3 people rob Stover's Sunday morning

Nov 6th, 2023 

On 11/05/23 at approx. 5:15 a.m. Police responded to Stover's News on North Third St. for a report of a retail theft that had just occurred. Three masked individuals entered the store together and all fled after grabbing an entire display case of disposable vapes. Pictures are of the suspects. 

Anyone with information about this retail theft is encouraged to contact the Columbia Borough Police Department by submitting a tip or by phone at 717-684-7735 

Location 24 North Third Street Columbia, PA 17512 

Date Nov 5, 2023

See photos at link below:

Sourced via CRIMEWATCH®: https://lancaster.crimewatchpa.com/columbiapd/10552/cases/retail-theft-investigation?fbclid=IwAR3-pJfPDqTOHxqZz65BU2Pp-EPSZs8Wt7LaW0B5nDouv7i0wvGUdJqzaOA

 

Deeds Recorded - Columbia Borough - November 6, 2023

The estate of Gene C. Douglas Jr. conveyed property on a public road to Austin M. Douglas for $1.

Mary Ann Kramer conveyed property on a public road to Kenneth Kneisley and Wilma Kneisley for $315,000.

Abigail A. Benner, Abigail A. Buttorff and Daniel J. Buttorff conveyed property on Perry Street to Alex H. Mowery for $190,500.

Why I will never vote for Kelly Murphy

So, why won't I vote for Columbia Borough Council candidate Kelly Murphy? Because of what he did. This is his track record when he was on council previously:

• He raised taxes in 2018 when it was unnecessary to do so. That is, he voted to levy a 21.2% TAX HIKE on taxpayers!
• He voted to implement the infamous REVOLVING LOAN FUND that loaned taxpayer money to private business. (The courts later found that the borough administered the fund improperly.)
• He didn't repeal his tax hike and the Revolving Loan Fund despite being petitioned to do so by taxpayers. He ignored a petition signed by 1,162 borough taxpayers!
• He refused to meet with residents when they requested a meeting to discuss repealing the Revolving Loan Fund.
• He voted to purchase $347,000 of unnecessary street lights for a state road. (A grant for the lights fell through, and they were never used and have been sitting at the borough sheds for the past several years.)
• He considered giving a $650,000 grant (taxpayer money!) to a developer.
• He took out a municipal bond (2016) for $9.8 million that we're still on the hook for. It's now at $11 million! The borough might need to implement a special tax levy to pay it off. Taxpayers will need to pay $691,000 a year for 16 years. The tax levy will require an increase of 1-½ mills. That equals a tax hike of almost 19% !
• He voted to purchase the money-losing trolley.
• He abolished the borough's Municipal Authority and liquidated its funds.

True, he didn't do all these things alone, but he did do them. In addition, Kelly hasn't attended any budget meetings so far this year, so how interested is he in Columbia's future?

Based on his record, Kelly Murphy has been careless with taxpayer's money. In 2018, right before he raised taxes, he was even scolded by former borough manager Rebecca Denlinger for overspending and then planning to raise taxes. She asked, "...was part of the plan to say, okay when we run out of fund balance, we're just gonna hike taxes a whole bunch...?"

Here's an audio clip: LINK

Is Kelly Murphy worth your vote? Just look at his record and decide for yourself. As for me, the answer is a resounding "NO"!

About Town - November 5, 2023

 This week's photos of Columbia

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

Angel kneeling at Mount Bethel

Unique grave marker

Cliff Logan, Jr. of AE Balloon Fights sailed over Columbia on Saturday afternoon.

This nearby Mylar balloon didn't fare as well.

Vote on November 7.

Hate has no home here.

CCAT: Columbia Cat Action Team

Recycle your butt here.

At Dr. Kepple's former office on the 500 block of Chestnut Street.

At dusk

Hey, that's a lot of hay!

(Or is it straw?)

The DAC

Diagonal

South 2nd Street roadwork

Colorful clouds

Do not disturb.

You'll see many of these around town.

Straight on through

Crimson 5: Do they really even care about our school district?

Fast and loose with the truth or just inaccurate? A recent Crimson 5 flyer suggests that an article about a tax hike appeared on a Columbia Spy post on 6/19 of this year. In fact, the article appeared on May 28, 2019. True, a tax hike was approved on June 20, 2019 (by two current Crimson candidates), so in that respect 6/19 could be considered correct, but in essence, they're touting their own tax hike.

The Crimson 5 (formerly Crimson 6) Columbia School Board candidates are complaining about school taxes, but the last tax hike was in 2019, during the tenure of current Crimson candidates Cole Knighton and Fred Thomas when they served on the board. In fact, Knighton was Finance chair at the time, and Thomas seconded the motion and both voted for the tax hike, according to minutes of the June 20, 2019 Columbia School Board meeting.

There's also been speculation within the community that the purpose of the Crimson 5 is to bring back former Columbia School Superintendent Tom Strickler, who is now CFOO of the Elizabethtown School District. This theory is partially supported by Knighton's sudden resignation a few years ago, in protest of the board not renewing Strickler's contract. Knighton is now the de facto leader of the Crimsons.

One wonders if Knighton's only goal is Strickler's reinstatement. He hasn't seemed too interested in serving on the board otherwise. For example, his attendance record was abysmal - only 40% - according to a recent post by the Columbia School Board Candidates for Continued Growth.

Reportedly, only two of the Crimson candidates have attended any school board meetings this year - and only sparsely at that.

So how interested are they in serving our school district if they don't even show up? How could they know and understand recent issues?

Currently, our school district is moving in a positive direction: Taxes are stable, while attendance and test scores have risen. So, why would the Crimson group want to disrupt this forward momentum, unless they have an agenda, which apparently they do.

Columbia voters would do well to keep the current momentum going by voting for a board that's already brought success: Sandy Duncan, Sonya Duncan, Kathleen Hohenadel, Charles Leader, Lauren VonStetten - and Sharon Lintner.

School board director calls out borough council for disparaging remarks

At last night's Columbia Borough School Board meeting, School Board Director Kathleen Hohenadel responded to recent public remarks by borough council members criticizing the school district.

Hohenadel said she was disheartened by the comments from council members, which she described as "an abuse of their public position." Hohenadel challenged council to reinstate combined meetings with the school board and work together to find solutions.

The last joint meeting between council and the school board was in the spring of 2021. In October of that year, Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz wrote a scathing letter to LNP critical of the board. Several council members have since made public comments criticizing the board.

Here's the text of Hohenadel's statement:

"I was disheartened by the comments made by members of Borough Council at a recent public meeting. Their swipes and jabs at the School District were not productive, did not foster good working relations, and were an abuse of their public position.

I challenge the members of Borough Council to reinstate the combined meetings of these two governmental bodies. Even though we both represent the same constituents, Council members decided those meetings were not productive. Yet, the very issues they grandstanded about could have some solutions that take a partnership of these two entities. It is easy to make derogatory comments about a group of people when you aren't looking them in the face. I propose the much more difficult route of sitting down together to find solutions, of working collaboratively without the bluster and political positioning."

Columbia firefighters thank school board for tax credit program

 

Fire Chief Scott Ryno and volunteer firefighters from the Columbia Borough Fire Department thanked the Columbia School Board Thursday evening for passing a tax credit program that benefits firefighters and their families.

The board voted recently to adopt a "Volunteer Firefighters Tax Credit Program" with the goal of encouraging membership and service in the community's volunteer fire company.