NEWS - MEET THE COLUMBIA, SC ZOOS NEWEST GIRAFFE CALF

Tuesday, Aug. 09, 2011
Meet the zoo’s newest giraffe calf

Riverbanks Zoo is introducing its newest arrival – a giraffe calf born on July 11.
This is the second calf born to giraffes Charlie and Ginger. It weighed 105 pounds and stood 5 feet tall at birth.
“We are very excited about this latest addition to our giraffe herd,” said John Davis, curator of mammals, said in a news release. “The calf is doing very well and growing at a steady pace, but he won’t be full grown until about 5 years old.”

A giraffe calf, shown here at about a month old, is now on exhibit at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden. The giraffe was born July 11.

Today's news video

This is the sixth giraffe born at the zoo since February 2009; the last one arrived on Labor Day 2010.
Adult giraffes can reach heights of up to 18 feet tall (record is 20 feet) and can weigh as much as 2,600 pounds.

Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2011/08/09/1927760/meet-the-zoos-newest-giraffe-calf.html#storylink=Afternoon%20Newsletter#ixzz1Uph4ONI3

NEWS - LOFTS AT LAURIE FILLING UP FAST

MAN! Ive ALWAYS wanted to live in a loft!  thee THIS place doesnt look anything like what my vision is for a loft apartment, but its a loft, and you have to start SOMEWHERE..lol.

MICHELLE

Lofts at Lourie’s filling up fast

By RODDIE BURRIS

As tenants began moving in on opening day Monday, the Lofts at Lourie’s were 75 percent rented.
“This has been the easiest property for us to rent so far,” said Kay Hampton, marketing coordinator for Capitol Places, which developed the 28 apartments above the new Mast General Store on Main Street and has four other rental buildings on the street. “It’s the hottest.”
Downtown rentals in Columbia are gaining momentum as home sales continue to slide and gas prices keep climbing. Another high-profile project, CanalSide, is preparing to more than double in size, and smaller developments, such as the Estates on Gervais town homes, are renting instead of selling.
“The fact that we’re just now getting ready to open up and all but seven apartments have been rented speaks for itself,” Hampton said of the studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments that rent for $730 to $1,375. The firm began advertising them for rent less than three months ago.
The Lofts and other projects are attracting professionals who work downtown and don’t want a long commute.
They draw people like John Roberts, who rented a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in the Lofts, sight unseen.
The Philadelphia native graduated from Clemson University and the Charleston Law School. He just finished a master’s degree in tax law at the University of Florida in Gainesville and moved into his new Main Street home Monday with his fiancee, Randi Lynn Shelley, a University of South Carolina graduate.
Both are attorneys starting new jobs, Roberts at a downtown law firm and Shelley at the state Court of Appeals.
“We wanted to be near downtown and the Vista,” Roberts said. “We wanted no travel to work. We wanted to be part of the revitalization that’s going on and be near theaters and restaurants.”
Roberts sees the trend growing. “I think the ease of living downtown is appealing to many people.”
In addition to the Lofts:

• CanalSide, a 175-apartment riverfront community in downtown Columbia had only one vacancy as of Tuesday, property managers said. And its owner, Beach Development Co., is about to begin building 200 more apartments, Columbia development officials said.
• Vista Commons, a gated, 184-unit garden apartment complex in the Vista is full, a property manager said Tuesday.
• High-end town homes at the Estates on Gervais – in the Publix building at Gervais and Huger streets – are renting for $2,000 a month and are adding tenants.
The manner and pace at which the downtown Columbia area has attracted residents are astonishing, said Fred Delk, chairman of the Columbia Development Corp., which influences development patterns in the Vista area.
The attraction cuts across all the various types of housing choices, including apartments, lofts and condominiums.
“All the residences downtown are full,” Delk said.
And for occupancy levels to be what they are at this time of summer, Delk said, is an indication that the housing is drawing permanent residents, rather than students.
Professionals who have rediscovered downtown living buy into a lifestyle, Hampton said.
In downtown Columbia that means walking distance to shops, dozens of restaurants, museums, nightlife in the Vista, and very often, work, minus a long commute.
The renewed interest is coming as efforts to revitalize Main Street are starting to pay off.
Commercial interest is picking up with the opening of the popular Mast General Store in May. The quirky, N.C.-based retailer – an old-timey country store and cutting-edge outdoor outfitter – occupies the first floor and basement of the former Lourie’s men’s clothing store.
It is expected to be a catalyst for retail growth along the corridor.
The Nickelodeon Theatre is slated to open early next year. And several businesses, including a Brazilian steak house, an Italian ice restaurant and an art supply store, have opened or announced plans to open on Main Street near Mast in recent months.

