Hope in the Park — Maranatha Church to host community outreach event at Locust Street Park on Saturday
The Maranatha Church is hosting a free outreach event, offering clothing, food, prayer, and fellowship to anyone in need. The event will take place Saturday, August 1, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Locust Street Park gazebo.
“There’s been too much going on in our community,” a church member shared, “and we just want to share God with the community.” Attendees can expect:
- Free clothing for individuals and families
- Free chips and light refreshments
- Free Bibles for anyone interested
- Free prayer and one-on-one encouragement
- Live music from local musicians throughout the afternoon
Church members say the event is being held to offer a word of hope to anyone who needs it.
The event is open to the community.
9/11 Memorial Trail signage comes to Columbia
JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY
Workers installed a 9/11 Memorial Trail sign at the Veterans Memorial Bridge plaza Friday morning.
The 9/11 National Memorial Trail is a long-distance, multi-use route designed to connect the three official national 9/11 memorial sites: the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City, the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon Memorial in the Washington, D.C., area. The alliance has been working to develop and promote the trail as a way to link the three sites and honor those affected by the September 11, 2001 attacks.
At its June 9 meeting, Columbia Borough Council formalized an agreement with the September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance, a nonprofit organization, allowing the group to install and maintain wayfinding signs for the trail in Columbia.
The alliance covers all costs associated with installing and maintaining the signage, meaning the arrangement comes at no expense to the borough.
More information is available at the 9/11 Trail website HERE.
The fight against data centers in Columbia: Where we are and where we go from here
KATHY WOODS EMBLETON | OPINION
We have, for all intents and purposes, stopped the Borough sale of McGinness to Saadia Holding. At the July 14th Borough Council meeting, Councilman Ethan Byers made a motion to remove data centers as a permitted use from the light business district, where McGinness is located. The vote was 4-3 in favor. After that, the zoning change was heard by the Columbia Borough Planning Commission, where it was recommended that the change be made by a vote of 4-0. Both Eric Kauffman and Heather Zink spoke to the Commission and urged them to vote no. Next, the zoning change will be reviewed by the Lancaster County Planning Commission, of which Heather is a member. It’s important to note that the County Planning Commission cannot block the change; they can only make a recommendation. The hope of the three Council members who voted no on the zoning change is to flip one Council vote when it comes back to Council after advertising the change and holding a hearing on it.
What the Saadia data center proposal for McGinness obtained by LNP through a right to know request shows is what Council most likely would have approved on May 26th except for the technicality that Saadia would not make payment in full within 60 days as required by PA law. It’s clear why Saadia insisted on a nondisclosure agreement; they didn’t want the public to know that a data center the size of three Walmart super centers would be built in our tiny 2 square mile town. It completely refutes the claim by one Council member that the proposed data center was comparable to the little telephone company switching center on N Second Street.
Our fight isn’t over. By PA law, Columbia can’t completely ban data centers through zoning. Council is in the process of writing a data center ordinance to protect the community in the event that a data center developer attempts to purchase property in the industrial zones. Currently, only two properties would be in play, Colonial Metals, which at 7 acres is much too small for a hyperscale data center, and ASC, which is currently not for sale. We need to insist that Council write and approve a data center ordinance which protects the people of Columbia and not a potential developer.
If any Columbia residents are interested in joining the fight against data centers in our town, either by making phone calls or knocking on doors, please message me directly.
Three charged in Wagon Werks shooting of Columbia teen; two accused of disposing of weapons
According to a LancasterOnline article by reporter Dan Nephin, new details have emerged in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Wilfredo Garcia. Police are now charging two additional people in connection with the July 18 incident, in which Garcia was shot in the head.
According to charging documents made public Friday, investigators allege that after the shooting, two individuals removed firearms and related items from the home and attempted to dispose of them.
Jose Manuel Lopez III, 16, of Columbia, has been identified by police as the person who fired the fatal shot. Lopez reportedly told investigators he picked up a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun, was aware it was loaded, and pointed it at Garcia when it discharged.
Lopez faces charges of third-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, three counts of reckless endangerment, and a firearms violation. He is currently being held without bail at the Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center. A preliminary hearing has tentatively been set for Aug. 11.
Bryant Alexis Ramos, 18, of West Hempfield Township, faces charges including tampering with evidence, hindering apprehension or prosecution, conspiracy, and illegal possession of a firearm. Investigators say that following the shooting, Ramos and another individual, identified in court records only by initials, took a shoebox containing the Smith & Wesson used in the shooting and a second firearm, and various gun parts and tools out of the residence. Court documents state the pair later discarded the weapons in separate locations: the Smith & Wesson near Lititz and the second gun in York County. Both firearms have since been recovered by police.
Ramos and the second individual reportedly gave statements to Lancaster County detectives during interviews conducted on July 23.
