Briefs

by John Temple Ligon

A good idea is always a new idea

Columbia's first fiber-optic neighborhood is under development on the site of the Rockbridge par-3 golf course behind Forest Lake Presbyterian Church. Touted as a cutting edge idea, each house will be connected with high-speed Internet, digital phone, and digital cable television. Begun 10 years ago, Silicon Alley in lower Manhattan accomplished the same thing. A similar proposal, known among property owners in downtown Columbia as the Sumter Exchange, floated in the winter of 1998.

Risk insurance

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced a plan last week to prod utility companies to resume nuclear reactor construction. There are 103 nuclear power plants scattered among 31 states. The country's last nuclear plant was built 30 years ago. Federal risk insurance up to $2 billion will be offered to cover the first six nuclear power plants built by utility companies. SCANA and Santee-Cooper are in a joint venture for a new nuclear power plant at their existing site in Jenkinsville.

Duke Energy money

Second-quarter profits at Charlotte-based Duke were up 16% over the same period last year. Earnings were $355 million, up from $307 million. Reportedly, earnings exceeded expectations largely on gains from land sales by Duke's real estate unit, Crescent. Duke took over Cincinnati-based Cinergy for $9 billion, completing the deal by April. Duke's assets total about $70 billion, America's largest utility.

Attention Columbia divorce lawyers

In London last week, the High Court awarded the U.K.'s highest settlement in a divorce case, $90 million. Married in 1976, insurance magnate John Charman and his wife Beverly parted ways in 2003. Both are 53 years old. The award was 37% of "his" assets.

The Whitney goes smoke-free

Devine Street's Whitney Hotel will become a non-smoking property on September 1 about the same time Main Street's Marriott Hotel goes smoke-free.

The Grand Strand can still take a hit

Last December, hurricane researchers predicted nine hurricanes for the current season, five of them intense. The same researchers have recently cut back those predictions to a total of seven hurricanes, three of which could be severe. Atlantic Ocean surface temperatures are not as high as predicted, and the surface pressure is not as low as expected. Another monster storm this year like Katrina is unlikely. Still, the probability of a storm landfall for the East Coast is 64%, up from a long-term average of 31%.

Puttin' on the grits

Google Trends (www.google.com/trends) allows the user to plug in a term to see which city in the country generates the most searches for that term. Columbia is No. 1 in the United States in Google searches for the term "grits."

A bar, not a restaurant

Revolutions nightclub in Myrtle Beach scores less than 3% of its sales in food, while the other 97% comes from libations. Revolutions lost its liquor license because of the nightclub's small percentage of food sales. Circuit Judge John Breeden heard arguments last week by the nightclub, begging to return to business as a bar and protesting the S.C. law requiring more, but ill-defined, food sales.

Hispanic population increases

York County and Lancaster County, two S.C. counties in the greater Charlotte area, gained Hispanic population in the past five years of 72% and 77%, respectively.

Mayor Bob: Take note

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, 63, announced last week his intention to run for re-election raising his term in the mayor's office to 36 years. The election is in 2007.

Greenville parks

Greenville County, for now, has six of 12 council members committed to vote for a new two-cent tax on county restaurant food to cover the cost of county park construction and maintenance. All of the cities in the county already collect the tax, as does Columbia. The new tax on prepared food in Greenville County would generate about $7.5 million a year, which could service the debt on at least $50 million if the Greenville County Recreation District used the new collections to sell bonds.

City woes hit Clemson

Clemson University has begun a parking and traffic study, and most bets are on Clemson's first parking garage.