NEWS - FORMER WIS TV ANCHOR (COLUMBIA SC) TALKS ABOUT ROLE IN 'TRANSFORMERS'

 i knew about this article BEFORE i saw the movie, and i just saw it yesterday, and have no recollection of any scenes where theres any news anchors...except at the beginning, maybe? must not have been noteworthy..lol MICHELLE

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Wednesday, Jun. 29, 2011

Former WIS anchor talks about role in ‘Transformers’

By OTIS R. TAYLOR JR.

Craig Melvin, the former WIS-10 anchor, stood in front of the camera for a live shot. But he wasn’t reporting a story for WRC-TV, the Washington, D.C., station he left WIS for in July 2008.
Melvin was on the set of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” acting as a reporter.
“It’s a scene in D.C. and there’s a lot of activity going on behind me,” Melvin said about the shot. “I’m just supposed to be describing the activity.”

Melvin filmed the scene for the movie, which opens in theaters today, about four or five times. Director Michael Bay, known for explosively cinematic displays, sometimes uses people who actually perform the role’s job description.
“He was looking for an actual news guy,” Melvin said. “With that being said, there was an actor on standby in case the news guy was awful.”
And the scene could’ve ended up on the cutting-room floor. (Let us know, because we’re not sure we’ll make it to the theater for this one.)
Melvin has already appeared as a newscaster on the small screen. In “The Event,” NBC’s recently canceled political sci-fi drama, he played an anchor.
“They sent a script and put it in the prompter,” he said. “We did it after the newscast. It was good. I was still in news mood.”
Melvin, 32, is a rising TV star, but not because of his acting. He’s anchored the weekend edition of the “Today Show” and filled in on the cable news network MSNBC.
“It was a tremendous honor to be asked to fill in,” Melvin said. “The most exciting part, my folks back home got to watch.”
Melvin, who served as emcee at the dedication ceremony of the Hootie & The Blowfish monument in October, said he missed Columbia. In October, he’ll marry Lindsay Czarniak, a WRC reporter whom local TV viewers might recognize from TNT’s NASCAR coverage. If you’re house hunting, Melvin’s Rosewood home is on the market, he’d like you to know.
It’s a good time to be in the news business in Washington, D.C., particularly with a presidential election looming and the Republican nomination wide open.
“I feel like what I’m able to do every day is God’s plan,” said Melvin, whose Facebook page long ago reached its friend limit. “I don’t feel like this is it necessarily. As far as news, you’d be hard pressed to find a better place to do it.”

NEWS - WHOLE FOODS COMING TO COLUMBIA SC

Saturday, Jul. 02, 2011

Whole Foods coming to Columbia

Other name-brand retailers likely to follow Whole Foods

By KRISTY EPPLEY RUPON

A new Whole Foods slated for the foot of Devine Street is a game-changer that could help usher in other unique retailers to the Midlands, officials said Friday.
“We should look at this like a multiplier effect,” said Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin. “Whole Foods is really the gold standard. It’s a sign that Columbia’s growing.
“I’m feeling pretty bullish right now.”

