COLUMBIA SPY

Businesses in the borough of Columbia looking to upgrade their properties will have a tax incentive to do so for the next five years. MORE HERE: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/947089_Columbia-school-board-OKs-tax-reductions-for-property-improvements.html

DEP has been fighting with the Fish and Boat Commission and environmental groups over whether or not to list the main branch of the Susquehanna as an impaired waterway. The agency has refused to make the designation, citing a lack of solid evidence - but it has also committed a team of scientists to gather information that eventually might support such a designation. MORE HERE: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/01/susquehanna_river_study_featur.html#incart_river_default

In his 103-page ruling, Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley concluded the 2012 voter identification law places an unreasonable burden on the fundamental right to vote, creating insurmountable obstacles for hundreds of thousands of people, many of them elderly and disabled. MORE HERE: http://mobile.philly.com/news/politics/?wss=/philly/news/politics&id=240794361&

Basically, the plan will re-route 18-wheeler traffic out of the downtown historic and commercial district. Truck traffic has been an issue in the borough due to exhaust, and vibrations caused by heavy vehicles, which are shaking historic buildings, cracking foundations, and rendering plaster to dust. MORE HERE: http://news.engleonline.com/AdDesk/Htmlfiles/Readers/article.epc?id=96379

This driver was having problems with her car this afternoon as she drove across Sixth Street.  The smoke was so thick that it obliterated the view of drivers in the oncoming lane (and probably behind).

This afternoon, new lights were being installed at the entrance to the Veterans Memorial Bridge. According to a spokesman on the scene, the lights cost $6,000 each (installed) and were paid for by a federal grant.  They are illuminated by LED lamps.  Lights were also installed on the Wrightsville side.  Eventually, new lights will span the entire bridge.