About Town

This week’s photos from around Columbia…

(Tap/click on photos to see larger, clearer images.)
Post office parking lot…
Can you dig it?
Possibly, but you can definitely saw it.
Saint Peter Apartments
 A sparrow in the works at Fifth and Chestnut 

 If the spirit moves ya…
Dance!
Ditto!

 Turtle on the road near the railroad tracks at the bottom of Walnut

And an accomplice! 
Both were removed to safety, courtesy of Columbia Spy

It’s not always easy to come out of one’s shell.

 A waterfall, complete with OSHA-unapproved walkway at a remnant of the old canal system. 

 More of the same

 A little further down the line

 Yet another view

 A lot of these kinds of things hang overhead, down at the railroad tracks.
But what do they actually do?

 That house on the hill in York County

 Discussing the parking lot project on Commerce Street

 Codes car creeping

 Uh-oh, they don’t have trailers.
Will they get ticketed?

 Fixing the post office parking lot

Looking over – and above – the town

 Your taxes are levied from beneath the clock tower and the steeple.

 A sad tribute to Columbia’s greatest general and his wife.
Their headstones are in disarray, and a larger marker was placed in front of them.

 Fortunately, this marker is still standing proud.
 Greens at the Presbyterian Church.

 Marking North Seventh.
Can you dig it?
We’re about to find out.

 The claw, about to engage.
Construction continues at the former firehouse on Tenth Street to make way for an animal shelter.

Here’s the construction trailer.
 No, officer, you may NOT ticket those cars.
They’re in a parking lot.

 Sidewalk sawing
(Second and Walnut)

 Cloud canine, tethered of course

 Another clue on the damaged Heritage Drive fence.
Sherlock Holmes could put it all in context.
Quick, someone call Benedict Cumberbatch!

 Somethin’ happenin’ here – what it is ain’t exactly clear.
 Long level

 Smallish outhouse, fit for a leprechaun or a hobbit

 Figurines in a window along South Ninth

 Rule Number One for playing the cello:
Hold on to the bow.

 In case you need help paying for food

 Here’s the phone number.

 Faded, abused, and molested, but standing the test of time

 Trying to beat the heat

 Whoever left this box gets the “Lazy Ass of the Week Award.”

 Especially since this trashcan was right there.
 Dobson fly

 The butchers are back!

 Show your patriotism –
sit on the flag.

 Politicians (and propagandists) demonize the press in order to cover their sins.

 Now he’s up on North Ninth.
Probably ticketing a vehicle in a handicapped space.
By the way, have you noticed all the handicapped spaces in town?
(Three on the 900 block of Spruce, for example.)
It’s almost as if the borough is handing them out “like candy.”
So, who’s minding the candy store?

 Is this enforceable?
Didn’t know the Turkey Hill Experience owned Linden Street.
Or was this another giveaway from the borough to a private enterprise?

 More activity at Colonial Metals.
This driver checked in with the security guard one day this week, then entered and exited the grounds with his truck several times.

 For example, here – exiting one of the lower gates

 And here – backing in

 Over at Rotary Park

A rarity –  
You usually see J.C. Broome or S. Logan

 Susquehanna Heritage took ownership of our trolley pretty quickly, even though we Columbia Borough taxpayers are footing the bill.
By the way, did you know the “free” trolley is costing us several hundred dollars a day?
(And almost no one rides it.)

 Muddy waters…
T.S. Eliot said, “I do not know much about gods; but I think that the river is a strong brown god…”
John Hartford sang, “Where else but a muddy old river would a person want to be?”

 Activity of a sort at Colonial Metals

 CBFD responding to a call on North Fifth

 Beating the heat

 Lotsa lights

 Out for a walk

 Pretty pretty

 Fireworks for sale on the 300 block of Chestnut

 Old-time light fixture at Peerless Hardware on Chestnut

 Columbia skyline

 Way down the river at Turkey Hill

 Weaving a wake

 Throwing? Ranting? What?

 Row homes on North Second
 Columbia River Park, from a height

 Kayaks and canoes at Chiques Rock Outfitters

 Still falling apart

 Four chimneys at the old Poplar Street School

 Trailer, old school

 Knight in shining tin

 Some sort of mythological creature

 A rare species of butterfly on Poplar Street

 Web-draped flower

Police call on the 700 block of Chestnut 

 Keeping a watchful eye
Bird convention 
Some of them flew in.

 At the Columbia Presbyterian Church at Fourth and Locust

 More information

 Even more information

 Yep, there it is.

Big hole in the ground at the bottom of Locust 
Is the apartment project still “on”?

 One of Columbia’s many ferals
(Many, many ferals)

 OK, we get it.
But NO SWIMMING?
In a RIVER?

 On the Veterans Memorial Bridge

 Also
The vulture that we reported on previously has been evicted…
…but has taken up residence at a new address.

Hanging a flag

 Overgrown at the high school, which raises the awkward question,  “Can the borough ticket the school district?”
(Submitted photo)

 The Watt & Shand store at 250 Locust, after a fire
(Submitted photo)

And here’s a sneak preview of a new sedan: “The Unicorn”
(Submitted photo)

Comcast: Severed cable may be cause of nationwide internet, TV outage

It’s not your TV. It’s not your laptop. It’s Comcast.
The company, one of the nation’s largest operators of cable TV and residential internet services, said Friday afternoon it is dealing with a widespread outage.
MORE:

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/comcast-severed-cable-may-be-cause-of-nationwide-internet-tv/article_b624f658-7bca-11e8-85f4-578e6f1529b6.html

Colonial Metals: Activity but no statement

 Columbia Spy spotted these two gentlemen on Linden Street this morning. They entered the Colonial Metals building. 

 Their vehicle carried an Ohio license plate.

 Minutes later, they left the building, accompanied by the man in the black tee shirt, and walked towards the employee parking lot. The Spy approached and asked if the company was going to make a statement. One of the men (shown above in the middle) said he doesn’t work for the company.

They crossed the parking lot and entered the building near Third and Maple.

Columbia to get pizza restaurant/brew pub at old firehouse

The former firehouse at 27-29 N. 4th Street

After months of apparent dormancy, a firehouse restaurant/brew pub project is in the offing for Columbia after all. Columbia Spy has obtained information indicating that plans for a pizza restaurant/brew pub are currently underway for the former Keystone Firehouse at 27-29 North Fourth Street. Tentatively named “The 1898 Firehouse,” the 3,000 square-foot establishment will feature a dining area with 11 tables, a pizza station with a pizza oven and 6-seat counter, and a brewing area with 8-seat bar.

At its June meeting, Columbia’s Historical Architectural Review Board approved alterations to the building for changes to the existing garage door. Restaurant signage was also discussed.

The lease agreement for the property is with Toss Dough LLC, a Marietta-based limited-liability company organized last year by Stacey Vonstein. Shawn and Lisa Loucks are listed as owners.

According to real estate company Bennett Williams, the 1898 building has a total of 9,000 square feet, with a 3,000-foot 3-bedroom loft apartment on the second floor.

The building previously housed the Keystone Fire Company (formerly Keystone Hook & Ladder) until 2000, when it merged with the Vigilant and Shawnee Fire companies to form the Columbia Consolidated Fire Department, now defunct.

The firehouse as it appeared in bygone days