Columbia shoppers have long complained the Capital City does not have many of the national specialty retailers that are in Greenville and Charleston.
But last month, Mast General Store opened on Main Street, and Friday, officials announced Whole Foods will open next year in Cross Hill Market, at the intersection of Cross Hill Road, Devine Street and Fort Jackson Boulevard.
Edens & Avant, a major East Coast shopping-center developer based in Columbia, will spend $23 million to redevelop Cross Hill, now vacant. Whole Foods is slated to open in October 2012, accompanied by a dozen or more other new stores in the shopping center.
“The recession is over, and the retailers have been looking – and finding – locations,” said Ron Anderson, vice president of research and technology for NAI Avant. “They (Mast and Whole Foods) both have been looking for a long time, and the opportunity to strike landed.”
Other name-brand retailers could be close behind.
Trader Joe’s and Costco, two stores missing from Midlands retail landscape, are looking for sites, commercial retail experts said.
“Everybody wants high-income, highly educated consumers,” Anderson said, “which we have, but we don’t have in large clusters. For them to come into the market, they’ve got to really find the right spot.”
Whole Foods started looking for that spot in Columbia more than eight years ago, said Scott Allshouse, regional president for the Austin, Texas,-based organic grocery chain.
The grocer finally found the right spot – close to a neighborhood and accessible to folks from Fort Jackson and the University of South Carolina – in Cross Hill’s boarded-up Kroger, closed since 2007.
Edens & Avant chief executive Terry Brown said his company hopes to announce by the end of the year the names of a dozen or more retailers that will join Whole Foods in the redeveloped Cross Hills.
Whole Foods will anchor the 74,000-square-foot shopping center. Edens & Avant will add on to both sides of the current former Kroger building and build outparcels as well as a walking path to the adjacent Hampton Trace neighborhood.
The announcement was a game-changer for neighbor Kathy Galloway, who said she had planned to move when her son graduated from high school.
“I was going to be out of here,” said Galloway, whose house is in the neighborhood that backs up to the boarded-up shopping center. “This is such an eyesore.”
But as developers unfurled a Whole Foods banner to announce the new retailer, Galloway – standing in a crowd of clapping and cheering neighborhood residents, and city and store officials – said she will stay.
“I just feel like it’s going to be a huge boost for us,” she said. “Our property value is going up significantly.”
Galloway also is thrilled she will be able to buy her seafood and produce locally. The traveling saleswoman packs a cooler every time she goes to Charleston or Greenville for work so she can buy scallops, shrimp, salmon and other goodies from Whole Foods outlets in those cities. “I come home with a bag of Granny Smith apples to get my son through the week,” she said.
Whole Foods has made its reputation as an upscale retailer selling natural and organic foods. Competitor Earth Fare already operates on Columbia grocery. Other grocers – including the nearby upstate Fresh Market grocery – also are adding to their natural, organic offerings.
Construction is expected to start in January. The shopping center is expected to create 180 full-time and 120 part-time retail jobs, as well as 100 temporary construction-related jobs.
That too is welcome news. S.C. unemployment is 10 percent as the state struggles to recover from a harsh recession.

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i have never had the opportunity to be in one of these, but i hear a ton about this store from people her ein oklahoma. congrats to columbia, sc, for getting one! MICHELLE

NEWS - BABY OWL LATEST YOUNGSTER AT COLUMBIA SC ZOO

Friday, Jul. 01, 2011

Baby owl latest youngster at the zoo

The Riverbanks Zoo and Garden has put its newest baby on exhibit.
A young spectacled owl – the first born at the zoo since 2002 – will be on display in the Bird Garden across from the Bird Conservation Center near the Kangaroo Walkabout, the zoo said.
The 8-weeek-old bird hatched May 5. It is already as large as its parents but has white instead of brown feathers the adults have.

Spectacled owls have been on display at the zoo for 20 years. They are native to Central America through northern Argentina, although they are scarce in the wild, the zoo said.

THE BRANTLEY MANOR (Columbia, SC) - A Castle In My Own Backyard

craig and i were talking, as we often do, about what wed do if we ever could have the chance to win millions of dollars, and we always seem to talk about going back to columbia...

i always mention id like to build a home, or find one thats really neat looking (to me) and buy it.

this led us to a discussion about THE BRANTLEY MANOR.

craig said it was on lake murry, and was "Columbias Castle"

i said, "the WHAT?!"

he repeated the name to me, and said it was on lake murry.
"REALLY?!?!?!"

i was dumb struck.
i have lived in Columbia, SC for the majority of my life (22+ years) and i had NEVER heard about this mansion...
let alone heard it even resembled a castle.

well, being the savey person on the net that i have become, i went and googled this BRANTLEY MANOR with the addition of COLUMBIA SC on the end, and waitied less than a second for web info to pop up about it.

sadly, what i found was...it has burned down, and i never had the chance to even lay my natural eyes on it.

it WAS for sale at one point, but caught on fire, with the suspicion of fire.

finding an article about the manor BEFORE the fire, or any images as well, was difficult. but a few pages into google came up with this:

Brantley Manor Destroyed – February 2010

Conveniently located in the same May 2003 issue of Unique Homes as Dean Gardens – it’s really no surprise that I had my eye on this property.  Titled ‘Premier Lakeside Estate’ the home was described as a timeless English Manor and was situated on 4.8 pristine acres with a private peninsula.  The Main House which featured exceptional architectural artifacts and elements from the seventeenth century through the nineteenth centuries was approximately 20,000 square feet with 7 bedrooms and 9.3 bathrooms – making it the largest home on Murray Lake.  The list of features of the home is what really caught my attention, including the dual grand entries, two libraries, pub, indoor & outdoor pools, tennis court, fishing pier, floating dock, guest house, guest apartment, 3 slip indoor boat house and even dog kennels.

