Columbia man and his father to be tried in kidnapping

A Columbia man and his father are headed to trial for allegedly kidnapping a pair of young boys from a Lancaster city home last month.
The violent Feb. 6 abduction of Erielys Ahorrio, 3, and John Ahorrio, 4, prompted state police to issue a national Amber Alert.

MORE:
http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/columbia-man-and-his-father-to-be-tried-in-kidnapping/article_96347fb6-ac90-11e3-b419-0017a43b2370.html

Columbia's water supply - Is it secure?

During this period last year, we were undergoing a water contamination scare. (Link: http://columbiapa-17512.blogspot.com/2013/03/columbia-water-customers-should-not.html?m=0)
After workers found evidence of tampering at the water storage tanks located between Chickies Hill Road and Laurel Hill Cemetery, it was thought possible that someone had contaminated Columbia's water supply. An investigation ensued, and the water was later deemed safe.
On September 3, the PUC conducted a public hearing on an unrelated matter: Columbia Water Company's rate hike request. At that hearing, I asked Water Company representatives what, if anything, had been done to ensure the safety of the water storage tanks. I don't recall their attorney's exact reply, only that it was vague and tentative, which leads me to believe the company had not implemented any measures except, perhaps, the hope that the crisis would be forgotten.
Well, we have not forgotten. Therefore, I am asking publicly - once again - of any Columbia Water Company representatives who might be reading this, or of anyone else "in the know": What safety and security measures have been put in place to protect our water supply?

Columbia to digitize borough ordinances

Columbia Borough Council authorized an agreement March 10 between the borough and General Code to digitize the borough's ordinances.

Ordinances have not been fully available, and searchable electronically, since 2008. The core issue that drove the decision was the inability for people to search for technical details about legislation when paper versions of ordinances were scanned into PDF format.

Instead, officials and residents alike have been relying, primarily, on binders.

MORE:
http://m.lancasteronline.com/columbia/news/columbia-to-digitize-borough-ordinances/article_ba5acefe-aaf1-11e3-b1ea-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm

That'd be great

From the Police Log - March 12, 2014

AGGRAVATED ASSAULT

COLUMBIA: Lance M. Jones, 37, of 225 S. 4th St., Columbia, was charged Monday with aggravated assault, simple assault, and terroristic threats after a domestic dispute at his home. He was accused of advancing on a woman with a knife while swinging a shovel, threatening to kill her, striking her with his closed fists and choking her until she passed out. He was committed to Lancaster County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail.

DRUG CHARGES

COLUMBIA: Andrea L. King, 28, of Delaware, was charged Monday with possession of drug paraphernalia and committed to county prison in lieu of $2,500 bail.

COLUMBIA: Travis W. Mengle, 18, of Ephrata, has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia at 6th and Cherry streets Feb. 28.

CHS To Present New Take On "Ugly Duckling" Tale

Columbia Borough School District will present "Honk!", a musical tale of "The Ugly Duckling," on Thursday through Saturday, March 13-15.

Shows are at 7 p.m. each night. There is also a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee.

Performances will be in the high school auditorium.

MORE:
http://news.engleonline.com/AdDesk/Htmlfiles/Readers/article.epc?id=98703

Rooftop unit installed

A new rooftop unit was being installed at the Columbia Borough offices this morning.