Economic outlook The 28th annual Economic Outlook Conference, sponsored by USC's Moore School of Business and The Palmetto Institute, is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 3, at the Columbia Marriott on Main Street. A leading economic event for business leaders, the conference begins with a networking breakfast at 8:30 am, and the speakers' program starts at 10 am. Moore School economists Paulo Guimaraes and Doug Woodward will give the economic forecasts for the state and nation during the morning session. David H. Stern, founder and co- CEO of NYC- based Reservoir Capital Group, will give the keynote talk on financial markets. The program concludes at 2 pm. The day's cost is $75, including lunch. Deadline for registration is Nov. 26. For more information, call Nancy Beym, 800.393.2362.

Bar exam USC Law School's bar exam pass rate for the July bar exam was 86%, including both first- time test takers and repeat test takers. The Charleston School of Law's pass rate for the first- time test takers was 77%, up from 70% last year. Among all the test takers, the pass rate was 78%.

Biggest bang for the buck Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine has recently released its ranking of the 100 best values in American public colleges and universities. UNC Chapel Hill scored tops, and Clemson University made the list at No. 34. USC came in at No. 60; College of Charleston, No. 70.

SCBT For the third quarter of 2008, SCBT Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: SCBT) reported operating net income of $6.5 million, up 14.4% from the same time last year. The company's average total assets increased to $2.8 billion - including the addition of The Scottish Bank in the fourth quarter of 2007 - a 22.2% increase over the third quarter of 2007.

Dunkin' on Main Street The Main Street Dunkin' Donuts is set to open during the first week of December. Participating in a double- blind taste test, 476 adults scattered across the U.S. cast their votes. Among all participants, 54.2% preferred Dunkin' Donuts coffee, compared with 39.3% who chose Starbucks, and 6.3% expressed no preference. The Main Street Dunkin' Donuts shop is taking the space of the former Capitol Newsstand. The problem remains: Where is the newsstand? How can a coffee shop open without a newsstand nearby?

Too many neighborhood walk-ins, apparently Providence Hospital will trim 30 positions in response to reduced reimbursement for its services and the slowing economy, according to Columbia Regional Business Report. The hospital ran in the red in 2005 and 2006, but was reportedly "striving to break even in 2008." It probably was always striving to break even, just like every year, including 2005 and 2006.

Paris non-stop Until several years ago, soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there were two flights heading to Paris from Charlotte every evening, about 6:30. The British Air flight was non- stop to London with a quick connection to Paris, and the US Airways flight was non- stop to Paris. In other words, the Charlotte- Paris route was competitive until both airlines dropped their Paris service from Charlotte about the same time. British Air never returned, but the US Airways non- stop to Paris is about to resume, this time at 4:30 pm, arriving in Paris at 6:40 am. The return flight will leave Paris around noon and arrive in Charlotte at 3:35 pm. Beginning April 21, the US Airways non- stop Charlotte- Paris service will continue daily through October.

Come hear Columbia's mass transit experts The USC College of Engineering and Computing will present a forum on public transportation for the greater Columbia area on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 6:30 pm in the Swearingen Building. The League of Women Voters of S.C. is co- sponsoring this forum. The forum will begin with five panelists: Susan Richards, transportation director for the League of Women Voters of S.C.; Columbia Mayor Bob Coble; Deepal Eliatamby, president of Alliance Engineering; Tripp Gregory, vice president for human resources at Palmetto Health; and Sven Larson of the S.C. Policy Council. The panel is dominated by transit leaders of Columbia, where the number of buses on the street at morning peak period, 8 am, has stayed about the same for more than 25 years.