In 1858, plantation life was a fixture across the rolling farmlands of Lower Richland county. Crops of rice, indigo, and cotton provided comfortable lifestyles for the owners; their slaves did the planting and harvesting. After schools were established for the white gentry, a yearning for a church of their own emerged among the landowners. More...

Pantygate Sugar & Spice, a fantasy gift and lingerie shop at 1000 West Meeting Street, West Columbia, S.C., received a check on April 20, 2004, for $100 from Mayor Coble's Leadership PAC, Citizens for a Balanced Community. The PAC's executive director, Joe Werner, signed the S.C. More...

Lisa Dixon, Lower Richland Ruritan President thanks Tom Savage for his presentation on Columbia's first commercial airfield in 1923 and the founder, Paul Redfern. Redfern's airfield was on a cow pasture on the same site as Dreher High School. Savage is the president of the Paul Rinaldo Redfern Aviation Society (PRRAS). For more information on Redfern, email Savage at thomas_savage@bellsouth. net More...

Councilman Kirkman Finley tells us that "statewide, S.C. is # 4 in the country in property crimes and # 2 in violent crimes, 766 per 100,000 which is second to the District of Columbia, the nation's worst violent crime rate." ( The Columbia Star, August 29, 2008, p. 4.). More...

The Richland Northeast Cavaliers scored 27 points in the third quarter and just about every way possible en route to a 43- 0 victory against their rival, the Spring Valley Vikings, at Harry Parone Stadium Friday, August 29. More...

In one of the greatest comebacks in the 15- year history of the Summer Shootout Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Jordan Anderson of Forest Acres, S.C., won a repeat championship in the Quaker Steak and Lube Legends Car Pro Division. Anderson stands alone in the record books as the only driver to repeat as a consecutive champion in the Pro division. More...

After B.F. Ferguson died in 1905, Francis Beidler I bought his partner's interest in Santee River Cypress Lumber Company. When he began to go blind, Beidler turned over operations to M.B. Cross and loaned the company $621,000 to keep the saws turning, but in 1914, he closed it down. More...

-ART The Columbia Museum of Art is hosting "Children of Hope," an exhibit that displays artwork created by children with cancer and blood disorders. Exhibit runs through October 2. www.columbiamuseum. More...

Roll call City council convened about 9 am, Wednesday, Sept. 3, on the third floor of City Hall. All council members were present: Kirkman Finlay III, Tameika Isaac Devine, E.W. Cromartie, Mayor Bob Coble, Sam Davis, Daniel Rickenmann, and Belinda Gergel. More...

NOTICE In compliance with the Public Inspection Requirement for a Private Charitable Foundation, and as required for the filing of I.R.S. Form 990-PF, The Dade Foundation of whom, Malcolm G. Dade, Jr. is the Trustee, Hereby give notice that its annual Return for the tax year 2004 is available for inspection. More...

Thus far, in 2008, there have been eight lab confirmations of West Nile virus and two of eastern equine encephalitis virus in the state, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported September 2, 2008. More...