About Town

'Tis the season...

Santa watching the skies

 Frosty painting the railings

 All the flagpoles are in at the bridge plaza.

 Sun-kissed snowflake

 Bridge lights

 A lot of snowflakes but not quite a blizzard

 Is this the bicycle "beam-up" zone?

 Christmas icons at the Lazy K

 More propaganda from the Williams Company

 There they go in the land of commerciality.

 The Columbia Fire Company needs volunteers.

 Night lights by day

 Santa welcoming you at Hermansader's

 Cellar grate spirit

 Christmas books at Mullen Books

(First block of Walnut)

 Out for a Christmas Eve drive

 Stars and STRIPS

 A unique snowman - and a unique way to recycle tires

(North 2nd)

 You know who they are.

(At the Knights of Columbus)

 Another unique snowman

 Christmas flowers on North 4th

 There's a nasty little tripping hazard.

(Along 462, near Columbia Plaza)

 Construction continues at the library.

 Another painted rock

(St. John's Lutheran)

 Reflecting

 Tree lights

 All lit up on South 15th

 Santa with offering

 Santa and reindeer conspiring to keep the secret from Mrs. Claus over who knocked over that candlestick.

 Attack of the clones?

(Twin sheep and twin people)

 Santa welcomes you.

 Electric flag

 Santa has been militarized.

 Where's the other eight?

 Christmas lights on North 5th

 Cross

(St. James Lutheran)

All lit up

(The tower at General Shannon's house)

New nonprofit saves Columbia's '2nd-chance home' from closing

In June, the Hersheys helped to establish Our Home of Hope, and the mortgage holder this month sold the property to the new nonprofit.

MORE:

http://lancasteronline.com/insider/new-nonprofit-saves-columbia-s-nd-chance-home-from-closing/article_32541ba2-e664-11e7-9134-eb0b0a22e5ba.html

Developers plan 100 high-end apartments in Columbia Borough and Lancaster city for millennials

In Columbia Borough, Eberly Myers would raze an empty, four-unit apartment building at 134 Locust St. and construct a four-story building there, with 33 apartments all offering views of the Susquehanna River.

Columbia Spy reported on this story previously HERE.

MORE: HERE.

Two-vehicle accident Class 2 Sunday afternoon

Emergency crews responded to a two-vehicle Class 2 accident Sunday morning just before 11 o'clock at Route 462 and Washington Street. A Toyota Camry sustained front end damage and a Jeep had rear passenger side damage.

Clock plaza takes two hits in two days, one from hit-and-run

The clock plaza on Saturday morning. Dislodged bricks can be seen at the corner of the wall.

The clock plaza at 5th & Chestnut recently sustained damage from two separate incidents on two consecutive days. A hit-and-run occurred Saturday evening shortly after 7 o'clock in which a cast iron casing was broken completely off one of a row of bollards. Neighbors reported hearing a loud bang and found pieces of the casing a few minutes later but no vehicle at the scene. Police responded promptly and investigated.

The end bollard in a row of bollards, with broken casing.

A piece of the cast iron casing

 The "pine cone" and mount at the top of the bollard are now unstable.

Another view, showing the damaged bollard on the end of the row.

In a previous incident, a vehicle hit the plaza wall, dislodging several bricks (shown below) shortly after 6 o'clock Friday morning. A witness reported seeing a vehicle pulled over on Chestnut Street by a Columbia police officer. The vehicle was facing the wrong way on the 500 block of Chestnut, which is one-way.

 Dislodged bricks from Friday morning's incident

A closer view

Bricks were also knocked out of line on the other side of the wall.

One-vehicle rollover briefly closes Route 30 East in Columbia; no injuries reported

The eastbound lanes of Route 30 in Columbia are closed briefly Sunday morning after a one-vehicle rollover crash, according to emergency dispatch reports.

MORE:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/one-vehicle-rollover-briefly-closes-route-east-in-columbia-no/article_008bbf7a-e8a4-11e7-ad5e-43bc77eeed85.html

PA government spends $360K of taxpayers' money to investigate, settle sexual misconduct claims

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Records now show all three branches of Pennsylvania state government have settled sexual misconduct allegations since 2010, claims that included unwelcome touching, kissing and lascivious comments.

The running total of disclosed payments to settle claims and investigate complaints over the past eight years now stands at more than $369,000.

MORE:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/pennsylvania/disclosed-state-costs-for-sexual-misconduct-claims-top-k/article_15ec3f0b-86a6-5b13-b63f-87b25b8c8ccf.html

Customers, vendors say goodbye to Columbia Market House

Saturday marked the last day of business for the market house at 15 S. Third St., leaving representatives of the borough government to decide next month whether the 19th-century building with the semicircular dome can be put to another commercial use.

