COLUMBIA SPY

Talk of a merger is in the air once again. At a joint school board/council meeting Tuesday evening, Councillor Cleon Berntheizel brought up the controversial - but not so new - idea. Berntheizel listed all the reasons Columbia needs to merge with another school district, chief among them the high tax rate placing a burden on citizenry. He said older residents are losing their homes, and homes are being sold at low prices and turned into rental units. More rentals, he said, brings in families with children, thereby placing an increased burden on schools. He asked the board where it will end. He said people will continue to move out. "I think the school district needs to start that discussion. We're the only borough in Lancaster County that supports the school district, and we know what that's done to us," Berntheizel said.  Mayor Leo Lutz said it's time for the borough council and school board to join together and start discussions with our senator ...

Columbia made the list: http://lancasteronline.com/insider/new-report-points-out-lancaster-county-s-most-congested-intersections/article_c50f7dd0-13c8-11e6-a8bf-07728684b288.html

Taylor Funk, a 6-foot-8 forward from Columbia, Pennsylvania, signed a letter of intent and plan to enroll at Saint Joseph's in Fall 2017. As a junior, Funk averaged 21.3 points and was a PIAA Class AAA All-State Third Team selection. MORE: http://www.csnphilly.com/ncaa/st-joes-basketball-hawks-sign-two-players-national-letters-intent

About 1,300 steel playground slides made by a Columbia manufacturer were recalled Wednesday after two children lost fingers because of a broken weld. MORE: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/playground-slides-manufactured-in-columbia-are-recalled-after-children-lose/article_d090775c-bcad-11e6-add4-13833dfc3b44.html

It's beginning to look a lot like . . . At 15th & Manor . . . When passing the house, tune to 107.5 FM to hear the music that triggers the lights.

Matthew Sternberg, executive director of Lancaster County Housing & Redevelopment Authorities, addressed a joint meeting of Columbia Borough Council and Columbia Borough School Board Tuesday night about the land bank. [File photo] Columbia Borough Council and the Columbia Borough School Board voted to join forces with the Lancaster County Land Bank at a joint meeting Tuesday night. Columbia will be the first municipality in the county to do so. The land bank provides a means for remediation of blighted, vacant, and abandoned properties in the borough. The agreement will not be binding until the land bank authority approves it and the ordinance is advertised. According to Matthew Sternberg, executive director of Lancaster County Housing & Redevelopment Authorities, the land bank authority plans to do so at its December 20 meeting. The ordinance authorizes execution of the inter-governmental cooperation agreement. Sternberg was present at Tuesday's meeting and p...

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