Week in Review

Brad Nettles
The Post and Courier

Carolina One Real Estate agent Trina Woods changes out the 'For Sale' sign at a house in Summerville. The Charleston area's largest real estate agency, formerly Prudential Carolina Real Estate, formally launched its new name and affiliation last week.

Carolina One launches

The largest residential real estate firm in the Charleston area is no longer Prudential Carolina Real Estate. It's now Carolina One Real Estate, the same company but with a new name. The firm officially dropped its affiliation with Prudential Real Estate last week, triggering a visual transformation that took place in front yards and at office buildings across the Lowcountry. Hundreds of agents swapped out "For Sale" signs at their listed properties, while other workers replaced the exterior signs at Carolina One's 16 local offices.

Parish pleads guilty again

Fallen economist Al Parish pleaded guilty to a state charge of fraud last week. The former Charleston Southern University professor admitted to orchestrating an investment scheme that burned up to $130 million on lavish goods and Ponzi-like payments to exiting investors. The hearing was largely a formality as Parish has already pleaded guilty to three federal counts of fraud in a deal struck with prosecutors in October. Sentencing was deferred, and Parish was released under the $1 million bond that he has already posted with the U.S. District Court.

Fertility clinic in deal

A Mount Pleasant company responsible for the first birth in South Carolina using in-vitro fertilization, or IVF, has partnered with a New York-based specialty management company that helps run a network of more than 100 fertility centers nationwide. Southeastern Fertility Center, which achieved the state's first IVF pregnancy 24 years ago, has joined with Purchase, N.Y.-based IntegraMed America Inc. in a 25-year deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.

King St. work planned

The final piece of Charleston's revitalization of King Street, a multimillion-dollar project designed to make the south end of the peninsula's shopping district more attractive to pedestrians, will begin in about six weeks. The third and last phase of the beautification effort should get under way after the Spoleto Festival USA ends June 8, affecting the roughly one-third-of-a-mile stretch between Market and Broad streets. Work is scheduled to begin the day after the Spoleto finale and last until next spring.

Creditors OK revamp plan

The future of emergency vehicle maker American LaFrance LLC, in bankruptcy since January, is back on track after its creditors voted overwhelmingly in favor of its bankruptcy reorganization plan. A judge in Wilmington, Del., is scheduled to decide May 22 whether to approve the Summerville-based company's financial restructuring. Meanwhile, the company is boosting operations as it exits bankruptcy.