Briefs
by John Temple Ligon

Clean air

The Southern Environmental Law Center recently filed a letter of concern with S.C. DHEC over two 660- megawatt pulverized coal- fired burners planned for Santee Cooper near Kingsburg. In another month or so, DHEC should hold hearings on the new power plant and its adherence to the federal Clean Air Act.

Fund raising

Former President Bill Clinton will speak to the state NAACP in Columbia at its annual Freedom Fund Celebration, May 18. Expectations allow for the attendance of Sen. Hillary Clinton to hear her husband speak.

Masters golf spillover

With hundreds of thousands of tickets sold, including the practice rounds, the Masters in Augusta sends plenty of business to Columbia for the week. The preferences for Columbia's offerings were seen in all the upscale restaurants every night for the week. The Columbia Festival of the Arts might want to time next year's edition for the same week as the Masters. The city is spending $250,000 on the festival, and Richland County is kicking in another $50,000, all to cover advertising and to pay ad man Marvin Chernoff to run the show.

Transit costs in Charlotte

A citizens protest group called "Stop the Train" is collecting signatures to put repeal of the city's half- cent transit tax on the November ballot. To force a referendum, the transit foes need to collect 48,669 signatures. Voters approved the half- cent sales tax for transit, including light rail, in 1998. Charlotte's 9.6- mile South Boulevard rail line was estimated in 1998 to cost $227 million. It will be finished this summer for $462.7 million. The half- cent tax is expected to generate $70 million this year. The transit authority had planned on transit projects worth about $9 billion upon completion in 2030.

Transit costs in New York City

The city formally announced plans to build the Second Avenue subway in 1929. At the time, the cost of the Manhattan portion was budgeted at $99 million. Finishing the job, resumed this week, should cost $3.8 billion.

U.S. unemployment

The country's unemployment fell to 4.4% last month, the lowest level in six years. In S.C., unemployment is 6.1%.

Newspapers, cont'd.

Chicago real estate tycoon Sam Zell, buyer of The Tribune Company and its big- city newspapers ( The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun , and others), is holding informal talks with movie mogul David Geffen of Los Angeles. Geffen wants to buy The Los Angeles Times, and rumors suggest he could spend $2 billion. Zell's $8.2 billion purchase of The Tribune Company is tied to an employee stock ownership plan. Zell is using only $315 million of his own money to leverage the deal.

Johns Island education

The Capers Preparatory Christian Academy, a private school alternative to public schools on Johns Island, gained positive mention in The Wall Street Journal and gained an outpouring of financial support from Journal readers. For the first time in its four- year history, Capers has all its bills paid in full and another $26,000 in reserve. Led by principal Faye Brown, the school's students averaged SAT scores 400 points higher than their public school peers, who presumably now have to respond in competition.

Pulliam Ford is sold

While Columbia's Pulliam Ford changes hands, nationally Ford is reducing its dealerships by 15%, or 600 outlets. Ford's market share has slid from 25% about 10 years ago to 16.4% in the first quarter of 2007.

Google Google

A new $600 million Google data center is planned for Berkeley County, good for 200 jobs.

Lowcountry capitalism's rough hedges

Charleston- based Parish Economics LLC might have lost as much as $134 million of investors' money through four "pools" of strategies: (1) Hedged Income Pool, $19,784,000; (2) Stock Pool, $12,645,000; (3) Futures Pool, $50,492,000; (4) Hard Assets Pool, $51,314,000.

Columbia major carrier

US Airways increased slightly its passenger count for March. The airline flew 5.6 billion revenue passenger miles, an increase of 0.2% over the same month last year.

Five Points

Kenny's Auto Supply is moving, and its land is changing hands for development. A $20 million mixed- use project of six stories is planned for the site.

Death in the aquarium

Atlanta's Georgia Aquarium, the world's largest, opened in the fall of 2005 at a cost of about $300 million, all privately contributed. One of the whale sharks- out of four- died in January. Expected to grow to a length of 60 feet, Ralph, the deceased adolescent whale shark, suffered from perforations to his esophagus and stomach. Ralph was not eating, and he was force- fed with tubes shoved down his throat.