Sunday, June 19, 2016

President and board member resign from Columbia School Board

Multiple sources have informed Columbia Spy that Columbia Borough School Board President Tom Strickler resigned his position at Thursday night's board meeting. The resignation is effective 11:59 p.m. on July 18, 2016. The board voted to appoint board member Cole Knighton as board president, effective July 19, 2016.

Board member Fran Resch also resigned recently. The board appointed Keith Combs to fill his position at Thursday's meeting.

The board also voted to accept the contract to share a superintendent with Eastern Lancaster County School District. The vote was not unanimous due to one absence, one abstention, and one "no" vote. Elanco will vote on the contract at its June 20 meeting.

Columbia Borough and Elanco school boards began discussing joint leadership in April, after Columbia’s former superintendent left halfway through a three-year contract to take a higher-paying job elsewhere, according to an LNP report.

Water snakes spotted at River Park

Columbia Spy spotted two water snakes at Columbia River Park this morning. The snakes, which measured 20-24 inches long were swimming in shallow water near the first metal dock to the left of the boat ramp.

Although water snakes are non venomous, they are aggressive and will try to strike if agitated. 








Friday, June 17, 2016

Truck gets stuck, blocks traffic




Just before noon on Thursday, a Dollar Store tractor trailer got stuck at the rear inclined exit of Columbia Plaza shopping center, blocking Barber Street. As the driver was making the tight left turn onto Barber, the trailer's landing gear became hung up in the sidewalk concrete. Police arrived, setting up cones and flares and directing traffic, as three tow trucks - including a large rollback - attempted to free the landing gear. The large rollback backed under the trailer and lifted the back wheels off the ground, and the driver then broke the trailer free. Delivery trucks and other vehicles were redirected for over an hour.






Above photos by Angel Rodriguez
















Thursday, June 16, 2016

CASH ONLY AT WINE & SPIRITS STORES


We just learned that Wine & Spirits stores across Pennsylvania are able to accept cash only today (Thursday). Credit/debit cards cannot be used. According to a local store employee, the state attempted to implement a new chip system in its card readers today and consequently crashed the system statewide. Each cash transaction takes about three minutes.

Historic house was Underground Railroad station

Historic house was UGRR station:

http://www.ydr.com/story/news/history/blogs/cannonball/2016/06/15/historic-house-in-wrightsville-was-ugrr-station-and-later-a-confederate-artillery-position/85915916/

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Barry Ford resigns from Council

On Monday night, Columbia Borough Council accepted the resignation of Barry Ford, a longtime councilman. Barry allowed us to share his resignation letter, shown below. We will miss his presence on council and wish him all the best.


Ground-penetrating radar used to scan bridge

Penetradar Corporation used ground-penetrating radar to scan the Veterans Memorial Bridge today. Several radar devices were used to investigate aspects of the bridge's construction, including the location and condition of rebar buried within the bridge's concrete deck. Two technicians used a portable device to scan sidewalks. They also used a van with four units mounted on the front to scan the roadway. Columbia Spy caught up with them on the Wrightsville end of the bridge.

According to the technicians, a month-long process will follow today's collection of scan data about the bridge. All information will then be relayed to RK&K, an engineering firm, to be analyzed in conjunction with PennDOT, as a possible first stage in an upcoming bridge renovation project. According to PennDOT officials, the planning phase could take four to six years.

Penetradar technicians discuss the project.

Penetradar van at the Wrightsville entrance to the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

A portable radar unit used to scan the bridge sidewalk.

Brackets on the front of the van hold four radar units for scanning roadways.