Having never searched the home in the past, I was curious to see if it ever sold.  The property was purchased in 2008 for $3.5 million, nearly $7 million less than the appraised value in 2003.  I found out the new owners had planned to ‘modernize’ the English Manor but quickly changed their minds and decided to tear it down and possibly develop the land.  The owners had an Estate Sale and sold off many of the unique treasures within the home and shortly after began demolition.  Only a week into demolition a fire broke out at the property in February 2010.  It burned for nearly 2 hours, destroying much of the home and causing an estimated $1 million in damage – which was no problem since it was being torn down anyway.  The owners family said the home was already more than half way demolished when the fire broke out and most of the expensive items inside had been taken out.  After weeks of investigating, Richland County officials ruled the fire as arson, but even stranger the home wasn’t insured.  After looking at the Google Maps aerial imagery of the Estate, you’ll notice the only part of the main house that survived was the ‘Indoor Pool & Glass Surround’ which was built in Europe and shipped over piece by piece.  It’s a very interesting and sad end to an Estate known by many on Lake Murray.  ”It is beautiful and everyone on Lake Murray thinks of it as a landmark and an icon on this lake,” said Joy Downs, director of the Lake Murray Association. “We’re sad to see it go.”

Price: $7,400,000 – Sold for $3,500,000
Size: 20,000 Sq. Ft.
Bedrooms: 7
Bathrooms: 9 Full, 3 Half
Speciality Items: 4.8 Acre Private Peninsula, 3 Storeys, Seven Fireplaces, Three Kitchens, Guest Apartment, Dual Grand Entries, Great Hall, Rotunda, Elevator, Music Room, Two Libraries, Pub, Media Room, Two Offices, Workout Room, Personal Exercise Room, Heated Indoor & Outdoor Pools, Large Master Suite, Imported Marble, Limestone, Granite and Slate, Inlaid Wood, Tennis Court, Fishing Pier, Floating Dock, Greenhouse, Dog Kennels, 100 yard Golf Hole, Two Bedroom Guest House, 3 Slip Indoor Boat House.
Address: Murray Lake, South Carolina, United States

NEWS - SUN SETTING ON 'BLUE SKY' GALLERY

Tuesday, Jun. 21, 2011

Muralist closing up shop

Sun setting on Blue Sky gallery

World-known Columbia artist to focus on Europe, other markets

By OTIS R. TAYLOR JR. 

The message, printed on white computer paper and taped to windows, is clear and hard to miss: Blue Sky Gallery is closing.

After 22 years in Five Points, the gallery, which sells work made by its namesake, will shut down in the coming weeks.

“I want to make sure everyone gets the message,” Lynn Sky, Blue Sky’s wife, said.

On Friday and Saturday afternoon, the gallery buzzed with curious sidewalk strollers attracted by the sign in the window. Lynn Sky, who had already pulled out rare sketches and watercolor paintings by the artist, also introduced large canvases to the gallery floor. Hanging prominently on the wall, two pieces from “Truck Butts,” the re-imaging of tractor-trailer doors that was part of a two-show exhibition at City Art in September.
Blue Sky, 72, an internationally known muralist, created the giant fire hydrant sculpture “Busted Plug Plaza” on Taylor Street and “Neverbust,” a 25-foot chain connecting the old Kress and Sylvan Brothers buildings. “Tunnelvision,” a 50-by-75-foot mural on the AgFirst Farm Credit Bank building at Taylor and Marion streets, turned 35 last year.

In October, Blue Sky told The State that the gallery was on the verge of closing.

“I said two years ago, ‘Let’s end it,’” he said Saturday afternoon as a glass of wine rested on his paint-stained jeans. “The gallery’s dragging us down. We’re more interested in the international market now. That’s where my future is.”

The sometimes elusive figure, who wears his fringe status like a well-worn but trusted leather jacket, said he will miss the Saluda Avenue space across the street from Gourmet Shop.

“The gallery means a lot to me. I love coming here. I love meeting the people who come in,” the Columbia native added. “I love being connected to Five Points. I just look forward to coming down here.”
Cindi Boiter, who profiled Blue Sky in a spring issue of undefined magazine, said the gallery closing won’t diminish the value of the artist’s work. In fact, she said it might enhance it.

“Too often, the ready accessibility of art, like anything, inversely affects the degree to which we value it,” she said. “Let’s face it, we sometimes take our natural resources for granted — be they artists or whatever. I’m sure we’ll miss the daily viewing of Blue’s paintings when we walk down the street in Five Points, but I suspect that we’ll be even more pleased to see Blue’s work when it crops up in gallery showings.”

