A group of investors has abandoned its plans to put a Zaxby’s restaurant in the former Harper’s space in the heart of Five Points, after getting a positive city zoning ruling on its drive-thru. A suit had been filed to appeal the ruling. The building’s owner believes that any fast-food place taking over the higher-end restaurant site would have attracted similar grief, and that seems hard to dispute.

I got a chance to write a year-end story about the many chicken-related disputes roiling chicken-loving Columbia, including the Zaxby’s debate. Did I avoid puns entirely while writing about such a subject? No, I did not.

It was amazing to many in South Carolina to hear the current administration complain about the nation’s deficit with Germany and the issue of German auto sales in particular.

Why? BMW.

It has created more than 8,000 jobs in the state, not even counting the ripple effects, while building the nation’s top auto plant for exporting cars from the U.S. in Upstate South Carolina. Talking about a trade war with them is threatening to kill the Palmetto State’s fatted calf.

Bob McAlister, former chief of staff to Gov. Carroll Campbell, as usual has smart and succinct things to say, including this on the risk of a trade dispute: “It would be a blunder of the first order.”

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2017-06-09/in-south-carolina-germany-is-considered-a-partner-not-a-trade-rival

I wrote about one of Columbia’s most persistent sore spots, the collision of interstates known as Malfunction Junction, for the Post & Courier.

A decade from now, we’re likely to have many new interchanges with better designs, after a lot of frustrating road work. We’re also expected to have many more vehicles trying to use them. Belief that we can make a difference after years of neglect is a little challenging for some folks.

It’s such a mess that it’s really a statewide issue, as local leaders understand.