MORE:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/customers-vendors-say-goodbye-to-columbia-market-house/article_a0eaff3e-e841-11e7-b82f-938384ea0b07.html

Dozens turn out to lay wreaths to honor veterans, despite endless rain

Dozens turned out today to lay wreaths at local cemeteries despite the seemingly endless rain. Jane Moore, local coordinator for Wreaths Across America said Mount Bethel Cemetery received way more wreaths for distribution than had been expected - 3,800 to be exact. Although the main ceremony had been held as scheduled last Saturday, the wreaths were actually laid today due to their late arrival.

Volunteers - among them Columbia students and scouts from Pack 35 - worked quickly today to deliver the wreaths to Zion Hill Cemetery, Saint Peters Cemetery, and Holy Trinity Cemetery, as well as Laurel Hill, Habecker Mennonite, Ironville, Silver Spring, and even one in Reading. All were placed on Veteran's graves.

Mount Bethel...

Laurel Hill...

Zion Hill...

CBFD receives donation from Black Olive

Black Olive Restaurant owner Fatih "Mike" Sivri (far left) presents a $500 check to Mark Fritz, president of the Columbia Borough Fire Department, as Fire Chief Doug Kemmerly looks on. Sivri has been a supporter of local organizations since opening his restaurant at 1506 Lancaster Avenue in 2016. 

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED THIS MORNING, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, AT 10 O'CLOCK TO LAY WREATHS AT MOUNT BETHEL CEMETERY.

Columbia man reportedly at fault in Thursday's fatal crash on Route 30

A Honda sedan driven by Michael T. Rineer Jr., 36, of Columbia, was traveling west in the right lane of Route 30. Rineer's car veered into the left lane and hit Dahm's vehicle, a Mitsubishi sedan, on the passenger side.

MORE:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/police-provide-update-on--vehicle-crash-that-killed-woman/article_cc4b2bc2-e648-11e7-afbb-9324cc6ee40a.html

Traffic update 12/21/17 8:35 a.m.

TRAFFIC UPDATE 8:35 AM:  Bumper-to-bumper traffic on Route 462 through Columbia. Route 30 Bridge traffic is being redirected to Veterans Memorial Bridge (Route 462) due to fatal accident on Route 30.

Accident involving tractor trailer shuts down Route 30 eastbound at 3rd Street

Thursday, December 21, 2017, 07:03:01

Preliminary reports from scanner feed:

Route 30 eastbound shut down at 3rd Street due to accident involving tractor trailer. 2 patients: 1 Class 2 was extricated. 1 Class 4 was not extricated at this time.

UPDATE 7:47 a.m.:  Route 30 requested to be shut down in Wrightsville

UPDATE 7:59 a.m.: Route 30 westbound traffic exiting at Prospect Road. 30 eastbound exiting in Wrightsville. Accident is on Route 30 near Malleable Road overpass.

MORE:

HERE

Wickenheiser receives certificate of appreciation

Council President Kelly Murphy (left) presents Councilwoman Mary Wickenheiser with a certificate of appreciation for her years of community service.

Columbia Borough Councilwoman Mary Wickenheiser received a certificate of appreciation from the Borough of Columbia at December's council meeting for continued years of community service on borough council. Council President Kelly Murphy presented the certificate on behalf of the borough.

Wickenheiser was appointed to council in February of this year, filling a vacancy left by Stephanie Weisser's resignation in December 2016. She also served on borough council previously. Wickenheiser's term expires December 31, 2017.

Columbia School Board Directors sworn in at Reorganization Meeting

The Honorable Robert Herman (facing left) swears in school board directors (L to R): Rachel Kedney, Fred Thomas, Keith Combs, Barry Ford, Jenna Geesey, and Cole Knighton.

The Honorable Robert Herman administered the oath of office to Columbia Borough School Board directors at December's Reorganization Meeting. The six directors were elected in the November 7 election.

Keith Combs, Barry Ford, Rachel Kedney, and Cole Knighton were re-elected to 4-year terms. Jenna Geesey and Fred Thomas were elected to 2-year terms.

The board appointed Geesey at a special meeting on January 25 of this year to fill a vacancy created when Leo Lutz, Jr. resigned in December 2016. She was sworn in by District Judge Miles Bixler at the February 2 Committee of the Whole meeting.

Fred Thomas, a pastor at the Columbia Church of God, was a write-in candidate.