About Town - January 2, 2022

 Recent photos of Columbia

(Click/tap on photos to see larger, sharper images.)

Horse & carriage on a foggy morning, down at the bridge plaza

GO TIDE!

The windows are going in at Locust Street & Bank Avenue.

Still a problem at Plane & Manor?

What appeared to be an alien invasion turned out to be a group of luminaries.

They appeared to have been released from Columbia River Park.

Night light

Crosses at Mount Bethel

Weeping Angel at Mount Bethel

Another angel at Laurel Hill

A baby Jesus

Another baby Jesus

We got a slight dusting of snow earlier in the week.

Speaking of the weather, it was very foggy this past week . . . 

Lancaster County restaurant inspections: Dec. 31

3 Columbia Market House vendors had violations:

Dough Heads Waffles, 15 S. Third St., Columbia, Dec. 22. Pass. The food facility does not have the original certificate for the certified food employee posted in public view.

Fuel Madness Meals, 15 S. Third St., Columbia, December 22. Pass. The food facility does not have the original certificate for the certified food employee posted in public view.

Gypsy Kitchen Catering, 15 S. Third St., Columbia, Dec. 22. Pass. Raw sausage stored directly on top of bread in the walk-in cooler. Raw turkey stored above mustard in the walk-in cooler. An accumulation of burnt food debris on two catch trays of the stove. Water leaking from the plumbing of the sink in the outside service counter. Breakfast sausage, and porridge, a refrigerated, ready-to-eat, time/temperature-control-for-safety food in the walk-in cooler, was date-marked by the facility but was beyond the seven day use- or sell-by date and requires discarding. An irreversible registering thermometer or thermal labels are not available for monitoring the final rinse temperature of the mechanical dishwasher. A spray bottle of "green buster" stored hanging above single-service plastic lids and packets of sugar on a storage rack. Bottles of hand soap and dish detergent stored next to food equipment and food on the storage rack. Food employee (owner) preparing food, wearing a wristwatch. The food facility has until February to obtain a Food Safety Certificate. The facility has been in operation only since May 2021.

https://lancasteronline.com/lancaster-county-restaurant-inpsections-dec-31/article_fea588b0-68cb-11ec-819d-37c270f5c982.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share 

Weekly look back at L-L League boys basketball at 50: Reliving Columbia's 1987 state championship

With this season being the 50th of L-L boys hoops, we're taking a weekly look back at the league's memorable moments, achievements, coaches, players, etc. So far, we caught up with former Warwick coach Dave Althouse and looked back at the Cocalico's 1977 state title team.

This week, we're reminiscing about the 1987 Columbia boys basketball team. This March will mark 35 years since the Tide won state gold. At the time, Columbia was just the second Lancaster-Lebanon League program to have won a state title in boys basketball (Today, the number is four: Annville-Cleona won in 1999, Lancaster Catholic won in 2003 - more on those squads later this season).

MORE:

https://lancasteronline.com/sports/highschool/boysbasketball/weekly-look-back-at-l-l-league-boys-basketball-at-50-reliving-columbias-1987-state/article_79accf02-6780-11ec-86bd-d72e8963e32c.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share 

 

No contamination, hazardous waste found at McGinness Airport site recently purchased by Columbia Borough

When: Columbia Borough Council meeting, Dec. 14.

What happened: Recent searches found no evidence of hazardous waste or buried barrels at the newly purchased McGinness Airport property, ending more than four months of speculation and accusations that the site was contaminated, Borough Manager Mark Stivers said after the meeting.

MORE:

https://lancasteronline.com/news/regional/no-contamination-hazardous-waste-found-at-mcginness-airport-site-recently-purchased-by-columbia-borough/article_7bca247c-68ea-11ec-ae0f-77089fceeafb.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share 

NYTimes.com: What Are the Symptoms of Omicron?

From The New York Times:

What Are the Symptoms of Omicron?

While there are subtle differences between the latest coronavirus strain and previous ones, so far the signs of infection look pretty similar.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF OMICRON?

One possible difference is that Omicron may be less likely than earlier variants to cause a loss of taste and smell. Research suggests that 48 percent of patients with the original SARS-CoV-2 strain reported loss of smell and 41 percent reported loss of taste, but an analysis of a small Omicron outbreak among vaccinated people in Norway found that only 23 percent of patients reported loss of taste, and only 12 percent reported loss of smell. It's unclear, though, whether these differences are because of Omicron or some other factor, like vaccination status.

Indeed, many Covid-19 symptoms vary depending on a person's vaccine status. Maya N. Clark-Cutaia, an assistant professor at the New York University Meyers College of Nursing who has been following up with Covid-19 patients throughout the pandemic, said that vaccinated patients with Delta or the original coronavirus tend to present with headache, congestion, sinus pressure and sinus pain, while unvaccinated patients are more likely to have shortness of breath and cough, along with flulike symptoms.

With Omicron, Dr. Clark-Cutaia said patients she's talked to in Pennsylvania are presenting with similar symptoms to Delta. Vaccinated Omicron patients complain of headaches, body aches and fever — "like a really bad cold," she said. Unvaccinated people have the same shortness of breath, cough and flulike symptoms she saw among unvaccinated people with Delta.

One other difference between Omicron and other variants is that Omicron seems to have a shorter incubation time — after a person is exposed, it takes as few as three days for them to develop symptoms, become contagious and test positive compared with four to six days with Delta and the original coronavirus, said Dr. Waleed Javaid, the director of infection prevention and control at Mount Sinai Downtown in New York City. That could be because the variant's mutations help it attach to and go inside cells, he added.

What about the claim that Omicron infections are milder than Delta infections? According to last week's data from South Africa, after controlling for vaccination status, the risk of hospitalization for adults diagnosed with Omicron was 29 percent lower there than in the first wave of the pandemic, and hospitalized South African Covid-19 patients have been less likely to be admitted to intensive care.

MORE:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/21/well/live/omicron-variant-symptoms-covid.html?smid=em-share 

CRIMSON TIDE EARNS CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY

NORTHEASTERN YORK HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT

Columbia 56, Northeastern York 53 — The Crimson Tide earned the championship trophy thanks to a 17-12 third-quarter surge. Mackenzie Burke was the hero; she drilled six 3-pointers and bucketed a season-high 22 points for Columbia, which trailed 24-22 at the break. Brie Droege chipped in with 16 points for the Tide, which improved to 8-0.

https://lancasteronline.com/sports/highschool/girlsbasketball/holiday-tourney-titles-for-annville-cleona-columbia-lebanon-l-l-league-girls-basketball-roundup-for/article_553757b8-698e-11ec-8401-9bfe26525f36.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share