Lynn Sky, who opened her first Columbia art gallery on Holly Street in 1981, vacillated between relief and terror on a recent visit as she said several questions need answers. Where will she store the work that doesn’t sell? Will she and Blue spend more time in California where they have an apartment? How long, realistically, will it take to clear out the gallery? What does this mean for Blue Sky’s legacy?

“I would like for him to get credit, historically, for some of the ideas he’s generated,” she said. “It would be nice if he were recognized.”

There’s a year left on the current lease, and Lynn said someone wants the space, though she declined to reveal the next occupant. Blue Sky was recently named a trompe l’oeil master by an Italian magazine, and he said Lynn has discussed moving to Europe.

But he’s not done painting on this city. Last week he was negotiating for space on a downtown wall.
“If I can just get people to cooperate with me and let me do them. I can’t get a clear approval from the owner of the wall,” he said. “You would think with my track record, you know, being one of the top muralists in the world, that people would be begging me to paint on their walls.

“No, no, no. They’re very suspicious. Because I want to do it my way. I hate compromise.”

NEWS - OLD PARK GETS NEW LIFE

Tuesday, Jun. 21, 2011

Old park gets new life

By TIM FLACH 

A face-lift for Corley Street Park in Lexington is designed to make it a family gathering spot.
Children are busy running through its updated sprinkler fountain decorated as a palm tree, climbing on new playground equipment and resting in pavilions adorned with murals.
“It’s a lot cuter; the kids love it,” said Kelcey Wilson, who occasionally brings students from Rhythmics Performing Arts in nearby Red Bank to the park.

And a small rain garden illustrates ways to filter pollution naturally.
The new facilities are a step that town officials hope will make the four-acre park in the center of town more popular.
Town parks director Dan Walker said the park had been “forgotten,” as others opened during the past 36 years.
It’s the oldest park in the rapidly growing town that is home to nearly 18,000 residents.
The site became a park after an abandoned cemetery was turned over to Town Hall in 1975.
It’s hilly, wooded and isolated. Mountain laurel and wild orchids grow there, plants that Walker said are rare in the Midlands.
Until now, the park was a neighborhood playground with a memorial to Confederate veterans and a small cemetery in its midst.
The park still shows signs of inattention.
Its parking lots are bumpy. Dirt paths are eroded, and pine needles and leaves lie on much its small non-forested area. Plans to add walking trails with exercise stations along its perimeter never materialized.
A $19,000 donation from a foundation associated with Lowe’s home improvement stores paid for the new features.
Tight finances mean the face-lift is all that will happen for a while, Mayor Randy Halfacre said.
“We’ll update it as we can and as required,” he said.
For now, visitors are happy with the new improvements.
“There wasn’t a whole lot for kids,” day care teacher Kathy Gilpatrick said. “Now it’s nice.”

NEWS - GINAT FLAGPOLE ACTUALLY A STEALTH CELL TOWER

Friday, Jun. 17, 2011

Giant flagpole actually a stealth cell tower

Old Glory to be raised above Rosewood

By DAWN HINSHAW

First came a cell tower disguised as a pine tree.
Now, a giant flag is being raised over a Rosewood Drive business on a cellphone tower resembling a flagpole, complete with a gold finial on top.
The new tower went up Wednesday, though the 10-by-15-foot flag won’t be delivered for several weeks, said Bill Howard, with Clear Talk Wireless.

Once the flag is unfurled, the company plans to display it just twice a year — on the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, when it will be illuminated at night.
The flagpole is the latest “stealth” tower constructed in Columbia as more people rely on cell service, despite reservations about unsightly towers in neighborhoods.
Not long ago, a tower designed to look like a short-leaf pine tree was installed along Beltline Boulevard at Trenholm Road. Neighbors sued but a judge upheld the city’s zoning board, said John Davidson with Nexsen Pruet, representing Optima Towers.
Howard said the Rosewood Drive tower is the only flagpole Clear Talk plans to build.
Efforts to get city and county zoning officials on the line were unsuccessful, but Howard said he was aware of just the two “stealth” towers in the Columbia area.
Whether it’s a flagpole or a pine tree, it isn’t fooling anybody, said Rebecca Munnerlyn, with the Rosewood Community Council.
“But maybe it does blend in a little better,” she said.
Munnerlyn is counting on the technology to develop soon for “smaller, less-obtrusive ways to provide good cell service.”
Meanwhile, Michael Bank, the owner of Capital Karate, who served in the Air Force in Kuwait, said the flagpole is an appealing alternative. He leased space to Clear Talk for the tower.
“You can’t beat a huge flag,” Bank said. “I make my students say the pledge of allegiance before every class.”

