Hall of Fame nominations are sought

The Columbia High School Athletic Hall of Fame is again soliciting applications for the Hall of Fame.
The 2010 induction ceremony will be held at halftime of the Sept. 19 football game with Daniel Boone.
This will be the third class of inductees.
Applications for the Hall of Fame are available at any of the school district buildings or from committee members.
The deadline to submit applications is May 7.
Committee members are Charles Reinhart, Jodie Eck, Jim Smith, Mary Donan, Karen Kuhn, Barry Ford, Dennis Bachman, Wayne Hershey, RicH Gerfin, Mickey Rupp and Jeff Deascenti.
For more information, contact beatleschas@comcast.net.

You must pay before leaving the store!

West Hempfield Township Police have charged Stephen Fedula, 50, of Landisville, with retail theft as the result of an incident at the Kmart, 3975 Columbia Ave., at 9:57 a.m., March 30.


He attempted to leave the store with DVDs and food valued at $45.

April events at the Columbia Public Library

The Columbia Public Library, 24 South Sixth St., has announced its schedule of events for April.


The library will be closed on Friday, April 2 and Saturday, April 3.

Wednesday, April 7, at 6 p.m., the library will hold Family Film Night, featuring "A Bug's Life."

Thursday, April 8, at 11 a.m., "Two Weeks Around South America: Buenos Aires to Chile," a travel presentation, will be hosted by Dave and Linda Burrichter. People of all ages are welcome to attend.

Children who participated with the Disney on Ice reading program can take their stamped reading logs to the Giant Center to exchange for tickets to "Princess Classics," which will be offered at two different times for reading program ticket holders. The shows will be held on Thursday, April 8, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 11, at 5 p.m.

Saturday, April 10, at 10 a.m., the Saturday morning story time program will feature a special guest appearance by Peter Rabbit.

National Library Week will run from Sunday, April 11, through Saturday, April 17, and the theme will be "Communities Thrive @ Your Library." The library is committed to helping Columbia by providing Internet access for online courses and job applications, books for people of all ages and interests, computer instruction, and programs for both children and adults. A photo ID with a current address is the only item necessary to register for a library card, and there is no charge.

Wednesday, April 14, at 6 p.m., the library will present Family Film Night, featuring the live-action version of "Charlotte's Web."

Thursday, April 15, at 7 p.m., there will be a home buyers seminar with Katie Reed in the library’s conference room. Topics covered will include buying versus renting, credit scores, buying "For Sale by Owner" properties, types of mortgages, closing costs, how to budget, and more. Attendees are encouraged to come prepared with questions. There will be no charge for the seminar.

Friday, April 16, at 3 p.m., State Senator. Mike Brubaker will visit the library to read aloud the book “What a Treasure!” which is this year’s selection for the One Book, Every Young Child campaign. This event will be held outside in the Locust Street Park gazebo, weather permitting. In the event of rain, Brubaker will read aloud in the Children's Room of the library. The read-aloud was scheduled to coincide with dismissal from Park Elementary. People of all ages are welcome to come and meet the senator and share in the fun of reading aloud.

The official kickoff date for the 2010 One Book, Every Young Child program is Tuesday, April 13. Now in its fifth year, this program emphasizes the importance of reading early and reading often to children, including preschoolers.

Saturday, April 17, at 10 a.m., the library will offer the Saturday morning story time with Dottie Johnson. The topic will be "Do You Have a Pet?"

Wednesday, April 21, at 6 p.m., the library will host Family Film Night, featuring the live-action version of "101 Dalmatians."

Saturday, April 24, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Lisa Greybill, library director, will read Earth Day stories at the Sahd's Salvage Earth Day Celebration, which will feature a variety of activities for people of all ages. The story time will be a station on the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle passport program.

April 24, at 10 a.m., the library will offer its Saturday morning story time with Dottie Johnson. The topic will be "Mmmmm….Pretzels!"

Wednesday, April 28, at 6 p.m., the library will hold Family Film Night, featuring "Happy Feet."

The Census Questionnaire Assistance Center, which is staffed by a census professional, will continue to be open Mondays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Individuals who did not receive a census form via the postal service for any reason may stop in during the center’s open hours.

