Now, that's a first!
From today's York Daily Record . . .
Monday, January 12, 2015
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Progress on the Route 441 bypass project
A pair of immense trapezoidal monoliths has appeared recently at the Route 441 bypass construction site near the Route 441 overpass.
Girls on ice
Shortly after noon today, emergency personnel responded to a call involving two girls walking on the ice on the Susquehanna River, just north of the Veterans Memorial Bridge. The girls began walking back to shore after Columbia Borough Police sounded a siren and motioned for them to return. Neither was injured, and no charges appear to have been filed.
Councillor sets the record straight on Columbia budget
A recap of last Wednesday's borough council meeting:
All seven council members voted to override Mayor Lutz's veto of the borough's 2015 budget at a special Columbia Borough Council meeting last Wednesday night. Surprisingly, the mayor supported an override of the veto.
"I would suggest you override my veto, so that we can get on with the budget. The purpose of my veto is to have the discussion that we're having here now," Lutz said, citing the need for transparency in the budget process. He suggested that council have separate budget meetings in which residents can comment, because the borough "owes it to the taxpayers." Lutz also pointed out changes made to the budget without his input as another example of why increased transparency is needed.
An update:
Councillor Kelly Murphy, chairman of the finance committee, offered a timeline at Wednesday's meeting and disputed allegations regarding the lack of budget meetings and transparency:
August 2014 Meeting of the Whole: First draft budget was submitted and discussed.
September 2014 Meeting of the Whole: Second draft budget was submitted; a lot of input from all department managers was received. During this meeting, then-Borough Manager Sam Sulkosky said he had not yet looked at the budget and council subsequently took action with the him, asking him to review the draft budget.
October 2014 Meeting of the Whole: The borough manager presented council with a budget calling for the elimination of positions (personnel decisions that council was unaware of) within borough departments. Since these were personnel issues, a second meeting was held with department managers.
November 2014 Meeting of the Whole: The final draft, which council members, the mayor, and others had in advance, was presented for review. The goal was to review the draft and return with any final concerns or issues so that at December 2014 regular council meeting the budget could be advertised.
December 2014 Meeting of the Whole: Council convened to pass the budget. Murphy said he had not received any additional comments during that time, until the mayor's decision regarding the police cruiser.
Murphy said that as new drafts were developed, they were provided to council members and the mayor for comments. Any comments received were addressed. He named three criteria by which the budget was crafted: must have, like/need to have, and wish list. Wish list items were the ones scrutinized most closely. "You have to look at things from a business-like philosophy," he said. Murphy reminded council that this year is going to be "trying" due to borough projects, and ongoing negotiations with the police and LASA, among other issues. He assured everyone present that council was transparent during the budget process, opportunities were given for people to speak, and nothing was done in secret.
Murphy also referenced the borough's $3.2 million reserve. He said he believes that the best plan for the money would be to invest it in the development of the town to make it more desirable to live in and bring businesses here. He also reminded those present that the reserve would be "knocked down" to $2.5 million next year, even if everything falls into place. The issue facing council was whether to raise taxes or take $700,000 from the reserve. He said that if they hadn't worked so hard over the last eight years to get the reserve to this point, they would have had no choice but to raise taxes this year. Murphy recounted how the reserve stood at only $424,000 when he was elected to council in 2008, and council at that time needed to borrow money to pay bills, including payroll.
Murphy admonished anyone seeking unnecessary items for their department. "I'm tired of hearing about this 'Just because it's there, departments or folks or people in here think they're entitled to some of that money,'" Murphy said. "That money was hard-earned by being very responsible with our budgets, being very prudent with what we spent, and didn't get there without a lot of pain. I feel it's the best budget we could get."
WGAL's Janelle Stelson makes on-air racist remark; Howard Stern comments
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Friday, January 9, 2015
Real River Rats
While sitting at Hinkle's recently, I decided to see what Wi-Fi was available in the area - just for fun. I've posted a screenshot from my phone of what I found. The fourth one down is "I Live Below Real River Rats." I'm not sure exactly what that means. Does the owner intend it literally, in that he or she actually resides in a structure with rodents living above the ceiling? Or is it meant as a nickname for us locals - you know, the one we Columbians call ourselves, as a symbol of pride.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
DA says Lancaster County-wide police force would save money, solve more crimes
Stedman has been an advocate for regional policing: the consolidation of numerous, smaller departments which work under separate contracts for separate bosses.