NEWS - MAINSTREET HOMELESS CENTER OPENS TODAY (Columbia, SC)

Monday, Jun. 13, 2011

Main Street homeless center opens today

But the real work begins Wednesday, when the first homeless clients arrive

By ADAM BEAM

Transitions, Main Street’s $15 million privately paid for homeless shelter, officially opens today after surviving three years of lawsuits, fundraising and politics.
It will have all the standard homeless services, including an emergency overnight shelter, counselors and a long-term program designed to find people jobs and a permanent place to stay.
But two services make Transitions unique to the Midlands: a day center and respite car

The day center will open first, officially accepting clients Wednesday. It’s a large room with a dining area, couches and computers. People can take showers, do laundry and get help with resumes or make appointments to see if they qualify for things like veterans or disability benefits.

“Or they can just hang out … out of the heat,” said Larry Arney, executive director of the Midlands Housing Alliance, the nonprofit organization of business, church and other community leaders that will operate Transitions.

Respite care will open sometime over the summer.

State law prevents hospitals from discharging patients if they don’t have a place to stay. So many patients who are homeless end up staying in the hospital, racking up $2,000 a day in charges the hospital has to absorb, according to Greg Gattman, vice president of operations for Palmetto Health.

Gattman said the hospital system has between 35 and 40 homeless patients every month it cannot discharge.
With respite care, Transitions will provide a place for these patients to be discharged, where they can be monitored by a nurse and reminded to take medications.

Gattman said Transitions’ respite care will be the only one of its kind in the Midlands.
“Respite is a safe place to transition these patients, to let them continue to get their medical needs met on an outpatient basis and let them stay some place while they continue their recovery,” he said. “We can use that hospital bed for somebody who needs that acute care.”
Columbia has always had multiple organizations that give homeless people a place to sleep at night.
But the city hasn’t had a homeless day center in at least 10 years, when the Oliver Gospel Mission shut down its day center because “the place kind of turned into a flophouse,” said Wayne Fields, the mission’s executive director.
As a result, public libraries have become the de facto day center for Columbia’s homeless, including Bryant King, who visited the Richland County Public Library’s main branch on Assembly Street Monday afternoon to use the computer.
“If I can get a job and a motel room, that’s all I need,” he said. “I’ll take the simplest thing I can get.”
But some nearby neighborhood residents see the day center as a problem, not a solution.
The homeless can come and go as they please at the day center, a concern to some that it will turn their neighborhood streets into a homeless highway.
“As the person who runs the Neighborhood Watch in Elmwood Park, we have a lot of traffic and a lot of burglary problems. With the new homeless people coming, I can’t say that it is going to improve,” said Peter Korper, the former Elmwood Park neighborhood association president who filed a lawsuit to stop the alliance from building the homeless center. “It’s just in the wrong place. Other cities laugh at us. What are we doing putting a homeless center in the middle of the state capital?”
But the homeless center doesn’t appear to be hurting Main Street.
Mast General Store opened last month at Main and Taylor streets. Some Lowcountry developers have purchased and are refurbishing 1556 Main St., and some Myrtle Beach restaurateurs plan to open a Brazilian Steak House in the Kress Building, across from the Columbia Museum of Art.
Fred Martin, vice president of operations for Mast General Store, said the company’s Asheville store is surrounded by homeless service providers.
“In downtown urban settings, you have to provide service for all who live in the area, and homeless people do live in the urban area,” he said. “I think that everybody can get along together, and I think that’s the philosophy of Mast. We are a community together, and we have to help each other.”
Transitions was built largely with private dollars, but a portion of its operating expenses, estimated to be just over $2 million a year, will include some public money.
Columbia City Council gave the Midlands Housing Alliance $250,000 this budget year, and plans to give another $250,000 next budget year, which begins July 1. The alliance will use the money for security, including running criminal background checks.
“The building will open with no long-term debt, which we always said was really paramount to success because we don’t have a dedicated funding source,” Arney said. “We have been, I think, kind of remarkably successful in getting support out of local governments, which has been one of our big challenges in our campaign.”
Even more remarkable is that the alliance received money from Columbia City Council, which in 2008 tried to persuade the alliance to move its homeless shelter to some city-owned property by the river. The alliance rejected the offer, and in response the city declined to contribute to the building campaign.
In addition to Columbia, the Midlands Housing Alliance has received financial commitments from Richland and Lexington counties and the city of West Columbia. The alliance has asked Cayce City Council for money, but that has not been approved.
Arney said public money makes up about a third of the center’s annual operating budget.
Fields, director of the Oliver Gospel Mission, said Columbia’s homeless service community has embraced Transitions and hopes it succeeds.
But he noted Transitions is a new facility with a new staff that is about to discover the challenges of reaching the homeless.
“They have their operational challenges ahead of them. … You can have something really good that’s going on, but it can really get abused, and I think the staff there will, they will learn that,” Fields said. “We haven’t figured it all out. We’ve learned some things along the way. It’s a big pie, and there are some pieces they are going to address that we’re not. So we’re really thankful this thing is going to happen.”

