COLUMBIA SPY

Columbia History - Did you know? Edgar Allan Poe Did you know American writer Edgar Allan Poe wrote for the Columbia Spy ? It's true! Poe contributed many articles to the original Columbia Spy newspaper in the 1800s. You can find his Spy articles in a digital collection titled Doings of Gotham   HERE . The original Columbia Spy newspaper (formerly the Columbia Spy and Literary Register ) ran from 1830 until 1920, when it merged with the Columbia News , according to the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore HERE . The term "Spy" in the publication's title is believed to refer to the anti-slavery movement active in the North at the time and to the Underground Railroad, whose origins can be traced to Columbia. More information on the Columbia Spy , with an archive of years 1850-1870 is available  HERE . Front page of The Columbia Spy, April 27, 1850 Front page of The Columbia Spy, December 31, 1870

Borough residents began digging out yesterday from five inches of snow. Freezing rain overnight left a crunchy coating of ice on the remaining snow, but predicted temps in the 40s today should help thaw things out.

The Columbia Borough Fire Department held its recognition banquet on Saturday, February 16, to honor local fire department members. It was the first such banquet since Columbia Borough's 2015 fire department consolidation. CBFD President Mark A. Fritz was Master of Ceremonies for the program, which included a memorial for deceased members led by Lisa M. Splain and Regina A. Fisher, and remarks by Mayor Leo S. Lutz and Fire Chief Douglas J. Kemmerly. Pastor Mark A. Kopp of St. James Lutheran Church led the invocation and benediction. Eric C. Swanson of the York City Fire Department was the banquet's guest speaker. Swanson, who graduated first in his class at the State Fire Academy in Harrisburg, has 18 years of experience with the York City Fire Department. Swanson is one of two survivors of the March 2018 York City building collapse in which two colleagues were killed. A report on the tragedy and its aftermath is  HERE . Award winners, left to right, are William L. Meye...

The following school districts are on a 2-hour delay today (2/21/19): Columbia Borough Hempfield Penn Manor

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that the Constitution’s prohibition on excessive fines applies to state and local governments, limiting their abilities to impose fines and seize property. “For good reason, the protection against excessive fines has been a constant shield throughout Anglo-American history: Exorbitant tolls undermine other constitutional liberties,” Ginsburg wrote. “Excessive fines can be used, for example, to retaliate against or chill the speech of political enemies. . . . Even absent a political motive, fines may be employed in a measure out of accord with the penal goals of retribution and deterrence.” MORE  HERE

Marquell Rentas A Columbia man serving up to 62 years in prison for shooting at police will get no relief from a state appellate court. The Pennsylvania Superior Court found the punishment - 30½ to 62 years in prison – was appropriate for what Marquell Rentas did in Columbia on July 29, 2016. Assistant District Attorney Travis S. Anderson presented evidence at trial that Rentas fired at a 27-year veteran officer, who was one of many officers who responded to a shots-fired call on Bethel Street. The jury convicted Rentas of attempted murder of a law-enforcement officer, conspiracy, assault of a law-enforcement officer and reckless endangerment. Rentas, in a request for relief, claimed the sentence was cruel and unusual and a violation of his constitutional rights, considering no officers were injured in the incident. The appellate court, in its opinion, wrote that Rentas failed to establish how the sentence "is grossly disproportionate to his crime of attempting to severely ...