Briefs
by John Temple Ligon

Civil War letters for sale Columbian Tom Willcox, real estate developer and property manager, plans to auction Civil War- era letters September 29 at Bill Mishoe's Auction House on Fairfield Road in Columbia. Documents for auction include a five- page letter by Gen. Robert E. Lee to S.C.'s governor on Charleston's defenses. For further illustration, visit www.auctionzip.com/sc.html and search for Bill Mishoes's Auction.

Barnwell limits In 2008, the Barnwell low- level radioactive waste landfill will cease accepting waste from any state other than Connecticut, New Jersey, and South Carolina. Last March, by a 16- 0 vote, a S.C. House committee defeated a bill that would have kept the waste site open to all states for another 15 years.

Bojangles'bought Charlotte's Jerry Richardson, founder of the NFLPanthers, and Hugh McColl, former CEO of Bank of America, recently moved to acquire more than 60 percent of Charlotte- based Bojangles' restaurant chain.

Cut back According to the S.C. Department of Revenue, state agencies might have to cut back on their budgets this year. The falling rate of building permits, for instance, is an illustration of a slowing economy while sales tax and other revenue continue to decline. Building permits declined 6.2 percent last year and appear to be falling by 12 percent this year.

Olympics Chicago is the early front- runner as host for the 2016 summer OThlyem Fipriscts M. Loodnedrno nO ilsy mhopsict sfor 2012. Recommended reading is by Columbia's Dick Mandell, also author of The Nazi Olympics and A History of the 1972 Olympics:A Munich Diary.

Darla Moore quoted Lake City's Darla Moore, as in USC's Moore School of Business, was quoted in Saturday, September 15, issue of New York Times in an article on Ayn Rand and her novel, Atlas Shrugged. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, was due to appear on Sunday night's 60 Minutes and was expected to comment on the contemporary relevance of Atlas Shrugged. "As a woman and a Southerner," said Moore, "I thrived on Rand's message that only quality work counted, not who you are."

Financial security for the long term According to the Corporation for Enterprise Development, S.C. gets a financial security grade of D on its 2007- 2008 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard. N.C. and Ga. also got Ds. Ten states scored with an A, and five states made an F. The Assets and Opportunity Scorecard is a state- level look at how the nation is performing in six areas: financial security, business development, homeownership, health care, education, and tax policy and accountability. The top scorer overall was Vermont, which gained an A in every area.

Dip in the Lowcountry The Charleston Trident Association of Realtors reported the median price of a Lowcountry home in August fell by half a percent from the same time last year. In the tri- county region (Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties), the median home price in August was $215,000.

Tennis, anyone? Across the U.S., 18 tennis facilities received the award of 2007 U.S.Tennis Association Outstanding Facility. Columbia's Southeast Park won the award, which was announced Monday, September 3, at the semi- annual meeting of the USTA.

World's largest The world's largest plastic bottle recycling plant will locate in Spartanburg, as recently announced jointly by Coca- Cola and United Resource Recovery Corporation. The $50 million plant will produce approximately 100 million pounds of recycled polyethylene terephthalate plastic for reuse each year.

City Green The Green is Good for Business Climate Protection Action Conference will be held at the convention center on Monday, September 24, from 8 am to 5:30 pm. The price of admission is $50 per person or three for $100, Visit www.COCCPAC.som.