Week in Review

Jafza buys Santee land

A United Arab Emirates company has acquired a large expanse of land in one of South Carolina's most economically depressed areas, where it is proposing to build a massive warehouse and transportation hub. The project by Jafza International could generate an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 jobs for Orangeburg County and require $600 million to $800 million to complete. Terms of the sale of the 1,322-acre parcel near Santee to Jafza International by Charleston-based Carolina Linkages were not disclosed.

West Ashley Pig to close

A Piggly Wiggly supermarket that opened more than 20 years ago in West Ashley is preparing to close later this month after the grocer decided not to renew its lease. Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co. spokeswoman Rita Postell said the store at 2571 Ashley River Road is scheduled to close Oct. 27. "Our lease has expired and the location is no longer a vibrant center, as it used to be," she said. The supermarket's 33 employees will be given the option to move to other Piggly Wiggly stores, Postell said.

Lawsuit filed over photos

The College of Charleston Foundation is suing a photographer who is selling expensive images of a plantation it owns near Hollywood. The foundation said in a lawsuit that Hilton Head Island artist Benjamin Ham entered Dixie Plantation some time in 2006 without permission to shoot a photograph that he later put up for sale for as much as $4,800 per copy. The 862-acre tract on the Stono River was left to the college's foundation by wildlife artist and ornithologist John Henry Dick, who died in 1995.

City to unplug Wi-Fi net

The city of Charleston plans to unplug its tiny patch of free wireless Internet service Wednesday, two years after it announced an ambitious plan to weave a blanket of cyber signals over the peninsula. The city will terminate its contract with Widespread Access LLC, a Mount Pleasant telecommunications firm that pledged in September 2004 to build and pay for most of the Wi-Fi infrastructure in exchange for the right to sell faster Internet service to residents plugging into the signal.

Bi-Lo plans 'super' stores

Grocery store operator Bi-Lo plans to introduce its Super Bi-Lo format to the Charleston region next fall as part of a broader plan to overhaul most of its local supermarkets. The area's first of the 24-hour, one-stop supermarkets will be in Hanahan and on James Island.

The Mauldin-based chain opened its first Super Bi-Lo in June near Greenville. The new layout is not necessarily bigger than a conventional Bi-Lo, but it features updated designs, wider product selection and full-service deli, bakery, meat and seafood departments.