It pays more to be a Pa. state legislator in 2017

A 1.34 percent increase in the legislative salary will increase the rank-and-file member's annual pay by $1,140, to $86,478.50 for 2017. This increase will boost legislative leaders' pay to between $98,609 to $134,998, depending on their position.
MORE:
http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/11/it_pays_more_to_be_a_pa_state.html

Columbia man withdraws motion to suppress evidence before homicide trial

A Columbia man accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend's husband has withdrawn a pretrial motion to suppress certain evidence two weeks before his trial is scheduled to begin.
MORE:
http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/columbia-man-withdraws-motion-to-suppress-evidence-before-homicide-trial/article_ef032f98-b0d9-11e6-be37-ab186b92f690.html

Medicare enrollment at library today

About Town

Recent pics about town . . .

 Backlit tree at River Park

 Out for a walk

 Ferals of Avenue H

 V

 Carpet of the Sun

 Path to the gazebo

Too soon?

Ferals of South Fifth . . .

 Stubby cat

 On the run

 Undercover

  Under car

Saturday may have been the last "nice" day of the year . . .

 The day was off to a great start . . . 

but soon went awry as afternoon winds brought rain and sleet.

DA releases map of county drug overdose reports

Lancaster County emergency reports of drug overdose

Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman announced Monday the launch of an online Lancaster County-wide mapping of emergency reports of drug overdose.

The map consists of Lancaster County-Wide Communications data, specifically emergency dispatches/responses to reported overdose incidents, from January 1, 2014 to November 1, 2016. It can be accessed HERE.

The map is presented as an awareness and prevention tool in the ongoing battle against the national heroin/opioid epidemic. The District Attorney’s Office has found through community meetings and forums that the county, as a whole, does not yet realize the epidemic has afflicted every town, borough, and region. The map provides visual evidence that drug abuse has impacted, almost literally, every neighborhood in Lancaster County.

The incident markings on the map are not categorized by incident severity or type of drug involved in the reported overdose incident. Overdose death incidents are not given distinguished markings. Additionally, it is very likely not all of these reports were in fact active overdose incidents when emergency responders arrived at the location.

The map was designed to deliberately exclude and protect the identities of those patients involved and their exact addresses.

Close-up of Columbia

Many individuals worked on the concept, compilation and mapping of an estimated 2,500 incident points, most notably the Lancaster County GIS division, Lancaster County-Wide Communications, and Nicholas E. Good, a research intern at the District Attorney’s Office.

In moving forward, the map will be updated quarterly with new reports.

Source:
Lancaster County District Attorney's Office

Meeting schedule for the week of November 21, 2016

Planning Commission meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 21 at Borough Hall, 308 Locust Street.

School Board Quick Notes - 11/17/16 Meeting

Columbia Borough School Board Meeting November 17, 2016:

Absent: Superintendent Dr. Robert Hollister (due to PASA Board of Governors meeting in Harrisburg), President Cole Knighton (but "present" via phone for the first part of the meeting), Director Leo Lutz Jr., and Director Iris Garrido.

Present in addition to board directors were ELANCO Business Manager Keith Ramsey, Board Secretary Deb Smith and Nathan Saxton (legal counsel). Ramsey is currently taking over business manager duties for Columbia School District, since the board recently voted to terminate the employment of Business Manager Amy Light, as Columbia Spy reported HERE.

Students of the month were honored during the first part of the meeting.

After a brief intermission following the student recognition ceremony, the meeting resumed at about 7:50 p.m. Vice President Kathy Hohenadel led the proceedings. President Cole Knighton voted on items via phone until about 35 minutes into the session when he became unresponsive for the remainder of the meeting.

During citizen comments, resident Don Groom asked the board why the crosswalk lines at the top of the high school hill were not painted. The issue was originally brought to the board's attention in June of this year. Director of Operations Tom Strickler said that lines would be painted on Friday, November 18. Strickler explained that the borough was doing the work without charge, so it would be done according to their schedule.

Freshly painted lines were evident at the top of the high school hill Saturday morning.

Resident Fran Resch congratulated Jordan Haberstroh for placing 13th overall in the Class A cross country state championships (out of about 250).

Mayor Leo Lutz urged the board to vote in favor of both the Thaddeus Stevens Trade School program and the "land bank." Lutz said he was told the school has more jobs available than students and he was asked what he could do to steer more students towards the program.  Lutz said exposing students to the program via a youth aid panel could help reduce absenteeism and dropout rates for students who currently do not have a path.

Lutz said the land bank program allows a municipality to speed up the process of dealing with blighted properties. It also allows the municipality to have a say in what happens to such properties. Columbia Spy previously reported on the land bank program HERE.

The board briefly discussed the land bank issue before tabling it with plans to examine it further at a joint school board/borough council meeting in early December.

Final agenda