His vision for Lancaster County includes keeping Lancaster city police as is, but combining the county's dozens of other suburban departments.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Council overrides mayor's veto in unanimous vote
All seven council members voted to override Mayor Lutz's veto of the borough's 2015 budget at a special Columbia Borough Council meeting Wednesday night. Surprisingly, the mayor supported an override of the veto before a vote was taken.
"I would suggest you override my veto, so that we can get on with the budget. The purpose of my veto is to have the discussion that we're having here now," Lutz said, citing the need for transparency in the budget process. He suggested that council have separate budget meetings in which residents can comment, because the borough "owes it to the taxpayers." Lutz also pointed out changes made to the budget without his input as another example of why increased transparency is needed.
"I would suggest you override my veto, so that we can get on with the budget. The purpose of my veto is to have the discussion that we're having here now," Lutz said, citing the need for transparency in the budget process. He suggested that council have separate budget meetings in which residents can comment, because the borough "owes it to the taxpayers." Lutz also pointed out changes made to the budget without his input as another example of why increased transparency is needed.
[A clarification: A previous post on this site stated that the mayor arrived at the December meeting of the whole, wearing a jacket with a police logo. After tonight's meeting, the mayor informed us that he purchased the jacket and did not receive it free of charge.]
[More meeting details to follow.]
"National Milk Day" to be celebrated Sunday at Columbia's Turkey Hill Experience
Turkey Hill is celebrating "National Milk Day" Sunday with a free sample of milk for everyone who visits a top Lancaster County visitors' site, the Turkey Hill Experience in Columbia, just up the road from the dairy.
MORE:
http://m.lancasteronline.com/news/local/national-milk-day-to-be-celebrated-sunday-at-columbia-s/article_f07290cc-95d2-11e4-9d82-47130855fb9f.html?mode=jqm
MORE:
http://m.lancasteronline.com/news/local/national-milk-day-to-be-celebrated-sunday-at-columbia-s/article_f07290cc-95d2-11e4-9d82-47130855fb9f.html?mode=jqm
Charlie Hebdo Mohammed Cartoons with English Translations
I am posting this video as a show of solidarity with our French brothers and sisters at Charlie Hebdo magazine, whose offices in Paris were attacked today by terrorists. At this writing, 12 people are reported dead and many wounded. Police are currently searching the city for the attackers.
Charlie Hebdo is a satirical magazine that has often poked fun at the "prophet" Mohammed. Their offices have been attacked in the past.
If you can't see the video, follow (Copy and paste) the link shown below:
http://youtu.be/U56q428amN0
If you can't see the video, follow (Copy and paste) the link shown below:
http://youtu.be/U56q428amN0
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
DA's office gets $22,312 grant to extract data from cell phones
The Computer Forensic Unit of the Lancaster County District Attorney's office has been using Cellebrite for the past three years and has examined hundreds of mobile devices. The UFED (Universal Forensic Extraction Device) is portable and can be readily used in both the laboratory and field.
MORE:
http://m.lancasteronline.com/news/local/da-s-office-gets-grant-to-extract-data-from-cell/article_5db980ec-95eb-11e4-82eb-e77b8c97f3ef.html?mode=jqm
The US Supreme Court ruled that the warrantless search and seizure of digital contents of a cell phone during an arrest is unconstitutional:
We Are Number One! Top 16 Small Cities In Pennsylvania
Columbia has been named Number One of Top 16 Small Cities in Pennsylvania.
GO HERE FOR THE LISTING:
http://citydescribed.com/2014/12/top-16-small-cities-in-pennsylvania/16/
GO HERE FOR THE LISTING:
http://citydescribed.com/2014/12/top-16-small-cities-in-pennsylvania/16/
Keystone Testing - Columbia Borough School District
Students at the Columbia High School will participate in the winter wave of Keystone Exams or make-up exams from January 7, 2015 through January 21, 2015. Students who are currently enrolled in a Semester I class for Algebra I, Biology, and/or Literature will be taking these exams. Students who have these classes scheduled during Semester II will take their exams in the spring.
Pennsylvania school code allows interested parents to review these exams prior to having their student participate with the testing. Arrangements to view the tests must be made with the high school principal, Ms. Maura Meiser, by calling 717-684-7500 to set up an appointment.
