Hard assets
Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach could be reopening soon, but it won't open as Hard Rock Park. A name change is part of the reopening mix. Expect new rides and expect a drop in the original entry ticket price of $50. Already a $25 million offer is on the table, but a second is rumored, so an auction by the bankruptcy trustee is likely to settle the matter. A late- May reopening is planned by both prospective buyers.

DHEC
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control recently approved by a 4- 2 vote an air quality permit for Santee Cooper to build a $1.25 billion coal- burning electric power plant in southern Florence County next to the Great Pee Dee River. SCDHEC Chairman Bo Aughtry was present to vote in case of a tie, which was not necessary. However, Aughtry said he would have opposed the permit if his vote was needed to break a tie.

Senator Graham talks draconian measures
On ABC's This Week Sunday morning television program, February 15, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R- S.C.) suggested the remote possibility of a government takeover of private banks as a solution for the financial industry's severe problems, particularly the lenders' debt loads.

Doing the most good
The Salvation Army of the Midlands and its 2008 Christmas Assistance program included 1,407 senior citizens, who were visited in nursing homes where they were given a Christmas gift and a card. On Christmas morning, 1,050 underprivileged children adopted under the Angel Tree program found gifts they requested. Parents of another 4,208 children - not part of the Angel Tree adoption program - selected donated gifts at the Salvation Army Toy Shop. The bell ringers at 53 locations across the Midlands brought in $238,309, a 40% increase over last year's bell ringing. Overall, 4,000 volunteer hours were contributed by 3,648 volunteers.

Like pulling teeth
According to a ranking of the U.S.A.'s most profitable industries by Sageworks Inc., the winners are private dental clinics. Dental offices pulled in an average 17 percent profit margin for the past year. The second highest margin was the 15.5 percent made by accounting, tax preparation and payroll services firms. Lawyers were next at 13 percent.

Bull Street
The State Hospital property on Bull Street, all 181 acres of it, is officially for sale. The sale is being handled by Columbia's NAI Avant. The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation is asking for four major actions to be taken in the area of historic preservation: (1) Follow the restoration and historic landscape elements of the 2004 master plan by Miami- based urban design firm Duany and Associates. (2) Invite bids from developers who only want to deal with the 45 acres of the historical core of the property. (3) The City of Columbia needs to designate landmark status to buildings deemed eligible for the National Register. (4) The S.C. Legislature should expand the scope for state preservation tax credits concerning abandoned government buildings to attract private investment.

Doctors Care
Starting on December 10, 2008, the audit committee of the board of directors of UCI Medical Affiliates, the parent company of 40 Doctors Care physician practices, proceeded with an internal investigation of "certain accounting irregularities" and "improper expense reimbursements" to the company's former executive vice president of finance. The company reduced its declared pre- tax income for the six years ended September 30, 2008, by about $1 million. The company is listed on the Over the Counter Bulletin Board (OTC BB) under the symbol UCIAE.OB. The 52-week range for the price of a single share of stock is $1.40 - $3.70.

Mepkin Abbey 'shrooms
The Trappist Monks' compound near Moncks Corner, Mepkin Abbey, was founded on property once occupied as a retreat by Time- Life founder Henry Luce and his family. In the mid-1990s, John Temple Ligon regularly bought his fresh eggs from a downtown Charleston neighborhood grocer, as they were supplied by Mepkin Abbey to the neighborhood. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) objected, and those objections to the monks' egg-producing techniques resulted in the shutdown of the whole egg operation at Mepkin Abbey, albeit profitable for the abbey and certainly suitable for the downtown Charleston grocers, restaurants, and residents. Now the abbey is supplying its homegrown mushrooms to Charleston-area Piggly Wiggly stores and to downtown restaurants. The mushrooms are packaged in six-ounce containers with printed recipes on the sides. So far, the restaurants serving the monks' mushrooms include Slightly North of Broad, High Cotton, McCrady's, Cypress and Anson.