Xxavior G. Michener, 19, of Columbia, has been charged with carrying a firearm without a license after telling police he was the owner of the weapon used in the shooting. Michener resides at the Wagon Werks Apartments in the 900 block of Plane Street, the same complex where the shooting took place.
During his own interview with detectives on July 23, Michener said he had removed the Smith & Wesson from his waistband and placed it on a bed inside the Plane Street apartment.
As of Friday, neither Ramos nor Michener appeared in the Lancaster County Prison database, indicating neither was in custody at that time.
The investigation is ongoing.
Man accused of raping woman in Columbia after back-to-back stabbings, officials say
According to reporting by Dan Nephin in a LNP/LancasterOnline article, a 21-year-old West Hempfield Township man is facing charges after authorities say he stabbed two different people on consecutive days and then sexually assaulted a woman just hours after the second attack.
Jared Trent Gower, who lives in the 4500 block of Klinesville Road, was taken into custody in the early hours of July 18. He now faces charges including rape, kidnapping, and several related counts, based on court paperwork made public Friday. He remains in custody at Lancaster County Prison.
Court documents describe how the alleged victim told investigators she had been socializing earlier in the day with a group that included Gower and a friend of hers. Later, while she was inside a locked portable toilet near Locust Street Park, she said Gower pulled her out, claiming her friend had asked him to come get her.
From there, police say Gower forced the woman into his vehicle and drove to a parking lot nearby, where he pushed her into the back seat and assaulted her. During the assault, he allegedly wrapped his hands around her throat and told her he had killed her friend by stabbing him. According to the documents, Gower let her go only after stopping to roll cigarettes.
Investigators questioned Gower about both the assault and a stabbing that had occurred around midnight between July 17 and 18, conducting the interview at roughly 5 a.m. that morning.
According to a separate set of charging documents, Gower and another individual, who has not been publicly identified, arrived at a residence on the 100 block of Bethel Street around 11:30 p.m. on July 17. A woman inside the home said she stepped away to the kitchen to prepare food after the two arrived, and returned to the living room after hearing noise to find Gower attacking a man who had been asleep on the floor.
She intervened, and Gower ran from the scene. When questioned by police, Gower reportedly acknowledged stabbing the man multiple times, telling investigators he had intended to kill him.
Charging documents do not detail exactly how Gower was eventually located, though a police department social media post credited Columbia officers, working with several other area law enforcement agencies, with arresting him on an outstanding warrant tied to yet another stabbing — this one reported in West Hempfield Township on July 16.
West Hempfield Township police say Gower stabbed a 60-year-old man around 11:30 p.m. that night at the same Klinesville Road address before running off ahead of officers’ arrival. Authorities had reportedly been called to that property earlier the same day and had told Gower to leave.
Gower remains held at Lancaster County Prison with bail set at $500,000 on charges stemming from both stabbing incidents.
Coroner IDs Columbia woman killed after crash into Susquehanna River – WGAL
A decade of service: Jamey Avrett marks 10 years at Clyde W. Kraft Funeral Home
JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY
For Jamey Avrett, a career in funeral service was never part of the plan until it was the only plan that made sense.
The son of a late U.S. Army veteran, he was born in Oklahoma and lived in Germany and Texas, but grew up in Georgia. It was there, almost by accident, that his life’s work began to find him.
In high school, Jamey needed a job to satisfy a class requirement. His Sunday school teacher, who happened to own the local funeral home, offered him work washing cars and mowing the grass. It was menial labor, but it put him in touch with a world he knew almost nothing about.
“I did get exposed to some elements of what I currently do, but never thought about going into funeral service,” Jamey says. After graduating from college, and without a clear direction, he decided to attend mortuary school. He enrolled at Ogeechee Technical School in Statesboro, Georgia, and after graduating, took a position as a funeral director at a family-owned firm in Valdosta.
It was in Valdosta that Jamey met his wife, Kristie Wise-Avrett, a Columbia native attending Valdosta State University. The two married, and after nearly five years together, learned they were expecting their first child. Kristie wanted to be closer to her family, so the couple relocated to Columbia in 2016. The move set the stage for the next chapter of Jamey’s career when Jamey joined the staff of Clyde W. Kraft Funeral Home in Columbia. On May 16, 2026, he marked his 10-year anniversary there.
Jamey explains that in Pennsylvania, mortuary school is required: “It’s a two year associates degree and there are three schools in PA that offer mortuary science degrees.” In addition to mortuary school, PA requires two additional years of education like another associates degree, Jamey says. Also required is a licensed apprenticeship, passing the national board, and passing the PA State Law and Rules Exam.
Funeral directors are often called upon to be pillars of strength for families in the midst of loss, and Jamey takes that responsibility seriously.
