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Today is Pi Day, the sweetest of all the made up holidays, and as such, it is mandatory to have a piece of pie today - or maybe even two or three if you are so inclined. Since everyone has a free pass to eat all the pies you want today, here’s a guide to some of the best restaurants and bakeries to get a slice, whether you like yours fruity, creamy, flaky or covered in pepperoni.

Pi Day was invented in 1988 by scientist Larry Shaw, and started as a rather humble affair. It first started as a parade and pie-share at Shaw’s place of work, the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The Exploratorium was an interactive science museum, and wanted to have a little fun with the most irrational of all the numbers, thus Pi Day was born. It was then recognized as a national holiday in 2009, and pie consumption has only gone up since then.

This week marks the 15th observance of Pi Day, which, conveniently, is also Nobel Prize winner, Albert Einstein’s 145th birthday. What better way to celebrate than to stop in at one (or all) of these places and have a generous slice of whatever kind of pie that suits you?

3137 Mercury Drive

The gravity defying Lemon Meringue is a crowd pleaser and one of Country’s most ordered treats.

813 US Highway 27, Cataula Georgia

If you like your pie of the pizza variety, check out the cheeseburger pizza at Mark’s Pies and Thighs. It’s enough for breakfast and dinner.

506 Manchester Expressway, suite 1A

You may have to make an appointment to get your pie at Petite Sweets, but that Reece’s pie is definitely worth it.

2518 Second Avenue

Pat-a-Cakes is most widely known for it’s custom cakes, but they make a mean gourmet cheesecake, which is just a cake disguised as a pie.

6770 Veteran’s Parkway

The kind of slice you have to fold over to eat, Johnny’s brings the New York style down South. It offers one of the very best pepperoni pizzas in town.

111 Twelfth Street suite 101

Those who view the definition of pie a little more loosely should check out the quiche Loraine at My Boulange.

Pi Day only comes around once a year, folks, so you might as well take advantage of all the sweet (and savory) treats Columbus has to offer.

Related: 10 Classic St. Patrick’s Day Irish Recipes You Can Make In Your Crockpot

This story was originally published March 13, 2024, 3:21 PM.

Columbus chocolate lovers will know they’re in the right place once the sweet scent of fudge and other treats hits them as they enter Kilwins’ new Midland Commons location.

The confectionery and ice cream shop soft opened its second Muscogee County store Tuesday in the new development off Flat Rock Road.

Franchise owners Matt and Christy Moore wanted this second location to expand Kilwins’ availability to more customers in the Midland and Harris County community, general manager Crystal Blackwell told the Ledger-Enquirer.

Their first Kilwins shop in Columbus on Broadway opened in 2016, she said, but there were still people in the region that didn’t know it was in Uptown Columbus.

“I’ve had customers coming in every day, and a lot of them were from this Harris County-Midland area, that never get to the Uptown area,” Blackwell said. “So we’re able to reach more of the community.”

The Moores own Kilwins shops in Atlanta, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. Founded in 1947 in Michigan, Kilwins has shops in 26 states.

Outside the shop, customers can walk around and explore Midland Commons. Strings of light illuminate the space in the evening, and a nearby stage makes it a good location for hosting events.

“We’re looking at partnering with some of the other retail stores and restaurants out here to bring some concerts on Friday or Saturday night,” Blackwell said. “And putting on kid-friendly community events and different things to utilize this stage, green space and seating area.”

Kilwins has hired 13 employees for the new location and they’re being trained, Blackwell said. More may be hired as business increases.

One of the things Blackwell is proud of is that Kilwins will be many of its employees’ first job, and she has the opportunity to teach new workers skills they’ll need in their future careers and lives.

She asks customers to be patient as the employees learn during this soft opening phase. The grand opening is tentatively expected to occur in about a month.

Kilwins offers an assortment of fudge, chocolates, caramel apples, kettle cooked caramel and peanut corn, ice cream and other treats. Seasonal products and custom orders are available, Blackwell said, and customers can have orders shipped.

About 80% of Kilwins products are made in the store, and customers can see the fudge and other treats being made in the open kitchen.

Blackwell isn’t sure what the exact cooking schedule will be, but expects costumers will get a good chance to see the process on Friday nights and Saturdays during the day.

“It is something that people love to see,” she said.

