What I saw recently

Poseidon (Neptune) at Toll Booth

Looking ripped and buff.

The statue was recently moved to the Walnut Street side of Burning Bridge Antiques.

  A banjo-playing skeleton at Trin's Beans on Locust

Doesn't anyone proofread anymore?

A skateboarder in the middle of traffic on Locust Street.
Yes, really.

Flowers at River Park

Maple leaf

Emergency personnel leaving River Park as an Amtrak train passes by

More autumn leaves

A-OK at 2nd and Cherry

A tree seemingly on fire at Locust Street Park

Filling in the pit next to Burning Bridge

Clouds aglow

The bridge at sunset

A hawk standing atop an old utility pole . . . because he can

What's this?  Another car into the river?  Fortunately, this one didn't go the whole way in.

Pickup truck parked at the bottom of Locust Street.

I guess the driver didn't see the NO PARKING sign right next to his truck.

Adjusting the Christmas lights at Holy Trinity Church

That's one way to get a free newspaper

Painting the clock tower

Just Married
Shortly after I took this photo, this driver buzzed through a red light at Prospect Road & 30.  Maybe he mistook his wedding for a funeral.

Civil War medical techniques shown at CHiPS

Robert Urban, a nationally recognized re-enactor of Civil War medical techniques, presented a lecture and demonstration at the Columbia Historic Preservation Society recently.

Urban, in full uniform, demonstrated such techniques as wound preparation and amputation at his makeshift field hospital during the two-hour event.  Considered one of the best medical re-enactors in the country, he is often called upon as an expert in the historical medical field for film and television.

Urban has a large library of Civil War era books as well as a collection of instruments he uses to demonstrate techniques on medical mannequins.

Human skull replica

Attending to wounds

Removing a bullet

Archaic medical instruments

More tools of the trade

A disturbingly life-like victim

Another patient at the field hospital

More era surgical instruments

A manual of surgical techniques

Urban discusses amputation

How to prepare a head wound

Autumn glory

A cell phone pic from about two weeks ago.

Just remember . . .

Stop the madness before it begins.

Royer's Flowers' Bouquets For Books a big help for area libraries

Royer's Flowers & Gifts' annual book drive collected 1,653 new children's books for public libraries in six counties, including Lancaster.

During its recent Bouquets For Books campaign, the Lebanon-based business offered free flowers for each book customers donated at its 17 stores in the region.

Royer's recently presented the books to county library systems and the independent Hershey Public Library. The Library System of Lancaster County received the most: 616 books.

Books also were collected locally at Royer's Lancaster West, Ephrata, Leola and Columbia stores.

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/922001_Royer-s-Flowers--Bouquets-For-Books-a-big-help-for-area-libraries.html

Miller's JFK 50 Mile victory is one of legendary proportions

Zach Miller provided both Saturday at the 51st annual edition of the nation's oldest and largest ultramarathon.

The 25-year-old from Columbia, Pa., overcame strong headwinds, cold temperatures and a loaded field of runners to win the 50.2-mile race in 5 hours, 38 minutes and 53 seconds — the third-fastest time in event history.

http://m.heraldmailmedia.com/sports/miller-s-jfk-mile-victory-is-one-of-legendary-proportions/article_765aa1c4-54b2-11e3-aac6-0019bb30f31a.html?mode=jqm

Columbia K-9 assists in vehicle search

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/922882_Police-chase-down-vehicle-in-city--detain-2-females.html

Columbia Fire Station handing out smoke detectors

Thanks to a donation from an area business, Columbia Fire Station No. 1 recently was stocked with 100 detectors to give away free to borough residents in need.

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/920379_Columbia-Fire-Station-handing-out-smoke-detectors.html

With colder weather here, officials urge residents to check smoke detectors

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/920317_With-colder-weather-here--officials-urge-residents-to-check-smoke-detectors-.html

Suspect in Columbia shooting named

A suspect in the Saturday morning shooting of a 34-year-old Columbia man has been identified.

Columbia Borough police have filed charges, including criminal attempt homicide, against Terrance James Lucas, 38. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Lucas is described as a black male, 6 feet, 3 inches tall with a muscular build.

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/919846_Suspect-in-columbia-shooting-named.html

Man shot in neck in Columbia

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/919715_Man-shot-in-neck-in-Columbia.html

Columbia leaders eye tax abatements to boost development

By January, Columbia Borough may have new laws in place that provide incentives for businesses to locate in the borough and for individuals to improve their properties.

