Nursing home is honored - then cited for violations

Susquehanna Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 745 Old Chickies Hill Rd, Columbia, received recognition from the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce on April 30 for 40 years of service to the community. About a week later, however, the Department of Health conducted an inspection and cited the facility for “deficient practices that caused concern for the health and safety of the residents," according to an ABC27 report. Inspections over the past six months found concerns about failure to investigate and report abuse, neglect, and misappropriation of resident funds, failure to provide a sanitary environment, allowing strong odors of urine to persist, and failure to follow physicians' orders. The Department will release a full report in the near future.

The facility was previously known as Heatherbank Nursing & Rehabilitation Center.

ELANCO moves teachers - Is Columbia next?

According to an LNP article, Eastern Lancaster County School District plans to shuffle 31 teachers to different grades and between schools:

"One by one, 31 teachers were called into meetings and told they were either switching grades or moving to another school for the 2017-18 school year."

Readers' comments following the article were less than favorable towards the action, for which many blame ELANCO Superintendent Robert Hollister.

Currently, ELANCO and Columbia are operating under a shared services agreement. A commenter asks if teachers could even be switched between the two districts:

"Now that Elanco and Columbia are quasi-merged regarding administration, just how long until teachers are switched between these two school districts? Elanco school district already seems to have a large turnover of teaching staff."

Columbia School District combats hunger with "School Breakfast Week"

This week, which also happens to be the first week of Keystone Exams, has been denoted School Breakfast Week at Columbia High School. It will feature special guests, giveaways and a new coffee bar — serving the traditional breakfast, but with a coffee option — outside the gymnasium.

MORE:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/columbia-high-school-combats-teenage-hunger-with-school-breakfast-week/article_e1dcf15a-3a27-11e7-9841-1f6f699c8731.html

Two appointed to Planning Commission

Barbara Fisher (center) and Charity Kadwill were sworn in to the Columbia Borough Planning Commission by Mayor Leo Lutz at Monday's Borough Council meeting.

Nurses Week: May 6-12, 2017

Don't forget to thank a nurse this week! It's a very emotional and challenging profession that touches all concerned on a personal level.

Law enforcement convoy crosses Veterans Memorial Bridge on the way to Washington

Columbia Spy caught a few quick pics of a convoy headed west across the Veterans Memorial Bridge this afternoon. The procession consisted of law enforcement vehicles from various departments on their way to a week-long observance in Washington, D.C. for National Police week.

National Police Week (NPW), held May 11 – 17 each year in Washington, D.C., honors the service and sacrifice of U.S. law enforcement officers. On May 11 and 12, surviving families and co-workers begin arriving in Washington, D.C. for the events.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed Public Law 87-726 designating May 15 as Peace Officers' Memorial Day, and the week in which May 15 falls as National Police Week. The law was amended by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Public Law 103-322, signed by President Bill Clinton, directing that the flag of the United States be displayed at half-staff on all government buildings on May 15 each year. While the actual dates change from year to year, National Police Week is always the calendar week, beginning on Sunday, which includes May 15.

Biggie the Cat at the Library today