One Book, One Columbia Kicks Off!

One Book, One Columbia initiative officially kicked off earlier this week. The reading period (April 1-May 15) is now underway. Copies of the book selection, "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters First 100 Years" by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth, are rapidly circulating at the Richland County Public Library.

Special activities in support of the initiative begin this weekend, including a Sunday afternoon movie showing of Having Our Say at the RCPL on Assembly Street and a poetry reading on Saturday. For a detailed list of events, please visit RCPL's One Book, One Columbia site.

Web: www.myrcpl.com/onebook

Cultural Council's Color the Arts Fundraiser and Social Seeks COR Volunteers

The Cultural Council's Color the Arts Fundraiser and Social is seeking help from COR volunteers and members in the following two areas:

1. Aid with Art and Experience Silent Auction: Seeking 12-15 items/packages to auction off. Past items have included restaurant and theatre packages; BMW Driving Experience, golf packages;  tickets to a major concert at Phillips Arena in a corporate box (last year was Crosby Stills Nash and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert); mountain and/or beach condo packages.

2.  Aid with Creation of Two Unique Auction Packages:
         

A. Beer for a Year - Seeking distributor/grocer/retailer to donate 52 six-packs of various craft beers.
         

B. Baker's Dozen of Exceptional Wines - Seeking 13 restaurants or retailers willing to donate a high quality wine no longer commercially available.

The Cultural Council would like to avoid sport-related packages, excluding the suggested golf package.

Please contact Andrew Witt, Executive Director of the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties, if you believe you can help.

Email: andy@smartarts.info
Phone: (803) 231-3131
Web: www.smartarts.info

Richland County Transportation Penny Tax

On November 2, a new tax, the Transportation Penny Tax, will be on the ballot in Richland County . If approved, it will be primary source of funding for the transportation needs in the county over the next 25 years.

If approved, the tax will increase sales tax in Richland County to eight cents. The funds will be used to complete more than a billion dollars worth of improvements to transportation in the county, including road, bike and pedestrian greenway projects. It will also provide long-term funding for county bus services and transportation services for the disabled in the community.

For more details, including a proposed cost overview, visit the Richland County Web site.

"Richland 101" - ABC's of Richland County Government

2008 Spring Session Begins Monday, March 17th

Richland 101, the hottest ticket to information about local services, kicks off the Spring session on Monday, March 17, 2008. Richland 101 is an exciting 6-week series on how County government works, spends tax dollars, educates children, protects public safety, and provides other vital services. The course now includes many field trips. Citizens tour the county jail, sheriff’s office, EMS facility, the judicial center and Midlands Tech's new Technology Center.

Visits to the Richland County Public Library and the Columbia Museum of Art have also been added to the line-up this year. Richland County elected officials and top managers teach these classes. Topics include the county budgeting process, garbage service, the courts, schools, zoning, animal control/care, and much, much more.

Classes are held Mondays and Thursdays from 6:00 - 8:00 PM in County Council chambers, at 2020 Hampton Street. At the end of the session, “graduates” attend a meeting of the Richland County Council where they get a firsthand view of local government in action. Continuing education credits from Midlands Technical College are available upon completion of Richland 101. To register for this free course, contact Richland County’s Public Information Office at 576-2062 or 576-2067.

REGISTER ONLINE

http://www.richlandonline.com/News/2008/Richland101Spring.asp