Additional information on the the Keystone Exams can be found at the following link:
Monday, January 5, 2015
Budget fight in Columbia about more than a police car
From an editorial in this morning's edition of lancasteronline:
Mayor Leo Lutz gave two reasons for vetoing Columbia Borough's hold-the-line budget for 2015: a budget process he saw as not including the public in discussions and council's failure to include the lease of a new police cruiser. Borough Council has scheduled a special meeting for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the borough building, 308 Locust St., to discuss overriding the mayor's veto. The votes of five of the council's seven members are required to override a veto.
To be fair, the mayor was not present at all council meetings, either. But, to his point, council did not, as it has in the past, make a point-by-point presentation of its budget prior to the Dec. 8 meeting at which it voted to advertise the budget and schedule it for a vote.
That effectively reduced, from two to one, opportunities for the public to learn about the budget.
Transparency is about more than holding votes in public. It’s also about airing matters of public importance fully and publicly.
Of all the public matters a governing body addresses, its spending plan for the year is among the most important.
It sets priorities for use of taxpayer money, and it ought to be done with full consideration, in full public view and with adequate notice to the public for residents to get a chance to understand it and make their voices heard.
Two full hearings should have been held on the 2015 budget.
Of all the public matters a governing body addresses, its spending plan for the year is among the most important.
It sets priorities for use of taxpayer money, and it ought to be done with full consideration, in full public view and with adequate notice to the public for residents to get a chance to understand it and make their voices heard.
Two full hearings should have been held on the 2015 budget.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
What I saw today - January 4, 2015
About a dozen cedar waxwings, including the one seen above, helped themselves to plentiful berries in a tree at Trinity House Apartments this afternoon.
It was also a good day for a walk on the tracks.
This blast from the past sits behind a shop window on the 400 block of Locust Street.
Planes, planes, and more planes flying low over Columbia
Numerous planes flew low over Columbia this afternoon, a few minutes apart. Their low altitude may have been due to heavy cloud cover for much of the afternoon. The number of planes may have been due to the many travelers returning home after the holidays.
A few of the planes are shown below:
Evidence of strength
Clifford Shupp, owner of Shupp's Barber Shop at 270 Locust Street, has twisted metal and bent nails hanging on his barber shop wall. Why? Because it's evidence of several visits by Columbia artist and strongman, Tom Hermansader, who bent the metal objects by hand during his demonstrations of strength at the shop.
A profile of Tom Hermansader can found HERE.
Below are recent photos of his handiwork.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
A happy ending to the story
Dear Cole,
A note of thanks to you for posting the "found cat" on your site a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, not one person has inquired about this cat, but there is a happy ending thanks to the Pet Pantry of Lancaster County. I am writing to get the word out about the excellent facility that they operate. Their services include no-kill animal rescue, low-income feeding program, and low-cost veterinary services. I would encourage everyone that is able to help to do so, they have a wish list and several drop-off locations all over Lancaster County. Luckily, there was room for the cat I was fostering and for a nominal fee, I was able to surrender her into their care. She was tested for FeLV and FIV prior to being accepted. They will continue to monitor her behavior and health, prior to putting her up for adoption. The services that the Pet Pantry provides are invaluable. The staff was empathetic toward my situation and went out of their way to help.
[Name withheld by request]
[Name withheld by request]
Columbia's Dean Young named Texas State Poet Laureate
2014 blew by, and I didn't get around to posting this announcement. Dean Young, formerly of Columbia, was named 2014 Texas State Poet Laureate. He is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Dean was born and raised in Columbia and graduated from Columbia High School.
Go HERE for the story.
Go HERE for Dean's Wikipedia page.
On top
Yesterday, it looked as though a hawk was trying to get closer to heaven on top of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church on Locust Street.
Lookin' good at 855 Chestnut
The remodelers at 855 Chestnut have done a good job of removing the midriff bulge at the back of the house and matching the siding with the color of the brick. It's a beautiful structure and will shine once again if or when it's totally restored.
But for some reason, I still can't help picturing this going on inside.
Friday, January 2, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Fire on Kinderhook Road
Several local fire companies responded to a dwelling fire on the 1700 block of Kinderhook Road in West Hempfield Township this morning.
(Photos by Owen Shirk)
(Photos by Owen Shirk)
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