Briefs
by John Temple Ligon

Housing slump and local gains
Compared with August 2006, the numbers from the S.C. Realtors multiple listing service show August home sales dropped 31.18% in Beaufort and and 15.21% in the Charleston tri- county area. Greenville suffered a 3.81% decline for the same period, while Columbia actually gained 2.98% in home sales. The median price for a home in Columbia rose 7.51% from $139,000 to $150,000.

Business court
According to the administrative order at the S.C. Supreme Court signed by Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal, for a two- year trial period beginning October 1, S.C. will have business courts for "civil matters properly filed and subject to jurisdiction and venue in Charleston, Greenville, and Richland Counties, or properly transferred to one of those counties... Assignment to the business court does not require that the parties waive their right to a jury trial." In Richland County, in addition to her duties as a circuit court judge, Judge J. Michelle Childs is assigned to preside over the business court.

Duke gets creative
Charlotte- based Duke Energy Corp. recently joined seven other utilities in an electric energy efficiency effort. The eight utilities altogether represent 20 million customers in 22 states, and they are committing their investment in energy efficiency up to $1.5 billion over the next three years. The eight utilities plan to form a national institute for electric efficiency. One of the goals is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 million tons, which is equal to taking six million cars off the road. There is no S.C.- based company in the group of eight, although Duke has a substantive S.C. Upstate customer count.

Charlotte chases the Creative Class
Charlotte recently broke ground for $158 million in cultural facilities on South Tryon Street in the heart of downtown. The new facilities include a 1,100- seat performance theater, a modern art museum, a consolidated Mint Museum of Art, and a relocated Afro- American Cultural Center. Also, part of the plan is an extensive overhaul of Discovery Place a few blocks away. The $158 million is coming from a rental- car tax hike. There's another $83 million being raised privately as an operations endowment. The future of the Charlotte Mint, relocated and converted as the Mint Museum in the 1930s, is assured as a museum at its current address on Randolph Road. The Mint, originally on Mint Street, was designed and built by Winnsboro's Thomas P. Ligon in 1837.

Flood control: Charleston gets, Five Points wants Under the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, the Charleston peninsula is putting an initial $4 million in federal funds into the Spring and Fishburne drainageimprovement project, which covers 500 acres and might cost $100 million altogether. So far, no word from the City of Columbia and its federal take for improvements along Rocky Branch Creek and its choke points between Five Points and the Congaree River. Estimates for clearing the way to the Congaree run above $50 million.

Unique house
Charleston's New Tabernacle Fourth Baptist Church at the corner of Elizabeth St. and Charlotte St. is for sale as a residence, albeit a sitting accommodation for 1,200. It was built in 1862 as St. Luke's Episcopal. As a single- family home, the listing price is $3.9 million, but an additional $2 million is advised as a renovation/transformation budget. At $6 million, it's a charming Charleston home.

One- point difference
S.C.'s jobless rate is one point less than a year ago and one point more than the current national jobless rate. In August 2006, the jobless rate for S.C. was 6.6 percent, and in August 2007 it was 5.6 percent. The national jobless rate is 4.6 percent.

Wharton woman
Ashley Wood was crowned Miss South Carolina in 2004, bThuet hNeerw s cYhoorkla Trsimhieps money has not been paid, according to . She is enrolled for her MBA at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

China and Atlanta
Delta Air Lines was recently approved to offer nonstop flights from Atlanta to Shanghai, beginning this April, which is more good news for Columbia's Tom Persons, chairman of the board for startup Touchstone Bancshares. Touchstone is an Atlanta- based bank in its second month selling shares for its founding capital. The bank plans on capping the stock sale at $42 million at the end of October. Touchstone's business plan relies heavily on its China conJimmy nection.