Columbia Cat Action Team member shows how to trap a cat (or several)

 The Columbia Cat Action Team (CCAT) has trapped 97 cats this year since June in its Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR) program. Dee Henry, who traps for the group, shows how it's done:

Dee typically brings several traps in her own vehicle to the trapping site and then lines them with newspaper. The traps are provided by Columbia Borough.

After a trap is lined, she places food inside.

Canned cat food is used as bait.

Here's a trap that's almost ready to go.

She then covers each trap with a blanket to disguise it and help calm a cat after it's trapped.

The final step is setting the trap, as shown here.

After a cat is trapped, it is held overnight in a CCAT member's garage with other cats trapped that day. In the morning, a volunteer transports the cats to the York SPCA for spaying/neutering. While there, cats also receive rabies and distemper shots. All cats are ear-tipped (left ear) to show they've been fixed. A volunteer then picks up the cats in the late afternoon and takes them to a member's garage to be held overnight until the effects of anesthesia wear off. Finally, the cats are returned to the location where they were originally trapped.

CCAT, which currently has about 15 members, meets monthly to identify potential trapping locations in the borough. Alan Landsman chairs the committee.  The public is invited to the next meeting on January 11, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. at the Watch & Clock Museum. 

Columbia Man Sentenced to 6-20 Years After Hours-Long Standoff at West Hempfield Township Home Nearly Two Years Ago | Lancaster County District Attorney's Office

Shawn Stryker 

A Columbia man was sentenced to 6 to 20 years Thursday by Lancaster County Judge Jeffery Wright after entering an open guilty plea. 

Shawn Stryker, 51 of the 500 block of Goldfinch Road, was charged with Aggravated assault after opening fire on police on January 3, 2021 when they responded to a domestic incident. Stryker was also charged with misdemeanor simple assault and reckless endangerment for pointing a gun at his girlfriend. When police arrived, Stryker refused to surrender and continued the standoff for approximately 10 hours. 

A Lancaster County Special Response Emergency Team (SERT) fired a shot at Stryker when he exited the home with a rifle drawn and aimed at police, which was later deemed justified by District Attorney Heather Adams. 

Nobody was struck by gunfire.

MORE:

Sourced via CRIMEWATCH®: https://lancaster.crimewatchpa.com/da/11617/post/columbia-man-sentenced-6-20-years-after-hours-long-standoff-west-hempfield-township-home

 

Agenda - Columbia Borough Council Meeting - December 29, 2022

 

Download the meeting packet HERE.

New Year's at Noon at the National Watch and Clock Museum - December 31, 2022

 

Where and When to get rid of your 2022 Christmas tree

Drop off at Columbia Fire Company at the corner of 10th and Manor Street, or the Columbia Borough Yard Waste Center on Blue Lane from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Jan. 14. 

Read Aloud to Jager at the Library - Thursday, December 29

 

Keep Calm and Yarn On at the Library - Tuesday, December 27

 

About Town - December 25, 2022

Recent photos of Columbia

(Click/tap on photos to see larger, sharper images.)

Here are the last of the Christmas photos for this year:

 

Rockin' Santa!

****************

****************

****************

Here are some other shots about town:

St. John's in the afternoon

This sign on Front Street, near the Veterans Memorial Bridge, was replaced recently, after being knocked down in a fatal car crash on February 15, 2021.

The base was sitting empty during that time and was fast becoming a trashcan.

According to Wikipedia, this phenomenon is called a "parhelion" or "sun dog":

"The sun dog is a member of the family of halos caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the atmosphere."

Why is this sign almost in the middle of the sidewalk?

It's winter, but it still looks like fall.

Looks like the 900 block of Barber Street is about to be dug up.

Why does no one ever display the First Amendment?

New sign at Living Stones on Front Street

Sunset

More progress at the water company project: rocks

The project out at the old airfield continues.

Asbestos removal is happening currently.

These barrels appeared the other day.

The gray ones are labeled "ORGANIC."

The brown ones are labeled "Lemonade."

Unlike many contractors in town, this one procured the proper permit. 

A heron was trying to stay warm in the brutal cold the other day.

A temporary fence surrounds the building at 332 Locust, which is slated for demolition to make space for a courtyard.

Looks like the demo has already begun.

Note the missing windows, doors, and parking meters.

This citizen apparently thinks the borough is paying more attention to the feral cat problem than his concerns about a rat. The backstory on the rat is HERE.