The town of Florence is enjoying some new life up in the skies. Last year, Florence Regional Airport saw a very strong year in enplanements, setting records for the small town. In March 2009, more than 5,000 people boarded planes at Florence Regional, a 30% growth spurt from the the previous March. (Read more in SCNow’s article Florence Airport Expansion will be Felt Throughout the Pee Dee.)

The Pee Dee Regional Airport Commission has jumped on this trend and just wrapped up a large drainage project at the Florence airport, that is preceding a two-gate expansion. The new gates will double the size of Florence Regional and it will allow room for the expansion of up to 12 gates total, if the flight trend continues.

Half of the funding for the projects is coming from Federal Aviation Administration grants. The regional airport is looking to South Carolina government for additional funds to complete the project.

Companies like DuPont, Honda of South Carolina, and Roche Pharmaceuticals (read a press release about Roche expansion in Florence) have seen the potential for the area and have channeled over $1.1 billion into the area. Florence also has a great location to major roadways, being positioned strategically near the intersection of I-20 and I-95.

If the expansion continues, it will draw new business, strengthens existing business and increases jobs in the nine county Pee Dee area.

Read about the Pee Dee’s North Eastern Strategic Alliance.

See flight schedules for Florence.

Everyone is pinching pennies lately. State governments are looking for ways to make a dollar stretch – even if that dollar is state-issued and from the 1800s.

South Carolina’s Department of Archives and History has a large amount of state-issue bank notes from the Civil War era. These bills have been placed on eBay and similar sites and are selling for up to 12 times their original value.  (Read more in the Greenville Online article State Auctions Civil War-Era Money.)

Under state law, the proceeds of the sales go towards state programs that deal with the preservation of historical documents.

The bank notes hadn’t lost all of their value after the war, but they had considerably declined in worth. After the public redeemed the low-value notes, at a great loss, they sat dormant in the basement of the Statehouse until the 1960s.

See a collection of paper bills and read more about the history of the State Bank of South Carolina.

View our guide of modern-day SC banks.

St. Francis Animal Rescue Centre in Rock Hill needs your help. With the economy down, so are donations. They’ve been victim to a recent break-in which caused their facility damage. They are still burdened by costly repairs and have accumulating back rent.

Most traditional shelters euthanize about 60% of their animals for lack of homes. Animal rescues like St. Francis don’t adopt that policy. They are a no-kill, cage-free place which aims at providing an ethical solution and good homes for stray animals.

In the event they close their doors, found animals will more than likely be euthanized by the state the same day they are captured.

If you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation, please contact their director Charlene G. Rodriguez at 803-554-9930 or donate at PayPal using the email address stfrancisanimalrescue@yahoo.com

If you cannot afford a monetary donation, please contribute in other ways like donating supplies or signing an awareness petition:

Supplies Needed:
Paper towels
Plastic bags
Cat food
Unscented cat litter
Trash compacter bags (cat pan liners)
Garbage bags
Scratching posts
Climbing trees
Pillows
Pet beds

Well-known Lowcountry author, Pat Conroy, is inducted today into the South Carolina Hall of Fame.

Conroy is the hailed author of Lowcountry epics like “The Prince of Tides”, “The Great Santini”, and “The Lords of Discipline.” Many think as South Carolina-focused as his books are that he’s was born in South Carolina, but Conroy is acutally an Atlanta native. He claims to have moved 23 times before he turned 18. But when his family moved to Beaufort, while his father was serving at the Marine Air Corp Station, Conroy took a stand to root himself, and call Beaufort “home.”

Following the military footsteps of his father, Conroy was educated at The Citadel in Charleston. After which, he took an unprecedented turn towards teaching in a one-room schoolhouse at Daufuskie Island. He based his book “The Water Is Wide” on his experience there teaching the sheltered students and dealing with the rudimentary thinking of the native adults. The novel was later turned into a film starring Jon Voight called “Conrack“, named from what the children would call Conroy since they couldn’t pronounce his last name.

Dedicated in 1973, The South Carolina Hall of Fame inducts one living and one deceased person a year. Previous inductees have included President Andrew Jackson, Cheraw-native jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and former South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond.

Conroy currently lives on Fripp Island with his wife and fellow-author Cassandra King.

The 2009 Induction Ceremony will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 18, at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. Admission is free. Call 843-916-7238 for more information.

Discover more books about South Carolina and from SC authors.

Find out more about South Carolina music.

Read more about The Citadel.

Research other South Carolina Convention Centers.

This Monday, The Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America (NACA) brought its Save the Dream Tour to Columbia’s Carolina Coliseum. The NACA is a non-profit, community advocacy, and home-ownership organization.

They are currently keeping very busy with the rash of sub-prime mortgages and predatory loans placing pressure on the public. They allow NACA members to purchase or refinance their homes with no down payment, no closing costs, and try to reduce any other fees that could bring the consumer deeper into deby.

The State reports that NACA brought with it an army of hundreds of counselors and numerous lending institution representatives to reach out to the people in need during the four-day event. Many travelled from all over the country to seek support.

The advocacy group helped many behind on their mortgages with lower interest rates and payments, and provided many others with hopeful plans to get out of their crunch.

Learn more from SCIway’s South Carolina Bank and Home Foreclosure Guide.

Find out more about South Carolina’s Bankruptcy Laws.

Read more about South Carolina’s Non-Profit Groups and Charities.

Find Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Local SC Offices.

This weekend, The Citadel celebrates its 166th birthday. The college is ushering in its 167th year with its annual Corps Day Weekend – complete with speakers, exhibits, parades, and even a musical narration entitled The Citadel Story. The theme of the weekend is principled leadership. There will be panel discussions and speeches from military experts like Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp who is currently overseeing most of our nation’s civil works infrastructure and military construction. The State newspaper reports that US Senator Lindsey Graham will deliver the keynote address on Friday evening.

The Citadel was founded in 1842 and has an undergraduate program of about 2,000 students who make up the South Carolina Corps of Cadets. Any Charlestonian recognizes these cadets as the short-cropped exercisers along Lockwood Drive with their white belts and navy running gear or the young men walking down King Street in full-dress during a weekend study break.

The school gained public interest from Pat Conroy’s novel, The Lords of Discipline, when it was published in 1980. Conroy, a former student, chronicled the story of a “knob” or “plebe” (a first year cadet) and his emotional and physical trials growing up in a very disciplined environment at a “fictional” military college set in Charleston. It was well-known to most as being The Citadel, though not explicitly said in the novel.

The story was made into a film in 1983 and was planned to be shot on location at The Citadel. The military school film Taps was shot in 1981, and was heard to have presented many shooting delays and burdens to the school. When The Citadel got word of this, they declined to allow the shoot to take place. Some have said the school and its alumni felt that the story also showed Citadel life in a negative light, so some feel that the refusal encompassed that sentiment as well.

Regardless of the differing views, The Citadel has been know to produce great results. The school ranks number 3 nationally for percentage of students who graduate in four years, including master’s level programs. Princeton Review also sings The Citadel’s praise by listing The Citadel School of Business one of the nation’s 290 best business programs.

We certainly wish The Citadel continuing success as one of South Carolina’s best colleges.

Find hotels near The Citadel.

Read more about The Citadel’s accomplishments.

View a video about The Citadel.

Learn more about Daniel Library at The Citadel.

Discover more about South Carolina’s elected officials.