The library’s Web master Samuel Edmond will help interested readers with their income taxes. An appointment must be made in advance, and readers may call 684-2255 to set one up. The library has most federal tax forms and can print out specialized forms from the IRS Web site. There is no charge for forms or assistance. The deadline to file taxes is Thursday, April 15.

Edmond is also taking registrations for his one-on-one computer classes now. Readers may call 435-2039 to register throughout the month.

Read With the Barnstormers reading log bookmarks will continue to be available at the library for children and teenagers ages 5 through 18. After students write the titles and authors of four books they have read on their reading log bookmarks, a library staff member will stamp the bookmarks. The bookmarks then become tickets for lawn seating at a Barnstormers game on Saturday, May 1, at 6:30 p.m.; Friday, May 14, at 7 p.m.; or Saturday, May 15, at 6:30 p.m. Fireworks and a post-game party will be held on May 14 and 15. For more information about the Read With the Barnstormers program, readers may call 509-4487 or go to www.lancasterbarnstormers.com.

Rivertownes PA USA plans trip

Columbia Police reports

Felix Luis Sanchez, 38, of Columbia, was charged with driving while operating privilege is suspended or revoked as the result of an incident at Third and Locust streets at 8:10 p.m., March 24.


Anthony Cortes, 24, of York, was charged with criminal mischief and public drunkenness as the result of an incident on Laurel Hill Road at 1:36 a.m., March 22.

Emily Rodriquez, 26, of Columbia, was charged with operating a vehicle without official certificate of inspection as the result of an incident on Plane Street at 5:58 p.m., March 25.

Randy Lewis Delinger, 54, of Conestoga, was charged with obedience to traffic control devices as the result of an incident at Third and Linden streets st 5:18 p.m., March 25.

Kayla Sue Yarnall, 20, of Lancaster was charged with operating a vehicle without official certificate of inspection and driving while operating privilege is suspended or revoked as the result of an incident at 12th Street and Lancaster Avenue at 5:15 p.m., March 25.

Kathy D. Miller, 33, of Columbia, was charged with registration and certificate of title required as the result of an incident on South Second Street at 3:31 p.m., March 25.

Patrick O’Neil Foust, 28, of Brogue was charged with public drunkenness as the result of an incident on South Fifth Street at 1:44 a.m., March 26.

Lindsey Crowl, 21, of Columbia, was charged with operating a vehicle without official certificate of inspection as the result of an incident on Walnut Street at 4:05 p.m., March 28.

Travis J. Masten, 21, of Lancaster, was charged with operating a vehicle without official certificate of inspection as the result of an incident on Route 441 at Route 30 at 4:55 p.m., March 27.

Jeankite Joseph, 39, of Maryland, was charged with registration and certificate of title required as the result of an incident on Route 30 at Route 441 at 8:06 p.m., March 27.

David H. Landis, 63, of Columbia, was charged with operating a vehicle without official certificate of inspection as the result of an incident as the result of an incident in the 500 block of Locust Street at 12:43 p.m., March 30.



 

Shop lifter is busted

West Hempfield Township Police have charged Clifford Pryear, 34, of Harrisburg, with retail theft as the result of an incident at 3975 Columbia Ave., at 4:51 p.m., March 29.
He was later turned over to the parole office in Harrisburg because there was an active parole warrant out for him.

Also, police said, Yadiran Gonzalez of the 2100 block of Oak Hollow Drive reported at 3:14 p.m., March 26, his living room window was sashed out and several hundred dollars in electronic equipment and jewelry was taken from his apartment.
And 1:08 a.m., March 30, Louis C. Gibbs, 41, was taken to Lancaster County Prison as the result of a traffic stop on Route 441.
Police said Gibbs was detained after it was determined he had four outstanding warrants issued against him from Berks County.

