The story about GROW is a special indulgence; thanks for granting us that. It was a hard piece to do because GROW is so close to our hearts, and is such an important part of this newspaper's history. POINT and our sponsor, the nonprofit organization the Natural Guard Fund, were born in the GROW building.

   It is our sincere hope that the shack on the tracks stays vibrant and that the reopening of the Cafe begins a fresh chapter in the GROW experience. The renovation effort of the GROW building is looking for donations of money, materials and labor. Find out how you can help by calling 803-254-9398.

   Finally, you can sleep easier now that the South Carolina Legislature is out of session. In this issue, we take a look at some of the things the General Assembly did -- and tried to do -- to us, for us and in spite of us, in a special section of Loose Lips. Some of the proposed legislation will resurface in next year's session; read these Cliff Notes and be prepared.

   We apologize for this issue of POINT being so late in hitting the streets. The staff is still suffering from the trauma induced by the seemingly endless move of our offices from the GROW building. We are still working out of boxes, and have yet to create a functional environment. Bear with us as we muddle our way back to a decent publishing schedule.

   In the meantime, we want to hear from you. We need story ideas, poetry and fiction submissions, and ideas on how to make this a better paper. What issues do you want to see covered? What's yanking your chain? Do you know someone interesting we should profile?

   Give us a call at 800-849-1803, fax us at 803-808-3781, email us at scpoint@ mindspring.com or write us a letter to P.O. Box 8325, Columbia, SC 29202.