What I Saw - 2/19/13

 At the end of an overcast and rainy day, the sun finally tried to break through the clouds, as seen here reflected in the asphalt.

And this is what the inside of an empty Turkey Hill Minit Market looks like.

(On Route 462, across from 9th Street)

Prestige of new medal for drone pilots rankles some, including PA Senator

Count US Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa) among those taking umbrage with the status of a new medal created by the Pentagon for drone operators. The Distinguished Warfare Medal will be awarded to pilots of unmanned aircraft, cyber war experts or others who are directly involved in combat operations but who are not physically present in the combat zone and facing the same physical risks of warfare. The Pentagon is adding prestige to the medal by placing it above some traditional combat valor medals in the military's "order of precedence."

http://fox43.com/2013/02/19/prestige-of-new-medal-for-drone-pilots-rankles-some-including-pa-senator/

Missing Elizabethtown Girl, Daysha Conner | WPMT FOX43

Tell police if you have seen this 15-year-old girl, Daysha Conner. She has dark brown hair with blue and purple coloring underneath, and blue eyes. She is 136 lbs, 5'2″, and has a mole on her right cheek. She also has a small mole by her nose on the left side of her face. She goes to Elizabethtown High School, Pennsylvania. Her birthday is today, February 19, 2013. She went missing on February 11, 2013.
Contact your local police department if you have seen her.
http://fox43.com/2013/02/18/missing-elizabethtown-girl-daysha-conner/#axzz2LHHx8b66

"Red Means STOP!"

I just saw a driver turn left on red. The car turned up Locust Street from the red light at the intersection at Route 462.  Last week, I saw a car totally ignore a red light at Cherry Street and 462 - in the morning, when school kids were gathering on the Cherry Street sidewalk of Park Elementary.  The driver wasn't trying to make a yellow light that suddenly turned red. The light was already red and had been for at least 10 seconds. He just didn't want to stop and chose to drive right through the light as if it didn't exist and then "flew" out the highway.

From what I've seen over the past year (at least), these two incidents are not isolated. They're commonplace.  Drivers ignore red lights and blow through stop signs routinely. The practice has become epidemic around town. I hate to be a doomsayer, but if it continues, which it probably will, there's bound to a tragedy - sooner rather than later.

Soft pretzel-maker, bakery open at Columbia Market House - LancasterOnline

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/816522_Soft-pretzel-maker--bakery-open-at-Columbia-Market-House.html

Columbia debates sewer plant options - LancasterOnline

Columbia residents have two choices when it comes to dealing with their aging wastewater treatment plant: refurbish the facility or relocate the sewage.

Two recently suggested designs simply upgrade the old plant, the first major improvement since 1972.

The second option, a proposed bulk services agreement from Lancaster Area Sewer Authority, abandons the old plant and instead builds a pump station and moves sewage to LASA for treatment.

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/816548_Columbia-debates-sewer-plant-options.html

A note from Jonal Gallery

IT'S FOURTH FRIDAY, February 22, 2013 and... You're Invited to join us 5-9pm at: Jonal Gallery/Alverta Arts Shop 653 Locust Street - Columbia, PA 17512 http://www.jonalgallery.com/ 717.681.9400

Artist Dale Weibley offers you a glimpse of Jules Verne's "character," the famous Captain Nemo, from another perspective. Jules Verne immortalized Captain Nemo in several of his novels as the scientific genius behind and the Captain of the "Nautilus" submarine. Could Captain Nemo's scientific genius come from beyond the stars? Open your mind and your eyes to the possibility! Come see "NEMO'S ARRIVAL" from beyond the stars in Dale Weibley's original 2012 Pen & Ink in Black and White, and now in 2013 he introduces Pen & Ink / Polychrome edition. A must to see, a must to own! **************************************************************************************************************************************** Start, end or stay with us at Jonal Gallery/Alverta Arts Shop during this River Towns Fourth Friday celebration! Reception begins at 5:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. **************************************************************************************************************************************** The Alverta Arts Shop, inside Jonal Gallery will proudly feature the works of emerging artist Christine Ott during our March Fourth Friday Reception, March 22.