NEWS - SCULPTURES STOLEN FROM COLUMBIA, SC PARK TO BE REPLACED

Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011

Sculptures stolen from park to be replaced

By JEFF WILKINSON

The city of Columbia will replace three bronze sculptures stolen from Maxcy Gregg Park on Blossom Street near Five Points, city manager Steve Gantt said.
The three sculptures, representing a man, woman and child, have been missing since November, city officials said. The mother and father have been found, Gantt said, but the child is still missing.
And it isn’t the first time they’ve been stolen, he said. Pieces from the work, installed as part of a cancer survivor’s garden, also went missing in 2004.

“They are bronze, which is part copper, and people take them to try to get the copper,” Gantt said.
The city manager speculated that it would cost $5,000 to $6,000 to repair and replace the two recovered figures. “But we don’t really know” the cost of replacing the child.
The $1 million cancer survivor’s garden was erected in 2004. It was a project of the Cultural Council of Richland & Lexington Counties, which had received a $500,000 grant from the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Foundation. Bloch, co-founder of the H&R Block tax preparation company, is a cancer survivor whose foundation is helping pay for similar gardens across the country.
The little girl was stolen only a few months after the park was dedicated, and later found in some weeds near Memorial Park in the Vista. At the time, the little girl’s sculpture was valued at $8,000.

NEWS- OKLAHOMA TWINS ON 2011 'BIGGEST LOSER'

ok, so my last post was about the couple from columbia, SC...
this post is about the twins from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma..where im living now...

tough decission on who too root for, HOME TOWN? or CURRENT TOWN? or the UNDERDOG?

BIGGEST LOSER 2011 : DON EVANS

Hometown: Oklahoma City, Okla


Occupation: Police lieutenant
Don Evans says, "Obesity prevents me from living the kind of life that I want and it hurts my family." The 54-year-old husband and father of two adult children says that his obesity has also caused discord in his family, which he hopes will be fixed when he loses the weight.  Don was born in Raleigh, N.C., and grew up with his identical twin brother, Dan, and an older brother.  They lived in various states and countries due to his father's career in the Navy and his parents' divorce when he was six, which resulted in shared custody and many moves.  He graduated with an associate's degree in police science from Oklahoma State University, and earned bachelor and master's degrees in liberal studies from the University of Oklahoma.  He has been an Oklahoma City Police office for 30 years.  Don started gaining weight when he joined the police department, and became significantly overweight when he was 28 years old.  He even tried lap band surgery in 2004.  Now, at 309 lbs. and suffering from high blood pressure and sleep apnea, Don looks forward to getting healthy and enjoying activities with his family and doing all the things that his obesity prevented him from doing.

The Biggest Loser 2011: Dan Evans


Hometown: Oklahoma City, Okla.
Occupation: Police captain

Dan Evans was born in Raleigh, N.C., and grew up with two brothers, including his identical twin brother and "Biggest Loser" teammate, Don. As a child, he lived in several different states due to his father's Navy career and his parents' divorce when he was six years old. He attended college in Oklahoma, where he now resides, getting an associate's degree in police science from Oklahoma State University, and bachelor's and master's degrees in liberal studies from the University of Oklahoma. He wasn't overweight as a child or young adult, but his weight began to increase after he joined the police department in 1979. He began really gaining when he was 28 years old, due to poor eating habits, lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle. Dan had a son who died at age 24 in 2004, and also has a nine-year-old daughter. Now 54 years old and 287 lbs., with sleep apnea and high blood pressure, Dan says his weight adversely affects every aspect of his life, and he wants his old life back. He looks forward to running and playing with his daughter when he loses the weight.

but so far, my fav has to be:


