A 17-year-old Columbia boy charged with fatally stabbing a man in July will have his criminal case decided in Lancaster County Court.
Joshua D. Flores, 17, waived his preliminary hearing on homicide and evidence tampering charges in the July 8 stabbing of Anthony Stoy Velazquez on Tuesday.
At a preliminary hearing, prosecutors must present sufficient evidence that a crime was committed and that the defendant probably is responsible and, therefore, that a jury or judge should hear the case in county court. The hearings are often waived.
Stoy-Velazquez, 26, was found with a single stab wound to his chest after midnight on July 8 at Third and Linden streets in the borough. A passerby saw him in the street and called the police.
Flores was arrested July 27, based in part on multiple tips, according to prosecutors.
A building at 425 Union Street that has spent over a decade at the center of a local controversy as a nude dance club is about to begin a new chapter as a pregnancy resource center.
Club Good Times, which has operated since 2002, and was known for its adult entertainment, will become Align Life Ministries in the near future.
425 Union Street [File photo]
Public records confirm that Cassandra L. Fisher conveyed the 425 Union Street property to Align Life Ministries for $275,000 in 2025.
Align Life Ministries, formerly known as Susquehanna Valley Pregnancy Services, is a faith-based, pro-life nonprofit that provides pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, parenting classes and other support services. The organization currently operates out of a smaller office at 462 Chestnut Street in Columbia. In announcing the purchase, the ministry said it had outgrown its former space and needed a larger facility (the Union Street building is roughly twice the size) to accommodate a growing number of clients and expand its services in the Columbia community.
The Columbia Borough Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) is set to consider a motion to recommend a Certificate of Approval for the property Wednesday evening.
Council will consider approval of a resolution to authorize the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors to file a project management proposal for an RACP grant in the amount of $500,000.00 for the museum renovation project.
Columbia/Marietta/West Hempfield Township, PA — Emergency responders across Lancaster County handled a string of incidents from Saturday evening into early Sunday morning, according to publicly broadcast dispatch audio, including a technical rescue along a riverside trail, a report of a person in distress on a bridge, and a chain of crashes that shut down part of Route 30.
Note: This account is based on scanner/dispatch radio traffic captured through a public dispatch-audio app. It has not been verified against official incident reports and details may be incomplete or change as more information becomes available.
Wheelchair user injured after 30-foot fall from trail
Around 4:40 p.m. Saturday, crews were dispatched to the NW River Trail in Marietta for what radio traffic described as a possible environmental or technical rescue. According to the transmissions, a person using a wheelchair went off the trail and down a ditch roughly 30 feet, sustaining a head laceration and bleeding.
Multiple units responded, including County QRS 10, Utility 10 and UTV 10, County Ladder 8, County Ambulance 565, and Air Med 862. Responders determined the situation did not require a high-angle rescue but was reclassified as an environmental rescue. Crews identified the Bank Street access point as the best way to reach the patient, and Norfolk Southern was notified to halt train traffic in the area as a precaution, given the trail’s proximity to the rail line.
Person reported in emotional distress on Wrights Ferry Bridge
Just after midnight Sunday, dispatchers sent units to Route 30 East on the Wrights Ferry Bridge in West Hempfield Township for a report of a person experiencing an emotional crisis. The call was logged as a medical emergency.
Multi-vehicle crash, including a rollover, closes Route 30 westbound
Shortly before 12:43 a.m., dispatch reported “multiple accidents” on Route 30 westbound near the Third Street exit, including a rollover crash. Radio traffic showed dispatchers working to clarify which direction of the highway needed to close, ultimately confirming westbound lanes were shut down at the Third Street exit to allow crews to work the scene.
Route 30 westbound shut down again in Columbia Borough for traffic control
About five minutes later, a separate transmission indicated Route 30 westbound near mile marker 254.1 in Columbia Borough was being shut down for traffic control, with responding units cross-confirming they were closing the westbound side — not the eastbound lanes toward Wrightsville — after some initial confusion over which direction had been requested by neighboring York County units.
Drivers ignore cones at Wrightsville off-ramp
As crews worked the closures, a unit identified as “412” radioed for additional help at the Wrightsville off-ramp, reporting that drivers were attempting to drive around traffic cones set up to redirect traffic. Because the responding lieutenant was off duty, dispatch coordinated mutual aid, discussing whether additional units should cross via the Route 462 bridge or the Route 30 bridge to reach the location.
This article was compiled from live dispatch audio transcripts and is not an official report. Readers seeking confirmed details should contact Lancaster County emergency officials or local police and fire departments directly.
Columbia Spy 
