Jim Hamilton makes a smooth landing
In 46 years, Jim Hamilton brought Owens Airport from a single runway operating out of a trailer to 60,000 take offs and landings a year.
     Jim Hamilton, manager of Jim Hamilton Airport J.B. Owens Airport, turned over his position to Josh Houston (r) Monday, July 6, 2009. Standing with him are Gregory Pierce, Richland County Councilman; Earl Brown, past chairman of the Airport Commission; John C.B.Smith, chairman emeritus Airport Commission; Bernice Scott, past chairman Richland County Council; Jim Hamilton; and Josh Houston. Houston has served as airport director at the Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport in Spartanburg, S.C. and the Pickens County Airport, in Pickens, S.C. and is a retired United States Air Force Captain. Mr. Houston holds an MBA from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Bachelors of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of South Carolina.
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Outlook positive for S.C. manufacturing
By John Temple Ligon Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com
      By the end of this summer, construction on the expansion of the Panama Canal will be under way, as major excavation is already well along. Southeastern ports are direct beneficiaries. Expansion at Charleston and Savannah along with the construction of the new port on the Savannah River in Jasper County breeds optimism and growth in S.C.'s manufacturing and export outlook.
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Briefs
by John Temple Ligon
      Shriners Shriners International recently voted against closing any of its 22 Shriners Hospitals, including the one in Greenville, S.C. The Greenville hospital first opened in 1927. However, in the second week of July at the national convention in San Antonio, a threat to close six hospitals, including Greenville, was lingering.
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Ashley Gosse of Holder Properties
By John Temple Ligon Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com
      At age 24 and at the end of her first two years in business following college graduation, Ashley Gosse has taken on responsibilities and has targeted goals more suitable for someone with far more time in grade. Her title is manager of marketing for Holder Properties, Atlanta, Ga., but she lives in Columbia.
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Folks about town
      Mike Biediger, president & CEO of Lexington Medical Center has celebrated his 20th anniversary with the hospital. Mary K. Kessler has joined Capital Senior Center as executive director.
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Home Runs for Hope needs your vote
By Cathy Cobbs
      Rising Lexington Middle School sixth grader Zachary Stokes is an honor roll student, a baseball fanatic, and, according to his mother, Laurie, "an all- around good kid.
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