Briefs
by John Temple Ligon
Home sales down - prices up Down almost 19 percent for September, Columbia- area home sales recorded their largest monthly drop for the year. The median sales price rose six percent over September 2006 to $148,000. Myrtle Beach home sales fell almost 27 percent for the third quarter compared with the same period in 2006.

$300 million project planned for Myrtle Beach The 52- acre site of the former Waccamaw Factory Shoppes at Myrtle Beach will soon become a $300 million development including a hotel, housing, retail shops, and a recreation area. The property was recently acquired by the project's developers, Next Step Partners LLC, for $20.75 million. The Hard Rock Park is under construction next door.

Personal art State government lifted its ban on tattoo parlors in 2004, and DHEC added training guidelines in the late winter of 2006. Since March 2006, almost 50 tattoo parlors have been granted licenses to operate in S.C.

Varied success at newspaper publishers The E.W. Scripps Company plans to divide itself into two publicly traded companies. Scripps' cable television networks and Web businesses are being separated from its newspapers and their falling advertising revenue. The McClatchy Company, publisher of more than 30 daily

newspapers including The State and The Charlotte

Observer, recently reported a 55 percent drop in third- quarter earnings. The New York Times Company reported a 6.7 percent increase in third- quarter earnings.

It could happen here The parent company of Pugent Sound Energy, Washington State's largest private utility, recently agreed to be acquired and taken private by a consortium of investors led by Macquarie Group for about $7.4 billion, which included the assumption of $2.6 billion in debt. Pugent Energy, the parent of Pugent Sound Energy, has about one million customers. SCANA, the parent of SCE&G, has a market capitalization value of a little more than $4.7 billion, and its total debt is $3.9 billion. SCANA provides electricity to 623,400 customers. Last May, Macquarie completed its purchase of Duquesne Light Co., a Pittsburgh shareholder- owned utility of a size comparable with SCE&G. Macquarie took Duquesne private.

Speaking of SCE&G SCE&G and its regulators agreed on a 10.7 percent return on common equity for the coming year. The targeted return on common equity is to be achieved with a five and a half percent increase in residential power rates and a smaller increase in commercial rates, amounting to a projected annual revenue gain of $76.9 million.

State suicides The annual number of suicides in S.C. is typically higher than the number of homicides. For 2005, 523 South Carolinians died by suicide, and 346 by homicide.

S.C. soybean farmers expect price hike U.S. soybean production is projected to drop 19 percent from last year's output of 2.76 billion bushels.

Another major order Force Protection, the Ladson- based armored vehicle manufacturer, has a new $376.6 million contract to supply the U.S. Marine Corps with 800 new vehicles, about half of which will be produced in Ladson by Force Protection and the other half will be by General Dynamic Land Systems in Falls Church, Va.

Dry spell N.C. Governor Mike Easley asked all North Carolinians to cut their water consumption by 50 percent for the last week of October. He asked the state's public water utilities to report on the amount of water used for the week to gauge the success of water- saving measures and provide information if the drought should continue and more rationing is needed.

Pedaling Spartans After three years of developing programs and infrastructure to accommodate bicycling, Spartanburg has been awarded a bronze medal as a Bicycle- Friendly Community from the League of American Bicyclists. Other bronze recipients were Lexington- Fayette County, Ky.; Liberty Lake, Wash.; New York City; and Santa Clara, Calif.