Columbia opens track season

With some drizzle falling and cloudy skies over head, Columbia opened its track season today with a Section 3 meet at home with Northern Lebanon.
The visiting Vikings swept the meet  (108-26) in girls and 129-21 in boys.
The numbers are up in track, but it appeared today that the numbers from Thursday's non-league meet with Lebanon were down a little bit.
Here are the Columbia finishers in the girls' meet vs. Northern Lebanon:
100 -- Shaday Fraizer, second and Becca Kuhn, third.
1,600 -- Rachael Knighton, second.
800 -- Knighton, second.
200 -- Fraizer, first and Kuhn, second.
Shot Put -- Ulrich, third.
Discus -- Ulrich, second.
Javelin -- Ulrich, third.
Boys vs. Northern Lebanon
100 -- Jeremy Daise  second.
1,600  -- Derek Zercher, third.
300 Hurdles -- DJ Wells, second.
3,200 -- Tony Barton, second a nd Zercher, third.
Shot put -- Brandon Felus, second.
Discus -- Johnay, second and Felus, third.
Javelin -- Felus, second.

Police charge one

West Hempfield Township Police have charged Jason S. Beaner, 27, of Landisville, with theft of leased property as the result of an incident at Rent-A Center, March 26.
Police said Beaner rented an X-Box system and failed to make payments.

Police probe burglary

West Hempfield Township Police saud Mandy Sowder of the 200 block of Indian Head Road reported at 9:32 a.m., March 26, someone entered her home by use of force and took several hundred dollars in electronics.

Police report vandalism

West Hempfield Township Police are investigating several incidents in the 600 and 700 block of South 16th Street where locks were cut off sheds and the sheds were entered between March 22 and 24.
During the evening hours, one victim reported the theft of a Stihl chain saw and another had several gallons of gas taken.
Police said most were just rummaged through.
Anyone with any information is asked to call Township Police at 285-5191.

Jazz Ensemble to perform

The Columbia High School Jazz Ensemble will be performing at 7 p.m., Friday, April 9 at Cocalico High School’s Jazz Festival.
Selections from the 18 member group will include ‘Double Play’ by Carl Strommen, ‘Satin Doll’ by Duke Ellington and ‘Living in America’ by James Brown – the ‘Godfather of Soul’. Tickets can be purchased the night of the festival.

The group will also be performing at the annual Spring Band Concert to be held at Columbia High School on Thursday, May 6 alongside the Junior and Senior High Concert Bands.

Rivertownes PA USA newletter

LIGHTS OUT!

For anyone who travels the Veterans’ Memorial Bridge on a regular basis, it is very apparent that the present lighting system is failing. These failures could be detrimental to the safety of both pedestrians and vehicular traffic alike. The cobra lights have been on the bridge since a 1970’s modernization project. Originally, cast iron lanterns adorned the bridge and were complementary to the historic nature of the structure.
In 2006 a feasibility study, sponsored by Rivertownes, was completed and indicated that it was indeed possible to restore historic lights on the Veterans’ Memorial Bridge. Since that time we have been working with Brinjac Engineering developing the design phase of the project. Progress, although painstakingly slow, has been made towards this goal, but we still have several hurdles to clear before the project can move ahead. The design phase and construction documents are about 80 percent complete. We are working closely with PennDOT to meet their lighting requirements. Additionally, we will need the cooperation of the local municipalities to move ahead with construction.

Fourth Friday in Columbia
Experience Columbia's art galleries, antique shops, participating specialty shops and local eateries from 5-9.m. on the fourth Friday of the month. This at-your-own pace tour provides the opportunity to view exhibits from local & visiting artists, enjoy refreshments and discover the uniqueness of Columbia. More info: Chris Davis of Modest Gallery 717-405-0604

EARTH DAY
Celebrate Earth Day on Saturday, April 24, 2010, sponsored by Sahd's Salvage Center, Lancaster Avenue in Columbia. Earth Day stories by Columbia Library.

ARBOR DAY
The annual Arbor Day Ceremony will be held on April 30, 2010, in the Locust Street Park, Columbia, beginning at 6 p.m..

RIVER VIEW
If you haven’t had an opportunity to visit the John Wright Store & Restaurant lately, venture in and see the new glass-enclosed patio area. The view is breathtaking! Sit inside where it is toasty warm and enjoy some delicious food with a view of the Susquehanna River. Restaurant hours are: Monday-Wednesday 8 a.m.-3 p.m,, Thurs-Sat 8 a.m.-9.m., Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m..

\WBSSHR
In preparation for the Blue Rock Heritage Center Open House on June 13, 2010, the Washington Boro Society for Susquehanna River Heritage is sponsoring a spring clean. Bring your rake and gloves on Saturday, April 3, from 8:30 a.m. until noon and lend a hand sprucing up the grounds and the interior of the mill that is located on River Road just south of Washington Boro. Rain date is April 10, 2010.