The Biggest Loser 2011: Arthur Wornum 

Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Occupation: Stay-at-home dad/day care provider
Arthur's primary motivation for going on "The Biggest Loser" was to save his life.  Having weighed 646 lbs. in January 2009, he got down to his current weight of 507 lbs., but hasn't been able to lose beyond that.  A Seattle native raised in Portland with a younger sister, Arthur was always a big kid, but sports helped keep his weight in check until his junior year in high school when he had trouble making the weight of 275 lbs. for wrestling.  In the year 2000, he lost his insurance agency and gained 200 lbs., and then gained an additional 100 lbs. after the birth of his son in 2007.  Now a father of two, 34-year-old Arthur has high blood pressure and diabetes.  He was inspired by season seven contestant Ron Morelli, and looks forward to going to the Portland Trailblazers games when he has lost weight, something he always enjoyed doing as a child with his father.  He also hopes to inspire people who are too large to go on "The Biggest Loser" and let them know that there is hope for them too.

i think im rooting for aurtur because he has the most too lose and the most to gain. and, in allot of ways, i feel like him...so..GO AURTHUR GO! 
and if he loses, ill root : COLUMBIA GO! then OKALHOMA GO! 
those are my top 3, in just that order! :)

MICHELLE

NEWS - COLUMBIA COUPLE IN NEWEST 'BIGGEST LOSER' SEASON

Monday, Jan. 03, 2011

Columbia couple in newest ‘Biggest Loser’ season

By OTIS R. TAYLOR JR.

Avoiding mirrors and scales was how Larialmy Allen ignored her weight.
Until that wasn’t enough.
“I cut the tags out of (my) clothes so I didn’t know how big they were,” she said.

Similar stories of denial will be told on “The Biggest Loser: Couples,” the 11th installment of NBC’s weight-loss franchise. Millions of viewers will watch Allen and her husband, Jaquin, step on the scales when the new season premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday on WIS-10.
The Allens, who live in Columbia, will be one of 11 twosomes competing to shed pounds. They are the second pair of South Carolinians to be on the show, following Phil and Amy Parham, who were on season six.
Jaquin, a patient services representative with the USC School of Medicine, attended a July 31 casting call at the Colonial Life Arena with his boss. His wife stood in line with them for support. When casting directors called Jaquin the same day, they asked if Larialmy would be interested in being on the show, too.
He didn’t have to ask her twice.
“We had decided a couple of months before to lose weight,” she said. “It was a blessing in disguise.”
“The Biggest Loser,” which debuted in 2004 and is hosted by Alison Sweeney, has attracted more viewers than other recent weight-loss shows, including VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club” and “Kirstie Alley’s Big Life,” which began on A&E before moving to Lifetime.
The Allens, who will wear red T-shirts, began filming the show in September with the cast, which includes former Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler Rulon Gardner, who let his weight drift near 500 pounds. The Allens were home for a holiday break from taping when they spoke to a reporter by telephone last week. They weren’t allowed to share their current weight, but they did talk about what we’ll see tomorrow night: their first weigh-in.
“I honestly had no idea,” 27-year-old Jaquin, who was over 400 pounds, said. “I really didn’t know that I had gained that much weight. I just skipped the 3s.
“Once you see those numbers, your whole perspective on things changes.”
At 26, Larialmy, a student services program coordinator at USC, was over 300 pounds. She had been told to lose weight before she has children. Now she is losing weight for her future family as well as her current family members.
“I have to be an example. I can’t let myself get back into bad habits,” Larialmy, a Columbia College graduate, said, adding that she has a 23-year-old cousin who weighs 600 pounds. “There are so many people in my family that are overweight and morbidly obese.
“I’m trying to break that cycle.”
That’s something that seems easy with “The Biggest Loser” trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels designing workouts and screaming into the ears of contestants. Harper has a cajoling manner about him when trying to get maximum effort, while Michaels, who is in her final season with the series, can get downright scary.
“It’s real. It’s authentic,” Jaquin said about Michaels’ tough-love approach. “It’s beyond tough. I don’t even know what the word is for it.”
“The Biggest Loser” puts contestants through rigorous workouts, but the show also dedicates time to educating about proper nutrition. Jaquin said the show altered him physically and emotionally, but it also changed the way he thinks about food.
“I had that mentality that it’s just more so how you eat things and you can have ‘this’ from time to time,” he said. “You can’t have those kind of things because that’s your abuse.
“That’s the thing that got me up to 437 pounds.”
Jaquin’s boss was supportive of his going on the show.
“It’s a big moment that’s really going to define the rest of my life,” said the Benedict College graduate. “I will never see that starting weight again.”
And Larialmy will no longer have to remove the tags from her clothes. But for her, the opportunity is about more than simply losing weight.
“It’s about changing your life,” she said.