Columbia Crossing to open this Wednesday

The Columbia Crossing River Trails Center is scheduled to open this coming Wednesday, March 16th, at 10 a.m.

Hours of operation are shown above.

The building will now be under the management of Susquehanna Heritage.

10 Commandments for Open Meetings

By Brian J. Hunhoff
Contributing Editor
Yankton County (S.D.) Observer

“I think heroic deeds were all conceived in the open air.”

The quote atop this editorial is from Walt Whitman’s Song of the Open Road — a cheerful 1856 tribute to freedom and the great outdoors.

Hopefully, Mr. Whitman would have approved use of his prose to promote open, well-aired government. It’s unlikely the great poet favored government secrecy and closed-door meetings. He also wrote, “Out of the dark confinement, out from behind the screen!”

For today’s purposes, Whitman’s “screen” represents the executive session — a self-important term for a classic oxymoron: closed public meeting.

Too many elected boards seek every opportunity to meet out of sight of the public they serve. Some schedule executive sessions as a regular agenda item. Some hold up to three executive sessions in a single meeting. Some have executive sessions that last longer than the open portion of their meeting.

In most cases, executive sessions do not violate open meeting laws. The closed-door discussions are often suggested or encouraged by an elected board’s legal counsel.

But legality and necessity are two different things.

Consider the following list our Fourth Estate counsel to county commissions, city councils, and school boards everywhere on executive sessions and general government openness. Citizens should hold their elected officials to the standards below. These are Ten Commandments for Open Meetings:


ONE: Do not gather as a quorum outside of regular meetings, and do not hold special meetings without giving at least 24 hours public notice.

TWO: Do not habitually add last-minute items to the agenda, and do not act on anything not listed on the posted agenda.

THREE: Do not abuse the litigation excuse for executive sessions to speculate about possible or imagined lawsuits.

FOUR: Do not stretch the personnel excuse for executive sessions to discuss policy issues. Example: Creating a new position or changing a department’s job descriptions are policy decisions and not appropriate topics for a closed meeting.

FIVE: Do not dial up the “negotiations” excuse to suddenly exclude the public from discussion of controversial issues that were previously aired thoroughly in open session.

SIX: Do not allow executive session conversations to stray to other topics.

SEVEN: Do not violate the spirit of the open meeting law with frequent phone, email or text dialogues with other members. Reach consensus at the meeting.

EIGHT: Do not make a habit of whispering or passing notes at meetings. You were elected to speak for us. Tell what you have to say out loud and proud!

NINE: Allow public input at every meeting. Include it on every agenda.

TEN: Be as transparent as possible. Do not hold executive sessions simply because counsel advised it is “legal” to do so. Ask yourself: “Is it absolutely critical we discuss this privately?”


That should be the standard because legality and necessity are two different things.

We appreciate our local commissioners and board members. They serve for minimal compensation. They make tough decisions. They sometimes lose friends and make enemies. Their dedication to community is admirable.

We simply ask elected officials to think twice before kicking the public out of public meetings.

Strive for fewer. Less is more. A closed meeting should be a rare occasion, not a habit.



Brian Hunhoff writes for the Yankton County Observer in Yankton, South Dakota. His editorials about open government won the 2015 Freedom of Information award from the National Newspaper Association.

This article is used with permission as part of a Sunshine Week toolkit.

Penn’s Woods Printmakers at SCCA

From SCCA:
Please join us on March 25, 5-9 pm for the opening of Penn's Woods Printmakers show at the Susquehanna Center for the Creative Arts.

Penn's Woods Printmakers (PWP) is a group of 13 printmakers based in Chambersburg, PA.  United by a love of the artistic medium of printmaking, the group's members create hand-pulled prints, original works of art that are created by the artist with an original plate run through a small press, one at a time, on high quality art paper.  Penn's Woods' exhibition at the Susquehanna Center for Creative Arts (SCCA) will be a diverse show of many printmaking processes and techniques, with subject matter ranging from landscape and still life, to figures and abstractions. Mixed media drawings and preparatory studies will also be displayed.

Penn's Woods Printmakers has been the focus of exhibitions in Chambersburg, Waynesboro and Shippensburg, PA and Hagerstown, MD, and its members have earned awards and juried exhibition entries throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.  Members of the group include:

Lynda Beckwith, Mercersburg

Dawn Burgoon, Greencastle

Becky Dietrich, Mont Alto

Anne Finucane, Chambersburg

Sue Frotscher, Newburg

Ethel Heckman, Shippensburg

Dee Henry, McConnellsburg

Bruce Hensler, Dillsburg, PA

Brandii Kligge, Newburg

Chris Mcdonel, Walnut Bottom

Ruth Ann Smith, Fayetteville

Marti Yeager, Fayetteville

Dorothy Yoh, Chambersburg

Penn's Woods Printmakers are led by Sarah (Sue) Frotscher. A graduate of Penn State's Master of Fine Arts Program, Frotscher also studied at the Slade School of Art in London, and has won many awards for her prints. A specialist in the process of etching, she has worked with class members who have created both soft and hard-ground etchings and aquatints, as well as solar plate etchings, relief prints, monotypes and collagraphs. 

Penn's Woods Printmakers originated in 1997, under the late Shippensburg University Professor William Davis. Davis offered members of the Franklin County Art Alliance the opportunity to come to the University's printmaking and sculpture studios – two areas where most artists have no facilities in which to work.  With retirement approaching, Professor Davis handed off the group to Frotscher, who continued the tradition of bi-weekly meetings, but at Wilson College, in Chambersburg.  The group appreciates the generosity of Wilson College's Art Department in providing the space where they work.  For more information, call 717-816-7568.

SCCA
224 Locust Street
Columbia, AP 17512

717-576-9628 or 717-580-9031

Sunshine Week - March 13-19 - Your Right to Know

In observance of Sunshine Week - March 13-19, 2016 - Columbia Spy will be posting news articles, opinion columns, and other materials related to the occasion.

Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know.

According to Wikipedia:

Sunshine Week is a national initiative spearheaded by the American Society of News Editors to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy. It was established in March 2005 with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.[1]

Sunshine Week occurs each year in mid-March, coinciding with James Madison's birthday and National Freedom of Information Day on the 16th.

Caleb Brown performs at Market House

Musician Caleb Brown, accompanied alternately with violin and guitar, played and sang various classically influenced compositions, and folk and popular songs Saturday at the Columbia Market House. The Market has been featuring a variety of weekend entertainment over the past few months.

Two-vehicle accident snarls traffic near Rt 30 & 441

A two-vehicle collision caused traffic problems on North Third Street near the westbound Columbia exit ramp of Route 30 on Saturday about 10 a.m.  The accident involved a Volvo V70 station wagon and a Ford Freestar minivan, both of which sustained front-end damage. Northbound traffic on North Third was diverted left onto Cedar Street. Two vehicle occupants suffered minor injuries but neither was hospitalized.  Emergency crews initiated spill control measures due to fluids leaking from both vehicles, which were then towed from the scene.  Airbags deployed in both vehicles.

Spring forward this weekend

Daylight Saving Time begins this weekend - Sunday at 2 a.m. Set your clocks one hour forward.