MARIETTA DAY
Don’t miss Marietta Day on Saturday, May 15! Market Street will be filled with food and craft stands from 9 a,m.-3 p.m. Please enjoy the best French fries in Lancaster County in front of the Marietta Restoration Bank and Gift Shop. Profits from the stand are used for the restoration of the Musselman/Vesta Iron Furnace Office Building.





IRON FURNACE WALKING TOURS
Due to the overwhelming response from our Fall walking tour, a waiting list was generated for the spring tours. Due to that fact, the spring walking tours are SOLD OUT! Dr. June Evans, retired Millersville University Professor, is an expert on the iron furnaces and has conducted the tours for the last several years. They have grown in popularity, and since we limit the tour to 25 persons, they fill up quickly. So, watch for the fall date, and if you are interested, make your reservation without delay.



WELCOME!
The monthly meetings of Rivertownes PA USA are held on the first Wednesday of the month at the Wrightsville House, Front and Locust Streets, Wrightsville, beginning at 7 p.m. All meetings are open to the public.

Tide 9 drops opener

The high school baseball season is under way -- Friday, the Tide lost at Conestoga Valley, 8-2.
Columbia                        000   001     1    2-2-3
Conestoga Valley            000  026      X   8-7-2
Jimmy Lee, Johnny Vazquez (6), Brandon Aukamp (6) and Cain Warfel; Moyer and Engle, O'Shea. WP -  Moyer. LP - Lee. SO-BB: Lee 4-6, Vazquez 0-0, Aukamp 0-0; Moyer 2-0.
J.V. Score: CV 7, Columbia 2.

Back in May 1958 -- Part One!

This is the banner from the Thursday, May 18,1958 edition of the former COLUMBIA NEWS.

Among the items on Page 1 -- The Columbia Nurses and Allied Arts Club were announcing their Nurse of the Year during a program at the First English Lutheran Church. Mrs. Audrey Lockard was the speaker and Mrs. Ruth Gilbert, director of nursing at the hospital, was scheduled to announce the winner.

The Columbia Hospital Auxiliary was honoring volunteers.

The Auxiliary of St. Paul's P.E. Church was holding a special service to recognize Mother's Day.

Hubcaps were taken from two vehicles on Wright Street and Ninth and Locust Sts.

Teddy Johnson, 13, of 219 S. Fifth St., fractured his left arm while playing baseball.

Two new service stations were under construction in the 300 block of Chestnut Street.

April will be a  big month on the national sports scene for two people with ties from Columbia.

 Saturday when West Virgina takes on either Duke or Baylor in the Final Four, Billy Hahn is an assistant coach to West Virginia's Bob Huggins.Hahn, a former assistant coach at Maryland and head coach at LaSalle, is married to the former Kati Sheehy of Columbia.

Later in April, the eyes of Columbia might be focussed on the NFL Draft in New York City where Georgia Tech defense end Derrick Morgan is expected to be a top first round pick.

Morgan is leaving GA Tech after his junior season.

He started his football career as a youngster in the CBAA program and played on the hll as a seventh grader before moving to Coatesville, where he starred for the Red Raiders.

April Calendar of Events

Thursday, April 1

April Fool’s Day

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens

6 p.m., Columbia Parks and Recreation Commission meeting

Friday, April 2

Good Friday

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens

Saturday, April 3

1 p.m., Impact Ministries Easter Egg Hunt at Glatfelter Field

Sunday, April 4

EASTER SUNDAY

Monday, April 5

6:30 p.m., Borough Council Safety Committee meeting

Tuesday, April 6

6 p.m., Borough Council Legislation Committee meeting

6:30 p.m., School Board Property Committee meeting

7 p.m., Columbia Board of Health meeting
7:30 p.m., Borough Council Property Committee meeting

Wednesday, April 7

7:30 a.m., Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast at Columbia United Methodist Church

6 p.m., School Board Curriculum Committee meeting

6 p.m., Movie Night, Columbia Public Library

7 p.m., School Board Extra-Curricular Committee meeting

Thursday, April 8

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens
11 a.m., Adult program at the Columbia Public Library
6:30 p.m., Borough Council Market Committee meeting

