual Transportation & Infrastructure Summit, to be held August 10-13 in Irving, Texas.

Baltimore Sun: A new plan for high-speed rail
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-high-speed-rail-20100706,0,3057226.story
The Obama Administration has discovered high speed passenger rail as both a job stimulus and a means for balancing fuel and environmental constraints with increasing personal transportation needs. Various state and regional groups, supported by self-proclaimed high speed rail experts, are competing for federal seed money grants. Winners will be chosen; losers encouraged to try again with the hope of an ever increasing fund supply. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation visits foreign countries to see how high speed passenger rail works. China offers to supply the U.S. with real know-how, experience and equipment, and the transportation secretary is cautiously optimistic that the U.S. railroads might be cooperative in this whole effort. Is there anything wrong with this picture? Plenty — and, ironically, it is the direct result of conscious public policy.

Bond Buyer: Texas Sets a Record Road Deal
http://www.bondbuyer.com/issues/119_376/texas_transportation-1014373-1.html
The Texas Transportation Commission is preparing a record $1.5 billion bond issue under the voter-approved program known as Proposition 14 that dedicates fuel taxes and vehicle fees toward highway construction.