What I saw recently

 A good way to get a closer view of the river - or roll into it.

Some guys putting something into the ground near Columbia Kettle Works . . .

 Enjoy the new door at the water company office - you bought it.

 Has the breast cancer awareness campaign gone too far?

 666-TREE:  The root of evil?

 A murder of crows feasting on sumac buds . . .

Something didn't agree with this one near Ninth and Locust.

Trainspotters . . .  

There have been a number of oil train derailments this year: LINK

 Deer entrails?
This is still there on a borough road.
About a year ago there was a rib cage in the same spot.
Is this evidence of poaching?

 Look at those prices.  No wonder Tom's went out of business.

 Last fan standing?

 Obligatory bridge shot with snow on the river

Bradley the Cooper's Hawk at River Park

Something old, something new: Columbia reinvents itself as an antiques destination

Like Adamstown, New Oxford and Hanover, Columbia has a thriving antiques community. For locals and out-of-towners alike, it's become a destination for people looking for old furniture, knick-knacks, memorabilia and other items with a bit of history.

MORE:
http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/something-old-something-new-columbia-reinvents-itself-as-an-antiques/article_0f7e1776-b56c-11e4-88cd-4bede49cae5d.html

Photographer to travel to many Columbias

On March 1, New York photographer Francis Smith will embark on an eight-month journey through 33 states to capture the essence of 50 towns, cities, counties, ships and universities, all of which share Columbia as part of their names.

MORE:
http://mobile.columbiamissourian.com/?articleRedirect=1?http://www.columbiamissourian.com/a/184991/photographer-francis-smith-plans-to-capture-a-countrys-columbias-to-document-america/

Head-on crash shuts down Veterans Memorial Bridge

Emergency crews responded to a head-on collision between two vehicles on the Veterans Memorial Bridge this afternoon shortly after 3 o'clock.  The bridge was shut down to traffic from both Lancaster and York Counties for several hours.

Conoy Township pro-gun signs vandalized, leaders hope to profit

A fundraising idea for Columbia?

After new pro-gun signs were vandalized in Conoy Township, leaders hope to sell similar ones to benefit local nonprofits.

GO HERE FOR MORE:
http://m.lancasteronline.com/news/local/conoy-township-pro-gun-signs-vandalized-leaders-hope-to-profit/article_802c4624-b20f-11e4-8eec-8ff8c213908d.html?mode=jqm

Here's a link to a video interview that says it all:
http://www.nranews.com/home/video/cam-and-company-2015-stephen-mohr-welcoming-good-people-to-town/list/featured-videos

Extreme tax hikes not expected outside city school district

"We have no place to go to tax anybody anymore. ... The little bit more that we would get wouldn't bail us out," said Laura Cowburn, business manager for Columbia Borough School District.

Her district has the same Act 1 index as the city district: 2.8 percent. That's the highest index in the county.

MORE:
http://m.lancasteronline.com/news/local/extreme-tax-hikes-not-expected-outside-city-school-district/article_10c155d0-b224-11e4-9d1e-0b6109b3b8aa.html?mode=jqm_gal#&ui-state=dialog

Q&A: Generations of tasty treats made one fasnacht at a time

GO HERE:
http://lancasteronline.com/q-a-generations-of-tasty-treats-made-one-fasnacht-at/article_66fe4c5a-b0b7-11e4-a9a0-ef711e2db5a9.html

Columbia Borough Council OKs sale of sewer system to LASA

Columbia Borough Council voted 5-2 Feb. 9 to approve a resolution for the sale of itswastewater collection system to the Lancaster Area Sewer Authority for $8.6 million.

MORE:
http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/columbia-borough-council-oks-sale-of-sewer-plant-to-lasa/article_3c520012-b145-11e4-879e-03f303d2b1c2.html

Aftermath of bus incident

Columbia Borough Police Officers Austin Miller and Bryan Keyser talk to a woman who had been asked to leave an RRTA bus near Fourth and Chestnut at about 3:50 p.m. on February 9, 2015. It appeared as though Officer Miller escorted her from the bus. Apparently, the woman was upset about having had to wait a long time for the bus to pick her up at Ninth and Locust. (It's difficult to hear the conversation due to traffic noise; I was standing on the other side of the highway.)

Columbia foursome jailed for burglary, baseball-bat beating of 2 women

Four Columbia residents each received lengthy prison terms for breaking into a home in 2013 and beating two women with baseball bats.

Three men and a woman were charged with entering the Columbia home on Nov. 5, 2013, and beating the female occupants after three men inside fled, according to testimony.

MORE:
http://m.lancasteronline.com/news/local/columbia-foursome-jailed-for-burglary-baseball-bat-beating-of-women/article_0057b956-b05c-11e4-a035-d336075ecd5a.html?mode=jqm

Out for a Sunday drive

An Amish buggy with five passengers drove through Columbia this afternoon, along Route 441, and  continued up through Chiques.

Enjoy watching the workers - you're paying for them

Construction workers were on the job at the Columbia Water Company today, Sunday.  I felt like it was costing me money just to watch them. And of course it was, since I and other water company customers are paying for the construction through the Pennvest surcharge recently added to our water bills to pay off the loan for the project.

The PUC held a hearing on the water company's proposed rate increase about a year and a half ago and ultimately denied the request, but the company sneaked through this de facto increase anyway.

Our only recourse right now is to file complaints with the PUC:  800-692-7380. The more customers who complain, the better the chance of the PUC acting on this.

More information on filing a complaint can obtained by clicking HERE.

Construction workers at the Columbia Water Company today . . .

Is this Donald's private skating pond?

Where's the Sunday News?

None of the vending dispensers around town contained any copies of the Sunday News this morning, as of about 10 a.m., although some contained last Thursday's paper. Stover's and the Minit Market on the highway had stacks of the Sunday News. So why not these street corner racks? 

(Phone calls to the circulation department yielded no answers, just recordings.)