7 p.m., School Board Committee of the Whole meeting

Friday, April 9
9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens

2 p.m., Railroad Grand Opening at Fourth Street Crossing

Saturday, April 10

8 a.m., yard waste drop off for Columbia Borough residents at Borough Farm

10 a.m., CBAA Parent’s meeting and walk-a-thon, Glatfelter Field

10 a.m., Story Time, Columbia Public Library

Sunday, April 11
5:30 p.m., CBAA Board of Directors meeting, Glatfelter Field

Monday, April 12
PSSA Math and Reading tests, Columbia School District
6:30 p.m., Parent-Teacher Partnership meeting at Taylor Elementary School

7 p.m., Borough Council meeting

Tuesday, April 13
PSSA Math and Reading tests, Columbia School District
6 p.m., Movie Night, Columbia Public Library
6:30 p.m., Columbia Shade Tree Commission meeting

Wednesday, April 14
PSSA Math and Reading tests, Columbia School District
10:30 a.m., AARP Chapter 5020 16th anniversary brunch at the Susquehanna Fire Department
6:30 p.m., Borough Council Finance Committee meeting

Thursday, April 15
PSSA Math and Reading tests, Columbia School District
9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens
4:30 p.m., Columbia Municipal Authority meeting
6 p.m., Borough Council Waste Water Committee meeting
7 p.m., Columbia School Board meeting

Friday, April 16

PSSA Math and Reading tests, Columbia School District

7 a..m., Spring Clean-Up, Columbia Borough
9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens
3 p.m., Traveling Trunks program with Senator Mike Brubaker at Columbia Public Library
6 p.m., Taste of Rivertownes, Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce event

Saturday, April 17

6 a.m., Columbia QRS Breakfast, Columbia Consolidated Fire Department

7 a.m., CBAA Yard Sale and Flea Market, Glatfelter Field
8 a.m., Columbia Spring Clean-Up drop off at River Valley Disposal
10 a.m., Story Time, Columbia Public Library

Saturday, April 18
1 p.m., VFW Band Concert, Columbia High School

Monday, April 19

PSSA Writing tests, Columbia School District
National Volunteer Week
9 a.m., Columbia Civil Service Commission meeting
7 p.m., Columbia Planning Commission meeting
7 p.m., Columbia Education Foundation meeting

Tuesday, April 20
PSSA Writing tests, Columbia School District

National Volunteer Week

Yard waste pick-up, Columbia Borough

Wednesday, April 21
PSSA Writing tests, Columbia School District
National Volunteer Week
2 p.m., Park Elementary School honors program
6 p.m., Movie Night, Columbia Public Library
7 p.m., Susquehanna Valley Sports Hall of Fame meeting, Knights of Columbus
7 p.m., HARB meeting

Thursday, April 22

PSSA Writing tests, Columbia School District

National Volunteer Week

Earth Day

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens

6:30 p.m., River Park Steering Committee meeting

Friday, April 23

PSSA Writing tests, Columbia School District

National Volunteer Week

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens

Saturday April 24

Sahd’s Salvage Earth Day celebration

10 a.m., Story Time, Columbia Public Library

11 a.m., Celebration of the Century, Susquehanna Glass

11 a.m., Chicken Barbeque, Susquehanna Fire Company

Sunday, April 25

No events listed

Monday, April 26

PSSA Science tests, Columbia School District

6 p.m., Borough Council Highway Committee meeting

Tuesday, April 27

PSSA Science tests, Columbia School District

6:30 p.m., Borough Council Community Development Committee meeting

Wednesday, April 28

PSSA Science tests, Columbia School District

8 a.m., Columbia Elementary Band rehearsal

6 p.m., Movie Night, Columbia Public Library

6:30 p.m., Tide Pride meeting

7 p.m., Zoning Hearing Board meeting

Thursday April 29

PSSA Science tests, Columbia School District

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens

Friday, April 30

9 a.m., Columbia Market House opens

6 p.m., Arbor Day celebration, Locust Street Park

Arbor Day is scheduled

Columbia's 19th annual Arbor Day will be held on Friday April 30 in the Locust St. Park beginning at 6 p.m. Music will be provided by the Columbia High School Chorus and other student musicians. CHS Senior Hillary Glenn will recite Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees."
Citizens will receive recognition awards for their efforts to plant trees in the borough.


