Briefs

by John Temple Ligon

A safer SCANA

Last month, when the SCANA spokesperson was defending her company's decision to leave its 20-something stories on Main Street behind for three stories in Lexington County, she said a tall building on Main Street was not secure. Not secure? So, if a small city runs from its 20-story structures on the main drag, the big cities, the more presumptive targets for terrorists, must be abandoning the higher office accommodation altogether. Not quite. At Ground Zero, on the same block where the World Trade Center towers fell, there are four replacement buildings underway: Freedom Tower, 82 floors; Tower 2, 78 floors; Tower 3, 71 floors; and Tower 4, 61 floors. The tallest building is going up in Chicago, all 124 floors and 2,000 feet. Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the $550-million skyscraper is expected to be occupied by 2010. Terrorists be damned.

Revolutionary bar

Revolutions, a Myrtle Beach nightclub, makes only 3% of its money from food. The S.C. Department of Revenue argued in court last month prepared food must be a substantial part of a club's sales for the club to receive a liquor permit. The court disagreed. A nightclub must have a Grade A food permit, and it needs seating for 40 patrons, and then it can qualify for a liquor permit regardless of actual amount of food sales. The S.C. Department of Revenue will appeal, but meanwhile Revolutions can continue to operate with just 3% of its revenues coming from food.

Wal-Mart working with S.C. Attorney General

An anti-violence partnership between the Attorney General's Office and Wal-Mart Stores is intended to provide the women of S.C. with information about outreach services, counseling, and support for victims of domestic violence. Initially, the project will be implemented in five Wal-Mart stores located in the Pee Dee region: Cheraw, Dillon, Hartsville, Manning, and Marion.

Wages of sin

Mayor Coble's smoking ban adversaries may be part of a larger awareness of profitability in areas of self-destructiveness. The Dallas-based Vice Fund invests in casino stocks and in firms that make tobacco products and liquor. These products are never rendered obsolete by new technology, and neither do they hurt much from foreign competition. American liquor and tobacco companies have substantial overseas operations. The Vice Fund scored a rank of 22 out of 174 mutual funds that invest in midsize growth and value stocks.

Speaking of self-destructiveness

The share of Mississippi's population considered obese is almost 30%, the fattest state in the country. South Carolina is the eighth heaviest at about 26%, while Colorado is the lightest with less than 17% obese.

Duke Energy augments the power outlet

Duke and Ambient, a 37-employee (for now) company near Boston, have joined forces to deliver communication signals. Every single power outlet in a customer's house can be an Internet connection. About 6,000 Duke customers in south Charlotte are targeted for a pilot program to provide broadband over the electricity lines. SCANA has no such plans.

Too much success

The Third Miracle , a movie about the first non-U.S. team to win the Little League World Series, couldn't afford to film in S.C. The producer said the S.C. incentives to filmmakers have attracted so much industry activity that no crews are available. And to import all the crews from Los Angeles is cost-prohibitive, so the film is moving to Austin, Texas, and to Monterrey, Mexico.

Protectionism and paranoia

To help the textile industries in Haiti and sub-Saharan Africa, and to make garments cheaper for you and me, Congress had a bill to lower or even eliminate U.S. tariffs on garments exported from those countries. As in all trade relations, if the Haitian and African garment makers did well, they would spend their money on things made here, we should hope. For the short term, though, the fear of losing jobs in the U.S. killed the bill.

Hey, nude, how 'bout some sun screen

The Natura Christian Fellowship recently proposed a nudist colony of 150 homes and a campground on a 104-acre site near Belton, S.C. Opponents of the development are working to stop the extension of Anderson County sewer and water lines to the development.

Charlotteans not charlatans, or something like that

Like Columbia, Charlotte is looking for a slogan, a brand. The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority has put up $70,000 for California-based Believable Brands to come on board. Maybe they'll settle on "Charlotte: It's Happening Now."