Was there a shooting in Columbia this morning?

Columbia Spy has received reports of a possible shooting near South Market Street and Avenue I this morning. This area is directly behind the police station. More information to follow as it becomes available.

Senator Aument supports property tax elimination

The following letter from Senator Ryan P. Aument of the 36th Senatorial District - which includes Columbia - was submitted by a Columbia Spy reader (name withheld by request). The letter is a response to the reader's questions about property tax elimination. In the letter, Aument states that he co-sponsored Senate Bill 76, a proposal to eliminate school property tax. Lieutenant Governor Michael J. Stack cast a tie-breaking vote resulting in a 25-24 defeat of the proposal.

It’s Your Right, It’s Your Business

By Jim Zachary
CNHI Regional Editor
Editor, The Valdosta Daily Times
Posted on February 23, 2017 by SW Admin

Every action of government is your business.

Every document held in government halls is your piece of paper.

Every penny spent by government is your money.

From the courthouse to the statehouse to the White House, government belongs to the governed and not the governing.

You have the right to know what the governing are up to, always.

We are self-governed.

The only way the public, and the press, can hold government accountable is by having unfettered access to its deliberations and the documents it holds.

Transparency is not liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat.

The media champions open government in its traditional role as the Fourth Estate, knowing that independent checks and balances are critical to our liberty.

When city council, county commission or the board of education brokers a deal behind closed doors and conceals documents containing important information the public wants and needs to know our freedoms are compromised.

Local government has the biggest impact in our lives on a day-to-day basis.

Whether it is in the form of property taxes, sales taxes, business taxes, state-shared dollars or federal grants, loans and funding, local government is 100 percent taxpayer funded. The decisions being made, the monies being spent and the records being kept by city hall, the county commission, the board of education or the hospital authority affect us all, and when government is allowed to operate behind closed doors, it grows out of control, is not responsive to the public and subject to corruption.

Elected officials — from the school board member to the President of the United States, must remember they answer to the people, not to professional government bureaucrats, not to government lawyers and not to their elevated campaign advisers

It may be true the public has lost a lot of confidence in the national media, but imagine a government run amuck without media watchdogs holding it in check.

Even Thomas Jefferson, who battled with the press, at times excoriating newspapers in his letters, understood that a free press with unfettered access was essential to the health of democracy.

Jefferson would grow irritated with newspapers, even writing, “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper,” but he is also the man who famously wrote in a letter to Edward Carrington in 1787, “And were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.”

When you ask to see the county’s operating budget or challenge whether city council has the right to go into a closed session, remember it’s your right. It’s your business.

CNHI Regional Editor Jim Zachary for Georgia and Florida newspapers is editor of The Valdosta Daily Times, the director of the Transparency Project of Georgia, a member of the board of directors of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and vice-chair of the Red & Black newspaper serving the University of Georgia. Zachary can be contacted at jim.zachary@gaflnews.com.

COLUMBIA BOROUGH 2017 SPRING PARK CLEAN UP – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Volunteers needed to help the Columbia Park Rangers clean up the Borough Parks.

Clean up schedule is as follows:

– Glatfelter Memorial Field – Saturday, March 18th at 8am (rain date Saturday, March 25th at 8am)

– Locust Street Park – Saturday, April 1st at 8am

– River Park – Saturday, April 22nd at 8am

– Makle Park – Saturday, April 29th at 8am

– Janson Field – Thursday, May 4th at 5:30pm

– Locust Street Park – Saturday, June 10th at 8am

– Locust Street Park – Saturday, December 9th at 8am

Note: All children must be supervised by parents, coaches, troop leaders, etc. Tools will be provided, but if you wish to bring your own rake, shovel, gloves, etc. please mark with your name. THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO EARN COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS FOR SCHOOL.

Borough Offices: 308 Locust Street, Columbia PA 17512 | Phone: 717-684-2467

Columbia woman accused of aiding boyfriend in husband's killing will stand trial

Allison E. Oberdorff

A Columbia woman accused of aiding a boyfriend in the 2016 stabbing death of her husband will stand trial on the charge.

MORE:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/columbia-woman-accused-of-aiding-boyfriend-in-husband-s-killing/article_c58d15e8-04e9-11e7-9996-1f01ed186cbd.html

And the walls came tumbling down

The historic building on the 400 block of Avenue G (between Walnut and Chestnut) is now almost completely torn down. The brick structure, once a livery stable, was condemned in June 2015 and suffered a fire the following September.

A remnant of an elevator made by the Warner Elevator Company in Cincinnati, Ohio was found in the debris.   

Workers used heavy equipment to demo the building. They also removed some areas by hand.

Up on the rooftop . . .

Workers took advantage of the mild weather this afternoon to do work on the roof of Bootleg Antiques at 135 Bridge Street.

 At times, they worked pretty close to the edge.

Here's a long view.

 Further over, these guys were installing flashing.

But where's the sign . . . ?