Enter to win a $25 gift card by submitting a photo of your favorite tree growing in Columbia. Entries must be sent to the Columbia Borough Shade Tree Commission by April 27. One entry per person. Gift Card sponsored by Susquehanna Bank.

Found on Craig's List

The other day someone in passing told me to check out Craig's List for an interesting post involving a property in downtown that is suppose to be turned into a hotel at Fourth and Locust streets. It is the old CAP and American Bank building that has been vacant for sometime.

So this morning, I punched in Craig's List, went under our great state of Pennsylvania and the real estate section and found the post.

Seems the building is now available to rent for office spaces. Here is the post on Craig's List and also the link at the end.  One has to wonder if the hotel deal is dead or if this is a bridge project until the hotel plans and financing are in place? Here is the link to the information below :http://lancaster.craigslist.org/off/1645382571.html

$250 Flexi-Offices (Columbia, PA) (map)


Date: 2010-03-15, 2:57PM EDT

Reply to: hous-2425v-1645382571@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

Flexi-office space for rent.
➢ Premium business address 401 Locust Street
➢ Furnished first floor offices
➢ Free Wi-Fi
➢ Off-street parking
➢ Access to conference room
➢ No up-front capital investment
➢ Monthly lease
➢ Heat and air conditioning included
➢ Leases starting at $250.00
➢ Don't hesitate...this deal won't last long.

Work detail at the park

The Old Columbia Public Grounds Co. Board of Directors is having a “Locust Street Park” clean-up on April 24. On thay date, the community is welcome to come out and help us with our spring clean-up.


The work detail will start at 8 a.m. and continue until Noon. The Columbia Park Rangers will be helping to supply some manpower and tools. Bring a Rake.
Also Arbor Day will held held in the park at 6 p.., April 30.

.

Is this what we want for downtown?

Have you been downtown lately, when its been nice?
If you have been and been in the area of Fourth and Locust streets, you probably have seen it at the vacant lot at Fourth and Locust streets.
It's the lot where a building was torn down maybe two years ago, in not longer now, turned into a vacant lot/parking lot.
Since the weather has turned nice, its been the scene of what many are calling an "outdoor yard sale or flea market" on an almost daily basis -- right in the heart od our downtown.
It has also been a problem the last few years when it came time for the Antique, Art and Craft Show, sponsored by the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce as well. Seems the property owner of the lot is allowing yard sales on the property, the day of that event, making the vendors coming to Columbia for that big day in June unhappy campers. They are paying a fee to be there and those on the lot are not.
Is Columbia has a yard sale ordinance, it is not being enforced. Several years ago there was a proposal before council to limit the number of yard sales a property owner could have, but may not have been acted on.
But is this what we want people coming to town to see every day? Filling up a lot with let's call it what it is -- junk.
Okay, it could be the business that operates at 403 Locust St. moving items outside, but they shouldn't be allowed to do it every day.
Columbia Borough should step in and stop this or control this before it gets out of hand. It just doesn't give off a good impression of our town.

Upcoming activities at the Susquehanna Fire Company

The Susquehanna Fire Conpany, 10th and Manor streets, has announced two upcoming events.
A Chicken Barbecue will be held on Saturday, April 24 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
The cost is $7.50 for a dinner or $4 for a half chicken.
A Mother's Day Cash Bingo Bonanza will be held Sunday, May 9.
Tickets cost $30 for a full set-up and meal if purchased by May 2 and $35 after that date.
Tickets and information for both events can be obtained by calling 684-6297.

Myer resigns at Elco

LancSports.com's Jeff Reinhart has posted a story about the resignation of one of the longest serving girls' basketball coaches in the L-L League, Dave Myer of Elco.
I can remember back in the late 1990s, there were some pretty good wars between Columbia and Elco.
Jeff's View from the Pressbox can be accessed from COLUMBIA TALK, by using the link to the right.

Jeff will also be blogging live starting tomorrow from the Penn State University's Bryce Jordan Center.

