Briefs
by John Temple Ligon
Did you give your fair share? Americans added $295.02 billion to charities in 2006, a 4.2% increase over what was given in 2005. Arts, cultural, and humanities organizations took in $12.51 billion last year, a gain of 9.9% over 2005. The single largest category of giving in 2006 was religion, rising 4.5% to $96.82 billion, which was 32.8% of the total.

Columbia's NAIAvant scores on the coast The Port Royal terminal was closed in 2004. The S.C. Ports Authority recently tapped NAIAvant to sell the 316 acres of waterfront property.

Winthrop state's highest tuition Winthrop University in Rock Hill will charge state residents $10,210 for a year's tuition this fall. Clemson will charge $9,870; USC, $8,346.

Automated Trading Desk Mt. Pleasant- based Automated Trading Desk was founded in 1988. It employs about 100 people as it buys and sells stocks rapidly for itself and its clients, shaving thin profit margins in huge volumes. Last year, ATD handled about 6% of the trading in major U.S. stock markets. On an average day, trading more than 200 million shares is common for ATD. Citigroup Inc. announced at the end of June it was offering about $700 million to buy ATD.

Automated Trading Desk, cont'd. The 22- acre ATD headquarters complex was designed by New York architect Margaret Helfand, who died on June 20. OArfc Hhietlefcatnudr'asl h Reeacdoqrduarters design, the magazine said, "Helfand created a headquarters acclaimed for the way individual work places are integrated with the landscape."

Richland Mall not so rich Peerless Real Estate Services of Spruce Pine, N.C., is under investigation by the FBI. Apparently $124 million from land sales in Spruce Pine is missing. Peerless failed to make payments on $39 million in loans connected to their $300 million proposed redevelopment of Richland Mall. Forest Acres officials were led to believe Peerless was moving forward with their Richland Mall intentions. Richland Mall was sold in foreclosure in the Richland County Courthouse in April. No one in Columbia circles is coming forward to claim credit for bringing Peerless from Spruce Pine to Richland Mall.

Fuel- cell powered automobiles Honda plans on putting a fuel- cell powered sedan in the showroom for 2008. General Motors says it will deliver in 2008 100 Chevrolet Equinox SUVs modified for fuel- cell power. Columbia soon expects to see a hydrogen filling station next to EdVenture on Gervais Street.

We're No. 99! Wachovia Securities' Kathleen Malone of Charlotte was listed in Barron's last month as one of America's top 100 female financial advisors. She made the penultimate placement, No. 99 out of 100. Last week, Wachovia Securities was fined $2 million by regulators and ordered to pay restitution to more than 1,300 customers for charging excessive fees in its brokerage accounts.

Five- star treatment continues regardless Summerville's Woodlands Resort & Inn, a Mobil Five- Star property in both its hotel and restaurant, will remain open for business as it goes through extensive renovations between August and December.

City sued Columbia attorney Mark Hardee recently filed a lawsuit against the city on behalf of its water customers. What was formerly reported to be $9 million in redirected funds, money collected from the city's water department customers and put to uses beyond the needs of the water department, appears to be $12 million, $4.5 million to the city's general fund and $7.5 million to economic development. Last fall, according to a Charlotte Observer editorial, the N.C. Supreme Court recognized that taxpayers have a right to question government decisions to divert taxes levied for one purpose for another use.

Site selection criteria Piper's executive jet manufacturing plant is not coming to Columbia. Competing communities were offering up to

$100 million in incentives. According to Area Development

magazine, state and local incentives make for the No. 4 priority in corporate site selection. No. 3 is the corporate tax rate. No. 2 is highway accessibility. And the No. 1 priority determining corporate site selection is labor costs.

S.C.'s superior roads The Reason Foundation ranked South Carolina's road system No. 2 in the U.S. for cost- effectiveness. North Dakota was No. 1. For the eighth year in a row, the New Jersey road system was rated the worst in the country.

Charleston makes top 10 - Paris misses cut According to the Travel Association of America, 58% of the country's leisure travelers are interested in culinary or wine- related activities. Travel Web site Travelocity ranked the top 10 international cities as foodie destinations. In alphabetical order: Barcelona, Boulder, Charleston, Las Vegas, London, Montreal, New Orleans, New York, Rome, San Francisco.