🌱 Hospital Employees Donate Toy Cars + Mayoral Swear-In Date

Rise and shine, Columbia! Let's get you all caught up to start this Thursday, December 23 off on an informed note. Here's everything you need to know today in town.

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First, today's weather:

Plenty of sunshine. High: 51 Low: 28.

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Here are the top stories today in Columbia:

1. Prisma Health hospital employees are giving children with mobility challenges a new ride to get around. The effort is benefitting children from Greenville and Columbia, giving them an early and very special Christmas gift. (WLTX.com)
2. On Wednesday, the city announced Mayor-elect Daniel Rickenmann and three new council members will be sworn in Tuesday, January 4 at 4 p.m. The ceremony will take place at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. (Abccolumbia.com)
3. South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn recently announced he tested positive for COVID-19. In a statement, the representative said he has been in quarantine since Sunday and has no symptoms. Congressman Clyburn said it is a breakthrough case and that he is fully vaccinated and received a booster shot in September. (wpde.com)

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Today in Columbia:

• Carolina Lights At The State Fairgrounds (6:00 PM)

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From my notebook:

• The South Carolina Emergency Management Division has released updated COVID-19 vaccine recommendations: The CDC recommends mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) over the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. This decision was made after a careful review of the latest data on vaccine effectiveness, safety, and rare adverse events. (Facebook)
• The DHEC announced 1,323 new cases of COVID-19 (781 confirmed, 542 probable), 16 new deaths (15 confirmed, 1 probable), and a percent positive of 9.2%. You can see today's updated COVID-19 and vaccine data at https://scdhec.gov/covid19data. (Facebook)
• This year marked 50 years since the University of South Carolina elected its first Black student body president, Harry Walker. The University of South Carolina caught up with him for an episode of the podcast, "Remembering the Days." See what else happened this year: uof.sc/2021inReview (Facebook)

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You're officially in the loop for today! See you all tomorrow morning for your next update.

— Sean Peek

About me: Sean Peek is a writer and entrepreneur with a degree in English Literature from Weber State University. Over the years, he has worked as a copywriter, editor, SEO specialist, and marketing director for various digital media companies. He currently co-owns and operates content creation agency Lightning Media Partners.