Visitors are encouraged to take advantage of the free samples of the fudge and ice cream when they visit. Blackwell advises first-time customers to try the fudge.

“I always say to sample some fudge,” Blackwell said. “Because once you sample it, you will be buying it.”

This story was originally published March 13, 2024, 12:53 PM.

Columbus residents might have noticed a round, yellow sign with the number “4” on it hanging on the Dillingham Street Bridge. Or maybe they’ve seen the orange, square sign on the Frank K. Martin Pedestrian Bridge with a “2.”

These signs designate the new Columbus Fire and EMS River Safety Zones that can serve as reference points for first responders if someone needs emergency help anywhere in the Chattahoochee River.

The water can be dangerous, John Shull, fire marshal and division chief at Columbus Fire and EMS, told the Ledger-Enquirer. And years with no drownings, like last year, are very rare.

“We often have more than one fatality, unfortunately, in the river,” he said.

His department works with other agencies to prevent drownings. And if there is an incident, Shull said, they want to ensure there is the right system in place for crews to get there quickly.

Residents can see there is a shape, number and color on every bridge over the river, he said. This system using different numbers, colors and shapes helps ensure communication in the event there’s a language barrier between callers and dispatchers.

“Maybe we can get one piece of that information,” Shull said. “If we know it’s blue, well, there’s only one placard out here that’s blue.”

The five river safety zones are:

There are plans to continue expanding the zones farther south, Shull said. But officials believe they’ve covered some of the primary areas where incidents occur.

If someone calls 911, he said, dispatchers will ask for information about what zone they’re in. These designated zones will especially help individuals who are not from Columbus identify where they are in the water.

“If you were to ask them what’s on the bank or ‘what do you see along the river,’” Shull said. “They might not be familiar with many of those buildings that we are familiar with.”

Fire Station 1 is very close to the river, Shull said, and is where the water rescue teams are located. This includes divers and equipment needed for water rescues or recoveries.

These teams know exactly where to go in each zone to launch vehicles or station observers, Shull said.

People on or near the river should look to the middle of the nearest bridge to find signs indicating which zone they’re in, Shull said. Along with providing emergency crews with a location, the zones also tell rescue teams what equipment they might need to bring.

“Where you’re located on the river is going to determine what type of watercraft they’re going to use,” he said. “It’s not just where they put the watercraft in the river.”

People calling for help may also be asked about the water conditions. But the most important information people need to tell dispatchers is if someone is injured or underwater, or any other important information about the victim’s condition.

If someone calls Phenix City’s emergency dispatch, Shull said, their leadership might refer callers to Columbus’ fire and EMS knowing they have the watercraft and personnel to answer the call.

“We could work with Phenix City, as well,” he said. “And we do have a mutual aid agreement. And it wouldn’t be the first time that Phenix City and Columbus worked together.”

Ensuring people stay safe in the Chattahoochee River is ongoing work for officials, Shull said. This includes when officials began requiring people to wear life vests in the river, and the signs detailing the rule.

“We have a lot of people that come here from out of town,” Shull said. “They probably don’t understand how dangerous the Chattahoochee River is.”

Reporting contributed by Mike Haskey.

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This story was originally published March 13, 2024, 5:00 AM.

A semiconductor manufacturer is bringing its headquarters to Columbus as a result of a local alliance dedicated to growing the industry in the region.

Micromize, composed of a team of MIT graduates, is a semiconductor manufacturer that specializes in energy-efficient electronics for wearables and mobile devices. The company chose Columbus for its inaugural manufacturing facility, according to a news release.

By establishing its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Columbus, Micromize plans to take advantage of the semiconductor packaging expertise at Georgia Tech, the release said. The facility is expected to bring 20 to 25 jobs to Columbus.

The move is a result of an alliance led by the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley. The alliance is officially named Chattahoochee Hub for Innovation and Production of Semiconductors, or more commonly known as CHIPS4CHIPS (C4C).

C4C mobilized public and private leaders in Georgia and Alabama to support the growth of the domestic semiconductor industry, including research universities, historically Black colleges and universities, community colleges and technical colleges to fill the workforce pipeline.

Growing the semiconductor industry in the United States has become a national priority as outsourcing manufacturing caused semiconductor and hardware education to stagnate, according to a report published by the Council on Foreign Relations.

