January 10, 2017

• The Columbia City Council opened a design contest for a new city flag that was facilitated by a collaboration between the Columbia Design League and One Columbia for Arts and Culture. The design contest had over 540 submissions. Psst, peek at all 547 submissions in this compilation video here.

June 26, 2017

• COLAtoday wrote a conversation that recapped the contest, highlighted the 19 finalists, and shared Soda Citizen’s thoughts on the designs.

July 5, 2017

• We hosted a Mayors Minute guest series where former Mayor Steve Benjamin talked about the flag contest.

September 12, 2019

• COLAtoday recapped the history of our flag and explained why we still had the same design two years after the initial announcement in 2017.
• Columbia Design League, the Columbia City Council, and former Mayor Steve Benjamin announced a new extended process to adopt a new city flag. Five selected designers were given six weeks to present a design based on the new guidelines.

February 4, 2020

• After three years, Columbia adopted a new flag that was designed by Nate Puza. The flag represents the three rivers, that our city is a capital city, and showcases the wing imagery.

March 10, 2020

• Columbia City Council unanimously adopted the new design as the official city flag and former Mayor Steven Benjamin raised the new City of Columbia flag the next day.

November 16, 2022

• A six-and-a-half week North American City Flags Tournament started on Twitter — thanks to Brian Stokle — where people could vote on the best flag designs in North America.
• Out of 80 flags, Columbia’s flag came in second. “Second is the best,” because our flag still had a total of 10,567 votes — taking the top spot for most votes throughout the whole tournament. Talk about some pride in place!

• Titos Tuesday at Boku | Tuesday., Jan. 10-Tuesday., Nov. 12 | 4-11 p.m. | Boku Kitchen + Saloon, 916 Gervais St., Columbia | Free entry | Every Tuesday Boku will have $5 Titos cocktails open to close on top of its happy hour which includes $4 Sake Bombs, $5 appetizers, $6 wine and $7 cocktails from 4-7 p.m.

• Breakfast Briefing: January 2023 | Wednesday, Jan. 11 | 7:30 a.m. | Girl Scouts of SC, 1107 Williams St., Columbia | $15-$25 | Breakfast Briefing is a great opportunity for you and your employees to get involved, learn about issues facing our community, and make new connections.
• Indigo Girls | Wednesday, Jan. 11 | 7:30 p.m. | The Senate, 1022B Senate St., Columbia | $39.50 | Jam out with this American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia.

• West Columbia’s Meeting Street Artisan Market - NIGHT MARKET | Thursday, Jan. 12 | 4-8 p.m. | Interactive Art Park, 425 Meeting St., West Columbia | Free | Stroll through original arts and crafts from local makers, fresh produce, food vendors, face painting, and more.
• Oyster Roast Featuring Sycamore Brewing | Thursday, Jan. 12 | 6-9 p.m. | The Grand On Main, 1621 Main St., Columbia | $30-$50 | Tickets include all-you-can-eat oysters and two beers from Sycamore Brewing.
• Shrek Rave | Thursday, Jan. 12 | 9 p.m. | The Senate, 1022B Senate St., Columbia | $22 | In the words of the Senate, “it’s dumb, just come have fun.”

• Historical Marker Unveiling | Friday, Jan. 13 | 10:30 a.m. | The Horseshoe at USC, 900 Sumter St., Columbia | Free | The USC Horseshoe historical marker will recognize people of African descent have been integral to USC since its founding.
• River Rat Brewery Oyster Roast and BBQ | Friday, Jan. 13 | 6-10 p.m. | River Rat Brewery, 1231 Shop Rd., Columbia | $65 | Your ticket includes two pints of beer along with shuckers and gloves.

• 62º | Mostly sunny | 10% chance of rain ☀️

• Nestled between Clean Juice and Bad Daddy’s Burgers, StretchLab — one of the largest assisted stretching brand fitness centers — will soon occupy ~1,961 sqft of retail space at Cardinal Crossing in Forest Acres. This will be the fifth StretchLab location in SC and opening information has not been released.

• Wet Willie’s Columbia (800 Gervais St.) announced it wouldn’t be renewing its lease after 15 years and is closing. The frosty daiquiri bar and restaurant hopes to open a new location around Columbia in the future.

• Lizard’s Thicket is celebrating its 45th anniversary by giving back to local organizations. The restaurant will sell special 45th-anniversary coffee mugs for $10 in each location. Proceeds from sales will be split among Epworth Children’s Home, Camp Cole, and Cooperative Ministry. ☕

• ~6.5 million. That’s the new salary of Gamecock football’s head coach. Coach Beamer led the Gamecocks to an 8-5 record in 2022 and finished third in the Eastern Division. His contract was also extended to 2027. Beamer will go from earning $2.75 to ~$6.5 million per season. 💰 (Cola Daily)

• A section of Arrowwood Rd. will be closed until the end of January for road work and bridge construction. Expect detours from the intersection of Lawand Drive to the intersection of Gracern Road. This construction is part of the larger Carolina Crossroads project. 🚗

• Many donated to Salvation Army’s red buckets while doing holiday shopping around the Midlands. The donation total landed around $230,000, surpassing its $200,000 goal. Thanks to local donations, 2,300 children received Christmas assistance through the Angel Tree program. 🎁 (ABC Columbia)

• Curious how a manufacturing company turns rubber into protective nitrile gloves? See Nephron Pharmaceuticals’ new 400,000-sqft Nephron Nitrile glove-making facility (which officially opened in December) — and what a mass production glove former looks like. 🧤*