Briefs
by John Temple Ligon
Steve Forbes on S.C. S.C.'s pro- business, pro- opportunity mindset is the biggest reason the state has become a magnet for investments like the $600 million vote of confidence it recently received

from Jafza International, as The Charleston Regional

Business Journal reported on what Steve Forbes, CEO of Forbes Inc., had to say about S.C. "S.C. has been a pioneer at this going back at least to the 1980s. Then- Gov. Carroll Campbell and others were very much onto this," Forbes told the business journal. Forbes is the national co- chair and senior policy advisor for Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign.

Security challenges for the CMA A work by Impressionist painter Claude Monet was vandalized Sunday, October 7. Vandals broke into the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and cut across the 1874 painting, leaving a four- inch tear. The Columbia Museum of Art shows a painting by Monet as part of its permanent collection. Monet died in 1926.

Fundraising past Karen Brosius, executive director of the CMA, was once the head of corporate giving for the Altria Group, formerly called Philip Morris, headquartered in NYC. Last year, the Altria Group donated $7 million to more than 200 arts organizations in NYC.

Innovista gains another tenant Columbia- based Collexis Holdings Inc. is moving into 5,000 square feet inside the Horizon II Building, which is on the city block between Wheat and Blossom and between Assembly and Main. Collexis is a developer of information search systems, otherwise known as knowledge software.

S.C. GOP Chairman Katon Dawson Columbia's Katon Dawson was cited recently on the Website for National Hotline, spreading the rumor Dawson is under consideration as a potential candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Texas medicine meets Texas law As reported by The New York Times: "Four years after Texas voters approved a constitutional amendment limiting awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, doctors are responding as supporters predicted, arriving from all parts of the country to swell the ranks of specialists at Texas hospitals and bring professional health care to some longunderserved rural areas. The influx, raising the state's abysmally low ranking in physicians per capita, has flooded the medical board's offices in Austin with applications for licenses, close to 2,500 at last count. Adding to the state's allure for doctors was a 21.3 percent drop in malpractice insurance premiums, not counting rebates for renewal." In other words, the same can be done in S.C. Judging from the kind of money made in medical malpractice lawsuits by presidential candidate John Edwards in N.C., a Texas- like move in S.C. would bring a good many N.C. doctors into the Palmetto State.

Lottery differences In 2006, Massachusetts, putatively the nation's best- educated state, took in more than $4.5 billion in lottery sales, which was $699 per capita. S.C. took in $1.1 billion, which was $265 per capita. Massachusetts gave out 71 percent of its revenue in prizes, and S.C. gave out 61 percent.

Bridges Columbia may still get its privately developed triumphal bridge, The Bridge, across the Congaree River carrying a four- star hotel. Congressman Clyburn may still get his publicly funded highway bridge connecting Lone Star and Remini. Indonesia, however, is looking at a $10 billion bridge connecting the islands of Java and Sumatra, making it the world's longest bridge with a single span of 3km and a total length of 30km. Last year, Italy canceled a 3.3km bridge planned to cross the Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily.

Funds at Clemson For 2006- 2007, Clemson University's external funding for research totaled $141.4 million, the most in the school's history.

Beach houses According to the Multiple Listing Service in Myrtle Beach, home sales are down 19 percent from last year. Condominium sales are down 38 percent for the same period. Local Realtors suggest it will take 15 months to sell the homes on the market and 23 months for the condos.