“As a funeral professional, I realize that the families I serve are going through possibly the worst of times for their loved ones,” he said. “I strive to be the strongest person that they can lean on to guide them through that difficult time.”
Jamey says his mornings typically begin with coffee, followed by outreach, including meeting new families and following up with others who’ve come through before. From there, the work varies: embalming when requested, arranging services, writing obituaries, coordinating with clergy and cemeteries, filing insurance paperwork, and organizing military honors for veterans. “We wear many hats,” Jamey explains.
Looking forward, Jamey says, “While I cannot predict the future, I am happy to continue helping the families in Columbia and surrounding communities.”
Columbia Borough gets clean audit opinion, but capital fund falls deeply into the red
JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY
Columbia Borough Council heard the results of its 2025 financial audit at the July 28 regular meeting. Boyer & Ritter LLC presented a clean bill of health on the borough’s books even as the capital fund closed the year deeply in deficit.
Senahid Zahirovic, CPA and principal at Boyer & Ritter said the audit came back with an unmodified opinion, which means the borough’s financial statements fairly represent its financial position in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards.
The report noted no uncorrected misstatements, no disagreements with management, no significant issues discussed with borough officials, and no significant difficulties encountered during the audit.
The capital projects fund, which flipped from a surplus to a sizable deficit, was driven by a jump in spending alongside a drop in revenue. Specifically, the fund fell from a positive balance of $256,786 in 2024 to a deficit of $2,198,176 by the end of 2025 — a shift of roughly $2.45 million in one year. This was driven mainly by an increase in expenditures (to $2,667,850, largely from $1,831,720 in community development spending) while revenue into the fund fell to just $212,888.
The borough’s outstanding general obligation bonds continued to decline, standing at $7,040,000 at year-end, down from $7,525,000 in 2024 and $8,005,000 in 2023, reflecting ongoing debt service payments. The term of the bond payback extends to 2038.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: The “bond” refers to a series of general obligation bonds totaling $9.8 million that were taken out in 2016 to pay off debt and for capital projects. The borough continues to pay off the bond debt at the rate of about half a million dollars a year. That amount is equivalent to just over one mill of tax. At a 2022 meeting, Mark Stivers, then borough manager, said, “We’ve been borrowing money to pay the bond,” which he described as an “albatross.” At that time, Heather Zink, then council president, suggested a special tax levy to pay off the debt — still a real possibility this fall when budget talks begin.]
Saadia bid for McGinness property included 3 proposed data center buildings potentially as large as Walmart Supercenters| Local News | lancasteronline.com
Three data centers potentially as large as Walmart Supercenters were proposed for Columbia’s McGinness Innovation Park under a $6.35 million bid rejected by Columbia Borough Council in May.
Through a right to know request submitted to Columbia Borough, LNP | LancasterOnline recently obtained a redacted copy of Saadia Holding LLC’s proposal to buy and redevelop the former airport as a data center campus for modern enterprise and hyperscale tenants.
LNP | LancasterOnline requested the proposal on May 18, the day that council opened the bid, but the borough said the proposal was exempt from the state open records law until council voted to accept or reject it. After council rejected the bid, LNP | LancasterOnline resubmitted the request. The borough invoked a 30-day time extension before releasing the document last week.
About one-third of the proposal’s 27 pages had portions that were redacted or blacked out. The borough didn’t immediately respond Tuesday when asked for a specific reason for concealing these items. However, the borough previously said that the open records law exempts financial information a bidder includes in a proposal to demonstrate the bidder’s economic capability.
The proposal laid out two concepts for the site – one including three one-story data center buildings of 233,000 square feet each, and another where the three buildings had a smaller footprint but an unspecified height.
An estimated 150 to 200 permanent jobs were expected along with 500 to 600 construction jobs, according to the proposal. Full buildout would have taken four to five years and cost $87.5 million to $90 million, not including costs like acquisition, site work and utility work.
Saadia didn’t specify a tenant or tenants, or whether the centers would be used to run artificial intelligence models.
Council unanimously rejected the bid at a May 26 meeting because the proposal didn’t guarantee payment within 60 days of council approving it, something required under state law. Some members said at the meeting that they opposed data centers, and more than 40 residents spoke out against the project during public comment.
Council continued talks with Saadia as it planned to rebid the 41-acre property. However it voted 4-3 on July 14 to support an ordinance prohibiting new data centers in the light business zone where McGinness is located. The ordinance still requires a public hearing and final vote, but would create a major roadblock if Saadia wanted to rebid.
The borough bought McGinness – the largest undeveloped property in the borough – in 2021 for $1.5 million. It has invested a total $3.99 million into the former private airstrip, including $1.18 million from a state loan.
The borough manager, solicitor, and Saadia’s attorney didn’t return messages seeking comment on the proposal.
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