HUD South Carolina's share of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's new Neighborhood Stabilization Program is $44.67 million, and of that Richland County receives $2.22 million. S.C.'s statewide foreclosure rate is 4.1%. HUD Secretary Steven Preston allocated $3.92 billion to all states. The S.C. Association of Community Development Corporations' members and stakeholders will be active members in the program. The redeveloped foreclosed residential properties must be used to house individuals or families whose incomes do not exceed 50% of the area median income.

Biomass Loblolly Green Power LLC, a new biomass facility in Newberry County, will be the first such facility in S.C. generating commercially available renewable power. The plant will be built and owned by Charlotte- based Rollcast Energy Inc. The $170 million investment is expected to generate 27 new permanent jobs and be operational by 2011. Santee Cooper will purchase the 50 megawatts of renewable power this new facility produces. The Newberry plant will generate biomass from area logging residues and urban wood debris. Santee Cooper targets a 2020 goal of generating 40 percent of its energy through non- greenhouse gas emitting resources, renewables, conservation, and energy efficiency.

Fresh capital in a stale setting Charlotte- based Bank of America announced in the first week of October it began a $10 billion sale of common stock while it also reduced its dividend by 50% from $0.64 to $0.32. The dividend cut will save the company about $6 billion annually. The bank is following through with its addition of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and its $1 trillion in assets, which emphasizes more need for the bank to add to its capital base. Regulators require banks, all banks, to keep a minimum of capital to guard against loan losses. By selling the stock and cutting the dividend, B of A can expect its tier- one ratio to hit 8 percent, which for now appears more than adequate. To meet the regulators' definition of being well- capitalized, the bank must hold a tier- one capital ratio of no less than 6 percent. However, industry analysts said last week should a recession scenario evolve, B of A could need a total of maybe $30 billion in additional capital. Investor's basics: As a company sells more new shares of common stock, the company dilutes the value of its outstanding shares.

Meanwhile, across town... ....the moratorium imposed by the Federal Reserve on the legal battle between Citigroup of NYC and Wells Fargo of San Francisco in their fight for Wachovia was scheduled to be lifted Wednesday, Oct. 8. Citi had planned to buy Wachovia's banking operations for $2.16 billion, about $1 per share, and Wells came calling for $15 billion, almost $7 per share. Wachovia's share price over the past year has fluctuated between $0.75 and $52, and around mid- morning Wednesday, Oct. 8, it was $5.30..

SCANA SCE&G, the regulated utility part of SCANA, asked the S.C. Public Service Commission for a November rate increase. Three categories of customers would see their rates rise by different amounts: residential, 6%; commercial, 7.3%; industrial, 12%. The rate- raising request is scheduled for a hearing before the PSC on Oct. 20.

Charlotte/Douglas Compared to the same month last year, Charlotte/Douglas Airport's boardings gained 4 percent for August. Total boardings for the month came to 1.53 million passengers, which annualized is more than 18 million.

Hub for unreliability US Airways' largest hub is Charlotte/Douglas Airport. Forbes.com reported recently US Airways' distinction as one of the two worst for reliability, tied with United Airlines, in a list of 10 major airlines. In first, most reliable, was Southwest Airlines, and Continental Airlines was No. 2, followed by JetBlue, AirTran, Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines, Northwest Airlines, American Airlines, and tied for last are US Airways and United Airlines.

Guy Beatty, come on over... ...to the USC Art Department. Beatty, who founded the Beatty Cos. commercial real estate development firm in McLean, Va., 45 years ago, recently announced a $60 million donation to the College of Charleston. In 1974, with only a BA in art history offered, the USC Art Department had six full- time PhDs teaching art history. Today, with programs for both BA and master's degrees in art history, the department has only three full- time PhDs teaching art history.