'At least we have a start': Hempfield school board defends choice to hire conservative law firm to craft athletics policy

LGBT advocates expressed disappointment Wednesday after the Hempfield school board on Tuesday night decided not to take a stance on whether to allow transgender athletes to compete with the teams that match their gender identities.

During a meeting Tuesday night that lasted more than six hours, the board retained the Independence Law Center, a conservative, Harrisburg-based law firm, to assist the administration with producing a policy around student athletic participation. More than 300 people attended the meeting, and about 80 residents — some supporting transgender student-athletes, some opposed to inclusion mainly in the name of competitive fairness — made public comments to the board.

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Smucker will attend a local conservative group's 'town hall-style' meeting tonight, yet he still hasn't hosted his own

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker will attend a "town hall-style" meeting tonight in Elizabethtown hosted by a local conservative group, an event that's billed as being open to "all patriots" and "anyone that loves freedom."

Smucker is appearing at the invitation of the Free PA Capital Area chapter, whose conservative members are likely to provide a receptive audience for the Republican lawmaker. A notice published on the group's Facebook page says journalists are not allowed to cover the event, and attendees are barred from recording the event on video or audio. 

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Agenda - Columbia Borough School Board Meeting - July 15, 2021

 

Attachments and further information HERE.

Attempted homicide charge filed against Michael A. Newport II for June 8 attack on Columbia man

 

UPDATE: According to court documents filed today (7/14/21), an additional charge of Criminal Attempt - Criminal Homicide has been brought against Michael A. Newport II. Newport allegedly entered a home in Columbia on June 8 and attacked a man residing there. The police report on the incident is HERE.

Kayaker to complete 230-mile river trek after stopover at Columbia River Park

Alan Walsh made a stopover at Columbia River Park before embarking on the final leg of his 230-mile Susquehanna River trek.

Alan Walsh's philosophy has always been "If you don't do it, you won't do it." He has now applied that credo and is doing something he always wanted to do: kayak a stretch of the Susquehanna - in this case the 230-mile trek from Sayre, PA to Havre de Grace, MD.

Once he decided to undertake the journey, he got to work planning and training a few weeks ago. Besides workouts with the kayak, the prep work included packing provisions such as MRE's (packaged, ready-to-eat meals) and granola bars, as well as a yoga map and tarp for use during stopovers along the way. He didn't stow water, though, because he figured he had a lot of it already - a riverful, in fact. He uses a special filter (shown below) that helps make river water safe to drink. He also packed an "old-school" folding paper map that he calls his "road map" to identify sites along the way.

This LifeStraw filters river water, helping to make it safe to drink.

As he was about to embark from Columbia River Park this morning, Walsh said he'd been on the river for 8 days and hopes to finish the final leg of the journey today - the 40-mile trip to Havre de Grace, where his wife will pick him up for the drive home to Troy, PA.

Walsh left River Park this morning, heading for Havre de Grace.

Agenda - Columbia Borough Council Meeting - July 13, 2021

 

Download the meeting packet HERE.

Columbia Borough is one of only 3 Lancaster County school districts not raising property taxes in 2021-22

Columbia Borough, Donegal and Warwick are the only school districts that did not raise taxes this year. This is Columbia and Warwick's second year in a row with a property tax freeze.

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