Rocky top South Carolina is one of the nation's top ten states as consumers of mountaintop removal coal. S.C. Representative Carl Gullick (R- York) recently introduced a bill that would ban the importation of mountaintop removal coal to South Carolina. The bill has been referred to the Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee.

Nonstop to Paris After dropping the service eight years ago, US Airways has resumed its Charlotte- Paris nonstop service. On another note, the trick at the Charlotte airport is to drive into the pricey garage directly in front of the terminal, park for less than 30 minutes while you check in, and then drive out of the garage before the 30 minutes are up, and the drop- off parking is free. (Or at least it used to be free.) Then you have plenty of time to park your car in an inexpensive outlying lot (the cheapest) and take a bus shuttle back to the terminal.

Natural draw The numbers aren't in yet because the Turner- Cezanne exhibition continues at the Columbia Museum of Art, but a record visitor count is expected. In Atlanta, the High's exhibition of 2,000- year- old Chinese terracotta warriors ended on Sunday, April 19, counting more than 400,000 visitors in just five months. With even more visitors, the opening installment of the Louvre Atlanta series rank's as the High's No. 1 attraction. The series is a partnership between Atlanta's High Museum of Art and the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Widows and orphans Atlanta- based Southern Co., a regulated utility, recently raised its annual dividend to $1.75 a share, which is a dividend yield of 5.9 percent. SCANA's dividend is $1.80, which is a yield of 6.2 percent. For the S&P 500, the average dividend yield is 2.34 percent.

Sea Island Sea Island, Georgia, with its luxurious and world- renowned Cloister Hotel is about to refinance its debt. The new agreement puts the resort's existing debt into a new three- year credit facility with a final maturity of May 2012. The five- star resort's recent redevelopment and expansion cost more than $500 million.

Less moving Last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 11.9 percent of the U.S. population moved, the lowest relocation rate since 1948. Overall, 35.2 million people moved in 2008. Among the movers, 65 percent moved within the same county, 18 percent moved inside the same state to a different county, 13 percent moved to a different state, and 3 percent moved to a different country.

Problems Columbia should want to solve The 11- mile northeast rail line in Charlotte connecting uptown with the University area, the Lynx blue line, should cost up to $1.12 billion. Also, the 25- mile commuter rail project running from uptown to north Mecklenburg, aka the purple line, is about to begin construction inside the price range of $368 million to $375 million.

Mortgage rates Some adjustable rate mortgages are more expensive than long- term fixed rate mortgages, according to Freddie Mac. The average rate on a 30- year mortgage was 4.8 percent in the third week of April, and the average rate on a one- year adjustable- rate mortgage was 4.82 percent.

Duke and Orangeburg, cont'd. The Town of Orangeburg, S.C., had to cancel a 10- year $500 million contract to buy electricity from Duke Energy Carolinas. The N.C. Utilities Commission killed the deal, which would have saved the citizens of Orangeburg more than $10 million a year compared with their current deal with SCE&G. The Town of Orangeburg is arguing any conditions issued by the N.C. Utilities Commission could be taken as an unconstitutional restraint on trade. The town can challenge the commission's ruling in court, but Duke cannot. Orangeburg's municipal electric power system allows the town to charge its citizens less than what Columbians pay SCE&G for power, and the Duke deal would lower the charges further. Still, with a small margin above cost, the town essentially taxes the churches, high schools, government offices - all the otherwise tax- free properties. That tax, the margin above cost for electric power, is transferred to City Hall, which reduces property taxes by a like amount. Austin, Tex., has a larger but similar arrangement, and its electric power system contributes $95 million to City Hall to offset property taxes by $95 million, about the same amount Columbia is collecting this year for its general fund.