COLUMBIA SPY

 A Wednesday morning house fire left one home with over $40,000 in damage. MORE: https://www.google.com/amp/fox43.com/2017/03/01/house-fire-in-columbia-leaves-expensive-damages-no-injuries/amp/#a-42801bf0-32dd-468f-83e2-8d5045a3665f

A reader sent these photos of grave decorations recently removed at Laurel Hill Cemetery. He alleges that decorative angels placed on his sister's grave were removed after only two days.

We dodged a bullet. The storm that was forecast for this area - a repeat of Saturday's - has fizzled. Except for slight winds and a brief period of rain, nothing much materialized - which is a good thing. One nasty storm a year is too much. The weather was so mild, in fact, that this boater (above) was inspired to take a few spins on the water near Columbia River Park this afternoon.

Mitch Cooper stands before an array of comics. Cooper is the owner of Cooper's Comics and Collectibles, a new comics store at 477 Locust Street. Store hours Wednesday 4:30pm - 7:00pm Thursday 4:30pm - 7:00pm Friday 4:30pm - 7:00pm Saturday 10:00am - 6:00pm Sunday 12:00 noon - 4:00pm Monday CLOSED Tuesday CLOSED

The letter shown above was submitted to Columbia Spy today and is purportedly from Elanco's "Board of School Directors and District Administration." The letter takes a stand against property tax elimination and lays out reasons why legislation supporting it should not be passed.

Cooper’s Comics & Collectibles Opens its Door(s)! A new store is opening in downtown Columbia this afternoon at 4:30 – Cooper’s Comics & Collectibles! The address is 477 Locust Street, located on the corner of 5th and Locust streets, formerly the home of Ladybug Keepers, an excellent location to be sure! Interesting history note – after World War II, Monte Cooper, a renowned flooring mechanic and jazz saxophonist, bought that building and opened their first business there, Columbia Flooring. Monte Cooper was the father of the current shop keeper, Mitch. The store houses 50 ‘long boxes’ (the name used when describing the type of box that comics are often stored in) of back issue comics, some dating from the early 1960s (which are highly collectible) until right around 2010, which encompasses 50 years of comic collecting. Collected ‘mini-series’ issues and graphic novels can be prominently found occupying 2 shelves of a floor to ceiling bookcase. The rest of that b...