TMI generators won't move until April

Check out the lancasteronline.com story on the planned move of the old generators from Three Mile Island through the area. It was suppose to happen this weekend, but now has been delayed.
When the story originally broke back earlier this year, it sounded like a pretty easy move. Now after reading the story, it doesn't sound so easy.

Does Columbia have "Fish Gate?"

When you are downtown, one of the first things you normally do once you get out your vehicle is put a quarter in your meter. That is unless you are cheap and think you can get away with it and not get a ticket or move your car up or back a space because you don't have 25 cents because another meter has time on it.
Oh, you haven't seen that one yet where a person pulls or backs up their car looking for a meter with money in it? Then you must not be downtown that much.

Okay, enough with the comedy routine. If you look closely at the meters, which few do -- the times they are monitored or you have to place a quarter for 60 minutes of parking in them are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday and Saturday and 9 a.m.-9 p.m. on Friday.

You didn't know that? Shame on you.

Well, now the borough is enforcing those meter times, much to the chagrin of many people who visit or work dowtown. Since the "retirement" earlier this year or late last year by veteran meter maid Linda Colin, who is everyone will admit to it,  knew her schedule and knew when they had to plug their meters, things have changed.

Seems the borough has replaced Colin with as many as three, possibly four meter maids or traffic enforcement officers, because one is a guy. You can usually spot one person doing meters in the morning, one early in the afternoon and one much later, well after the meters use to be checked. And many people haven't caught on yet.

Seems this past Saturday night, in the first block of South Fourth Street, where there are meters, a number of people who were attending early church at the church at Fourth and Cherry streets had to dish out more money than what they put in the collection plate. Seems while they were taking money out of their one pocket and placing it into the church's bank bags, the borough was reaching into the other pocket taking some more money out. Seems when the church goers came out to leave and were parked on South Fourth Street, they all got meter violation ticlets. So, as they were giving you see, someone was taking it away (sorry bad pun).

Seems the church mass starfted at 5 p.m. and you have to slug the good old black boxes until 6 p.m., which again, no one reads. The borough following the rules said "got ya."

Some outraged by this, visited the police station and got no answer. Others began calling their elected officials. And over the last two days, word spread like a wild fire, one high ranking elected official told some of those who got tickets, "don't worry about it, it will be taken care of."

So the answer from others, who are now getting ticketed because the laws are now apparently being enforced "is wait a minute, why not me too?"

This is not a good move on Columbia's part, especially because of the high number of tickets that are apparently being written and  certain ones possibly are getting excused.

So with "Fish Gate" now on the front burner, what should have been done? Well, since Columbia has no newspaper or any newspapers who will publish anything about Columbia, perhaps the borough could have done one of two things. First, send letters out to businesses telling them that the meters will be enforced to the letter, so they could warn their customers. Two, perhaps they could have put notices on the sewer bills of residents, alerting them to the policy. A third thing could have been a warning also, not only to the church goers, but others. That apparently didn't happen.

So since that didn't happen and many Columbians seem to be checking COLUMBIA TALK daily, here is your warning. Take time to put a quarter in the meter no matter the time of day, or it will cost you $5 or $10 if you don't and if you don't pay it right away, it will cost you a lot more and maybe even result in one of those yellow things put on your front wheel.

So, now we have "Fish Gate."

State Police investigating fatal crash

State police are investigating that led to the death of a Columbia man along River Road in Conoy Township, Tuesday afternoon around 5 p.m.
The man, Albert Meiskey Jr., 49, of Perry Street, Columbia, was killed when he crashed his vehicle into a utility pole.
Meiskey had been reported missing as an "endangered person," yesterday by his family. Shortly before the crash, a vehicle registered to Meiskey was spotted by Susquehanna Regional Police in the area of Riverfront Park, north of Marietta.
Police attempted to stop vehicle, but Meiskey continued driving, heading north into Bainbridge on River Road (Route 441). He then turned and headed south on River Road and sped his vehicle up while cresting a hill and the vehicle left the west side of the road, went down an embankment a nd struck a utility pole in the 2000 block of River Road near the Bainbridge Scuba Center.
Meiskey was pronounced dead at the scene of the 5:15 p.m. crash by Lancaster County Deputy Coroner Eric Bieber.
Police were attempting to check on the welfare Meiskey because he was "potentially suicidal."