In 2020, the U.S. had 12% of the global production capacity, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This is down from 37% in 1990.

In response, Congress passed the CHIPS Act in 2022, which allocated $39 billion in government funding for domestic semiconductor manufacturing facilities, research and development and workforce programs.

Increasing chip manufacturing in the United States is good for both national security and consumers, Deborah Kidder, dean of the Turner College of Business, told the Ledger-Enquirer.

“This industry is critical to basically everything we do,” Kidder said. “You have chips in everything — even a toothbrush.”

The decision to locate in Columbus was driven by several factors, Prashant Patil, founder and CEO of Micromize, said in the release.

Columbus’ proximity to a port and airport provides efficient shipping, he said. C4C’s workforce development efforts and the presence of Fort Moore was also a benefit in providing a skilled workforce, Patil said.

“Additionally, Columbus offers an appealing climate with abundant outdoor activities, making it an ideal place for both work and leisure,” he said in the release.

Bringing Micromize to Columbus was a collaborative effort between C4C, Georgia Tech, and Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) to harness innovations in semiconductor packaging at Georgia Tech’s Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology (IEN).

The collaboration with Micromize is a significant milestone for C4C, Ben Moser, president of and CEO of United Way and chair of C4C, said in the release.

“This announcement marks the first of what we believe will be many to come,” Moser said in the release. “And we are thankful that Micromize recognizes the potential of our region for this industry.”

This story was originally published January 23, 2024, 6:00 PM.

A free transportation service is coming to downtown Columbus.

Starting Dec. 26, the Columbus Consolidated Government will deploy four electric carts called Uptown Shuttles. They will operate in the service area of Bay Avenue to First Avenue and Ninth Street to 14^th Street. But they won’t cross 13^th Street, the corridor with the most vehicle traffic in the area, so the carts will access 14^th Street via Front Avenue.

Uptown Shuttle hours will be Mondays-Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Fridays-Saturdays from 10 a.m. to midnight.

The CCG Metra website has two ways to request a ride:

A requested ride will be sent to an available shuttle driver’s computer tablet, then an email or text will be sent to the rider to confirm the trip and the estimated time of arrival. The cart will arrive at the nearest on-street pickup location.

This is a personalized, on-demand service, Columbus Metra Parking Division manager Terana Lewis told the Ledger-Enquirer. Customers won’t share the vehicle with strangers.

“It’s one person or group at a time,” she said. The carts fit five passengers.

These carts run on rechargeable electric batteries with supplemental solar power from a roof panel. Each cart is painted with a theme that celebrates Columbus: the art cart, the military cart, the music cart and the river cart.

CCG calls the vehicles carts, but these shuttles are more substantial than a golf cart. They are GEMs (Global Electric Motorcars), headquartered in Medina, Minnesota. These street-legal vehicles can reach 35 mph.

They are fully enclosed, but the doors are removable to allow for fresh-air rides in comfortable weather. Lewis said they also will have heating and air conditioning installed before the new year.

The startup cost for this program is approximately $400,000, Lewis said. She didn’t have an yearly cost estimate for operating the service.

“Future annual funding will depend on the level of demand for the shuttle service during the initial pilot phase,” she said.

Columbus Council unanimously approved the purchase of the four carts Feb. 28 and the purchase of application development services and software March 28. The additional staff positions to provide the shuttle service were approved as part of CCG’s fiscal year 2024 budget, Lewis said.

Downtown businesses and hotels have been asking for such a service “for a few years in an effort to connect people from one area to another within the district,” Lewis said.

VisitColumbusGa president and CEO Peter Bowden told the Ledger-Enquirer he isn’t aware of any other Georgia city having this service.

“It allows for another visitor experience,” he said. “It provides another amenity. Columbus is always sort of reinventing that experience. So this just provides that one more thing we can offer both for leisure travel and for meetings and conventions, another convenience feature. … Hopefully, this will lead to more things like this, as far as moving people around.”

Smoking and consumption of food or beverages in the Uptown Shuttles are prohibited.

For more information about the Uptown Shuttle, call the Metra office at 706-225-4584. Lewis noted Metra seeks to hire a fifth Uptown Shuttle driver. She welcomes folks interested in such a job to call her at that number.

This story was originally published December 15, 2023, 12:10 PM.