COLUMBIA SPY

Police are investigating the robbery and assault of a pizza delivery driver in Columbia Sunday night. GO HERE FOR MORE INFO: http://m.lancasteronline.com/columbia/news/pizza-delivery-driver-robbed-and-assaulted-in-columbia/article_c4091c66-9d46-11e3-8ef3-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm

Columbia School District officials approved tax abatements Thursday that would allow residents to make property improvements without immediately incurring more taxes. The measure, officials said, would provide an incentive for residents to improve their properties. MORE HERE: http://m.lancasteronline.com/columbia/news/columbia-school-board-approves-tax-reductions-on-more-property-improvements/article_ba1066ba-9d05-11e3-bd59-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm

Just a few snow-related thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head: There's been a lot of discussion lately by school district administrators and others about alternatives to making up "snow days," from excusing the days entirely to cyber-schooling to calculating hours instead of days, all in the interest of preventing school from extending too far into June.  As a taxpaying citizen, I hereby call BS on the whole enterprise. I believe in public education, and I believe it's my duty to support it financially. I also believe it's the duty of teachers and administrators to educate our children and prepare them for the future, even if that entails making up every school day that was lost to bad weather. Their priority is supposed to be education, not whether they'll miss out on non refundable vacation trips or their summer will be too short. Recently on WGAL-TV, Hempfield School District Superintendent Dr. Brenda Becker said, in effect, that it...

Local artist Bob Hammer will be displaying his work at the Hammer Art Studio Booth at the PA Garden Show of York. The show will be held next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the York Expo Center-Memorial Hall, 334 Carlisle Avenue, York, PA. Go  HERE  for more information.

 A dog making a deposit at River Park on Sunday afternoon.  And no, the deposit did not get picked up.  An outside cat at Second and Walnut  A cardboard box that serves as an outside cat shelter at Second and Walnut.  The porch also contains cat dishes for feeding.  A recent commenter complained about being cited by the borough for feeding outside cats.  I wonder if this homeowner was, also.  I hope our codes are enforced uniformly and not arbitrarily. A heron flying past some lazy seagulls to show how it's done. At Second and Mill. This used to be the Riverview Tavern.

This music captures the brooding melancholy that has been this winter (and it's not over yet). Go  HERE  if the video does not appear on your device.

On Saturday afternoon, a group of men arrived at Columbia River Park to test-fly a drone and use it to film a kayaker (one of the group) in the Susquehanna.  The endeavor lasted about an hour and drew a small crowd.  The drone operators were somewhat tight-lipped about their enterprise, except to say they didn't need FAA approval as long as they kept the drone below 400 feet.  (That information was in answer to a question from one of the onlookers.) The kayaker paddles out, in preparation for the filming.  An operator checks the drone before take-off.  The camera can be seen here, hanging from the bottom of the drone.  Monitor - it sees what the drone camera sees.  The drone and two remotes Some video clips are shown below.  (My camera mike picked up a lot of wind noise, and the drone motors were a bit loud, so you may want to turn down your computer volume before playing the clips.) Drone take-off #1 Dro...