Radio daze Clear Channel Communications Inc. is going through a buyout by two private- equity firms and six banks, including Charlotte- based Wachovia Corp. Clear Channel and the private- equity firms, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners, had earlier agreed to a deal that would pay shareholders $39.20 a share, but the six banks balked, and lawsuits against the banks resulted. The legal dispute is settled, and the deal is set at $36 per share. In Columbia, Clear Channel owns six radio stations: WCOS-FM 97.5, WXBT-FM 100.1, WLTYFM 96.7, WVOC-AM 560, WNOK-FM 104.7, WCOS-AM 1400. San Antonio- based Clear Channel is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as CCU.

Duke goes clean and green Duke Energy Carolinas plans to buy more than 16 megawatts of electric power from a solar farm in Davidson County, N.C. What could be the largest photovoltaic power source in the United States, the solar farm is being built by SunEdison, the largest solar- energy company in the country. The solar farm is expected to provide enough power for 2,600 homes.

Greenville goes under At an average of $1 per month, Greenville electric power customers will begin paying for the burying of power lines July 1. The payments will be part of an increased franchise fee the city charges Duke and Duke passes on to customers. In an Upstate ice storm in December 2005, some citizens were without power for a week, and six people died. Greenville had seven major ice storms in 10 years. Line burial will begin in areas hardest hit in previous storms.

Columbia and Charlotte compare population The Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) population grew by 2.64% from 2000 to 2002 to 664,229. The Charlotte- Gastonia- Concord NC- SC MSA grew by 6% to 1,410,292. The Columbia MSA consists of Richland and Lexington counties, plus Kershaw, Calhoun, Fairfield, and Saluda counties.

Columbia and Charlotte compare carbon Charlotte's carbon footprint is just about the country's worst, according to the Brookings Institution based on 2005 data. The average Charlotte resident emitted more than 2.8 metric tons of carbon from highway transportation and residential energy consumption. The national average was 2.2 tons. The average resident in metropolitan Columbia emitted 2.534 tons of carbon from highway transportation and residential energy.

US Airways not to merge, at least not this year In early May, Continental Airlines Inc. announced it would not seek a merger partner in United Airlines, the most likely presumptive partner for Continental. Then in rapid fashion US Airways and United began merger talks, picking up where they left off in 2000 when the deal was blocked over antitrust concerns by the U.S. Department of Justice. However, at the end of May, US Airways CEO Parker declared the low probability of a merger. United, US Airways, and Continental serve Columbia. Charlotte is the largest hub for Arizona- based US Airways.

You can't take the train to Charleston, Greenville, or Charlotte Due to growing demand for service, a third state- sponsored passenger train is joining the route between Raleigh and Charlotte. As part of Amtrak service, the North Carolina transportation department already sponsors the Carolinian and the Piedmont passenger trains between the two cities. Between October 2007 and April 2008, 197,126 people rode the two trains. Each train makes a morning and evening run, and the new train will have departures at midday from both cities. Meanwhile, here in South Carolina, there is no passenger train connection from Charleston to Columbia to Greenville, the state's most likely passenger rail corridor, and there are no plans for such. Neither is there a passenger rail plan to connect Columbia with Charlotte, the commercial and cultural capital of the two Carolinas.

Downtown style The Sheraton Columbia Downtown Hotel, about to open in the former Palmetto Building at the corner of Washington and Main, will have 135 guest rooms and suites, all below a rooftop bar.

Record attendance The Columbia Museum of Art set a new attendance and outreach record of 33,343 people during the exhibition, "Excavating Egypt: Great Discoveries from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology."