#ICYMI (in case you missed it): Friday Top 5
So you had to skip a few of our emails throughout the week – we understand… life gets in the way. Introducing: Friday Top 5. A.k.a. our new, handy recap of the week that doubles as the perfect conversation starter when you see friends + fam this weekend. Here are this week’s top 5️⃣ stories – plus what you said about them.
1️⃣ It was really, really cold this week.
Like, fountains-freezing-over-cold. This is what a fountain at Columbia College looked like earlier this week. ⬇️ Stay inside this weekend, too. Temps aren’t expected to get above 40º and overnight lows are in the teens.
Image via Instagram
“listen, I’m from Ohio and move here to get away from the cold! Haha maybe I need to keep going south!?” –@vincent_osberger_photography on Instagram
2️⃣ What do you want us to cover in 2018?
We wanted to kick off the new year by asking you what you want to read about in COLAtoday this year. What can we help find out for you? What would you like to see more of? Here’s what some of you said:
“I want to know more people in COLA. Can residents submit their own work to COLAtoday? Seeing a relevant article submitted by a COLA resident once or twice a month would be really special.” –Madison via email (Our answer: Yes. Here’s how you can contribute.)
“More Lexington dining culture and experiences! Also concert and movie reviews would be greatly appreciated.” –Kc via email
“Not too long ago there was a section about weekend getaway deals from Airbnb, and it sparked my travel bug. I would like to see a travel section with deals like that.” –Katrina via email
“Grill local politicians and the train companies every issue until the train problem is fixed.” –Rock on Facebook
Find more reader feedback at the bottom of the article. ✊
3️⃣ SCE&G refunds are happening 💸
News broke Wednesday that Dominion Energy will purchase SCANA (and its subsidiary SCE&G) for $14.6 billion and issue $1.3 billion in refunds to customers of SCE&G + SCANA (~$1,000 per household). They’ll also reduce energy bill rates by 5%.
We asked you: Is that enough?
“7.00 oh please.” –Lee on Facebook
“Do I remember correctly that we are now paying about 20% of our bill for the reactors? I wonder if Dominion thinks they can keep the rates higher because ratepayers have been sated by the $1000 partial refund.” –Jen on Facebook
4️⃣ 10-piece #bucketlist of chicken 🍗
Garden & Gun magazine rounded up the best fried chicken in the South, with 10 total locations in S.C., and two of those in the Midlands: Bernie’s Chicken + Zesto. We told you about all 10 and asked you if you agreed – or if they missed your favorite fried chicken joint. You had a lot to say.
Image via Facebook
“I worked at Zesto of West Columbia in 1957 and 1958. We only served Ice Cream then.” –Jettie on Facebook
Kara Burdett, marathoner + owner of Revival Running Coaching, LLC, rounded up 7 of the best running spots in Cola – like Riverfront Park, Harbison State Forest + the Lake Murray Dam. We also talked about group running with orgs like FiA + asked y’all for more running routes.
“Isn’t there a track in the BullStreet project or maybe it is on the ball field? Love your work, thanks” –Helen via email (Our answer: Yep – the concourse at Spirit Communications Park, home of the Columbia Fireflies, in the BullStreet Neighborhood. It was one of our local New Year’s resolutions.)
“Hey, I’m cyclist and really enjoy using the Strava heatmap feature to find the most popular, and probably safest, routes in town or when traveling. Same works for running and swimming, I believe.” –Jason via email
See more reader-suggested routes. 🏃
Reader feedback like the comments above is what drives COLAtoday – without the community, we’re just pixels on a screen. Send your ideas, questions, feedback + concerns to hello@colatoday.com (or just reply to this email) to let us know what you think, and read what others have said here.
–Beth
