Briefs
by John Temple Ligon
A big loss, but not that big Investors in business with Al Parish, a former Charleston Southern University economist, lost between $60 million and $80 million. Earlier estimates of their losses came to $90 million.

Economic impact As reported by the City Center Partnership, a resident living downtown has twice the economic impact as a person working downtown. Columbia has 235 people living within its City Center, and housing for another 165 is planned, which can make the same economic impact as another 800 workers downtown.

Scana sells $250 million in notes Scana Corp., the parent company of SCE&G, has sold $250 million of senior unsecured notes which are also medium- term notes due April 1, 2020. Fitch Ratings has assigned an A- rating to the notes issued at 6.25 percent. Scana's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SCG.

Meanwhile, up in Charlotte at Duke Energy... ...Duke Energy has increased its credit line with several banks to $3.2 billion from $2.65 billion. Both Charlotte- based Wachovia and Bank of America are lenders. Duke supplies energy to four million U.S. customers.

Sears gets a store inside its store Lands' End, one of the world's largest consumer- direct retailers of casual and tailored clothing for women, men, children and infants, is a member of Sears Holdings Corporation. And as such, Lands' End has opened a 6,500 square- foot store inside the Sears store at 100 Columbiana Circle in Columbia.

Citadel raises $$$ A six- year fundraising campaign goal was $100 million, and The Citadel Foundation just concluded the campaign with $107 million. The fundraising campaign focused on four areas: scholarship, academic excellence, facilities, and unrestricted operating support.

Foreclosures in the state In S.C., the foreclosure rate for properties more than doubled from a year ago. S.C. had 698 properties in foreclosure in February, which was up 102.91% from the same month a year ago. For the whole country, the number of properties in foreclosure was up this February by 60% over a year ago. RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, ranked S.C. at No. 37 for the highest number of properties in foreclosure. Nevada was No. 1, and neighboring Georgia was No. 8.

Diversity Santee Cooper, S.C.'s state- owned utility, has received high marks from the S.C. Human Affairs Commission for its diverse work force. For its diversity of its workers and its ability to carry out affirmative action plans, the utility was placed first among state agencies that employ more than 1,000 employees and second among all state agencies.

Sporting proposition St. Louis- based The Sporting News magazine is moving its editorial and production operations to Charlotte this summer. Founded in 1886, The Sporting News is the nation's oldest sports magazine.

State budget The S.C. House of Representatives has unanimously approved the proposed budget for the state. The new budget cuts spending by 4.5%.

Unemployment The S.C. rate of unemployment in January was 6.1 percent, the third highest in the country. Alaska's unemployment rate was 6.5 percent, second highest, and the worst in the country was Michigan's at 7.1 percent. The nation's unemployment rate for January was 4.9 percent. The lowest unemployment rate in S.C. for January was in Lexington County at 4.5 percent, while the highest in the state was in Allendale County at 14.3 percent.

In the middle According to the American Legislative Council, S.C. ranks No. 25 in the "Rich States, Poor States" report on economic competitiveness. Utah was No. 1 and, at the bottom; No. 50 was Vermont.

A hot idea for school buses In Arkansas, where a bus- riding public school student can take over an hour one way to school, they have wired the buses so the kids can study science, math, etc., real- time while commuting.