MORE HERE:
http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/919426_Columbia-leaders-eye-tax-abatements-to-boost-development.html

CHiPS To Present Civil War Surgery Lecture

http://news.engleonline.com/AdDesk/Htmlfiles/Readers/article.epc?id=93887

Columbia approves deal to resell Harrisburg incinerator electricity

Columbia Borough officials approved an agreement at the council meeting Monday, Nov. 11, that will make Columbia the contractual conduit for electricity produced at Harrisburg's trash incinerator, a pact that will earn the borough $50,000 annually.

MORE HERE:
http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/918300_Columbia-approves-deal-to-resell-Harrisburg-incinerator-electricity.html

'Evening of one acts' set at Columbia

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/917500_-Evening-of-one-acts--set-at-Columbia.html

Veterans Day

Honoring all who served

MARCH AGAINST MAINSTREAM MEDIA - Lancaster, PA

https://m.facebook.com/events/426007110854465/

Voters re-elect Mayor Lutz in Columbia, Mayor McBeth in Akron

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/914997_Voters-re-elect-Mayor-Lutz-in-Columbia--Mayor-McBeth-in-Akron.html

Park Rangers Proudly Fly Old Glory In Downtown Columbia

http://news.engleonline.com/AdDesk/Htmlfiles/Readers/article.epc?id=93495

Election Day Musings on Guy Fawkes Day

Let's raise a glass to ol' Guy Fawkes who realized that the only significant political change is violent change. Not random, pointless violence like that exhibited by the home-invading losers who broke into the Walnut Street apartment last night, but rather change on a monumental scale that devastates existing institutions. Something so large that not even G. Terry Madonna, our local pundit who exudes all the charisma of a rotting pumpkin, could trivialize.

Masked robbers with baseball bats assault females in Columbia home

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/914668_Masked-robbers-with-baseball-bats-assault-females-in-Columbia-home.html

Coroner: Man who drowned in submerged car committed suicide - News

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/913849_Coroner--Man-who-drowned-in-submerged-car-committed-suicide.html

Man found dead in submerged car was suspect in York County stabbings

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/913849_Man-found-dead-in-submerged-car-was-suspect-in-York-County-stabbings.html

Cross-county Underground Railroad tour visits 'Holy Ground'

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/914069_Cross-county-Underground-Railroad-tour-visits--Holy-Ground-.html

At the Columbia Ghost Tour

On Saturday evening, over two dozen people attended a dinner and Ghost Tour conducted by Chris Vera, president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society, and Rick Fisher, noted paranormal investigator and owner of the National Museum of Mysteries in Columbia.

After a dinner at Prudhomme's on Fourth, courtesy of David and Sharon Prudhomme, Rick Fisher delivered a lecture and slideshow on unexplained phenomena and hauntings in Marietta and Columbia.  Afterwards, Chris Vera and Rick led attendees on a ghost tour of Columbia's haunted sites and regaled the crowd with accounts of their own encounters with the supernatural, as well as significant events in Columbia's history.

 Chris relates his experiences at the Historical Society building

 Rick tells of hauntings at Columbia's Bank Museum as an apparition appears at his right shoulder

 Tales of more close encounters

 Chris sees something in the dark

Rick talks outside his Museum of Mysteries at 3rd & Locust

Showing one of his collectible artifacts

Also inside the shop, a collection of T-shirts, books, and DVDs

And, of course, Bigfoot

A few video clips from the evening's tour . . . 

Man found dead in Susquehanna

Early Sunday afternoon, a body was extracted from a submerged car that had been raised by emergency personnel.  The body was determined to be that of a 20-something black male from York.  Boaters embarking from shore discovered the car mid-morning and placed a call to authorities.

UPDATE

Body recovered from submerged car.

White Buick Le Sabre license no. HZL-8434

Car underwater

At this time rescue crews are working to pull a submerged car from the Susquehanna River. Details to follow.

Glenn Banner at CHiPS

Today at the Columbia Historic Preservation Society, Glenn Banner, author of Flames Across the Susquehanna, led a presentation of Columbia's history and its pivotal role in the Civil War.  He is pictured here with a photo of his great-grandfather, Jacob Miller, a Union soldier assigned to guard Confederate President Jefferson Davis after his capture.