PR firms: Council members talked about using a public relations firm on an on-call basis to handle an emergency — without having to pay a monthly fee.
More: President Heather Zink said via phone Sept. 21 the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio is an example of why the borough would have a public relations agency available.
Quotable: “In the case of a catastrophic event, we might need help,” Zink said Sept. 21. “We don’t want to pay a retainer, though.”
Background: The borough previously paid York-based Gavin a monthly fee but voted 5-2 not to renew that contract in May 2022.
Details: President pro tempore Todd Burgard presented costs for three public relations firms, including Gavin, to council members. Each would charge on an as-needed basis. He suggested researching and adding three additional companies to that list for the next council workshop.
It’s at Fragments of the Past on the 300 block of Walnut.
You’ll find some real ghosts there.
Yeah, where is he? Columbia needs him now more than ever.
Here’s a skeleton at Plane and Franklin. Good thing he’s chained!
A witches coven uptown.
Here’s a sign on Locust for the witches academy.
Jack o’lantern
Potential jack o’lantern
And a pumpkin with a message
True. Once you’re there, there’s no outlet.
(By the way, was anyone raptured this weekend?)
This sign, although beautiful, could apply to half the intersections in Columbia.
Speaking of intersections and the like, here are some figures on our streets, sidewalks, and alleys from Thursday’s council budget work session.
31.35 miles of public roads in the borough!
And here’s a look at revenue from the same meeting.
Since 1910
Hey, truck drivers!
Ornamental pepper plant along the 200 block of Chestnut
Last fall, council voted 6-1 to purchase this property at 700 Franklin Street to add it to its 58-acre tract formerly known as the McGinness airfield. The borough wants the land as part of its plan to develop the tract into an innovation park, a project originally estimated to cost $12 million.
Borough manager Mark Stivers said the hope is that someone will purchase and relocate the house off the property so that the borough can extend Franklin Street directly into the park. If the house is not sold and relocated, the borough plans to demolish it. The house is currently unoccupied.
It doesn’t seem to have been advertised for sale anywhere recently, so count on it being demoed. Such a waste.
C-130 flying over
Spirits delivered to your door. Well, all right!
They’ve set up shop at 230 N. 4th St.
Watering the ol’ stone pile on the 500 block of Chestnut
One event Smucker didn’t mention, though, was his meeting with Adam Kidan, a former business partner of disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff who has served time in federal prison for fraud and conspiracy and has now emerged as a major political donor and supporter of Lancaster County’s congressman.
Smucker’s meeting with Kidan, at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, wasn’t their first.
Since 2021, Smucker has spent time with Kidan and his partner, Cristiani de Fatima Pereira, on at least five occasions, several far from his southcentral Pennsylvania district, including at Napa Valley wineries in California and at events in Texas and Florida.
Kidan also said he plays a central role in the congressman’s fundraising efforts, as a member of Smucker’s “steering committee.”
Smucker declined requests to talk for this story. But his campaign manager, Jenna Geesey, said the steering committee is a fundraising initiative, and includes donors across the district who are business and community leaders.
In September 2000, Kidan and Abramoff made a deal to purchase Florida-based SunCruz Casinos from Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis. The business sailed cruise ships into international waters, where gambling was not regulated by state law.
In February 2001, Boulis was shot and killed while driving his BMW in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in what The Washington Post called a “gangland-style slaying.” Kidan was questioned in the case but was not charged with any wrongdoing. He later testified for the prosecution.
In September 2005, authorities charged three men in the homicide case. Kidan had paid two of the men, Anthony “Little Tony” Ferrari and Anthony “Big Tony” Moscatiello, more than $240,000 as consultants in the SunCruz deal in the months leading up to the murder, according to news reports at the time. Moscatiello had previously been indicted for heroin trafficking for the Gambino organized crime family, news reports noted. Ferrari and Moscatiello were convicted of murder in the Boulis case and sentenced to life in prison.
Also in 2005, Kidan and Abramoff pleaded guilty to defrauding lenders who helped them buy SunCruz, court documents show. Kidan and Abramoff had been accused of “allegedly concocting a fake $23 million wire transfer to make it appear they were putting a significant portion of their own money into the $147.5 million SunCruz deal,” NBC News reported. “Two lenders agreed to provide $60 million in financing for the SunCruz purchase based on that false wire transfer, according to prosecutors.”
A pet pig has been reported missing today (9/23/23) and is believed to be in the area of Quarry Drive and Weis Markets. West Hempfield Police have been notified.
Report any sightings of the animal to Angel Rodriguez via Facebook Messenger.
The Military Oral History Club of Lancaster County will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26, at the VFW Post 2435, 401 Manor St., Columbia. Open to all World War II veterans and family, and anyone with an interest in WWII history. Guest speaker is Robert “Bob” L. Thompson, U.S. Army P.O.W. For more information, call 717-319-3430.
Churros & Guacamole Master One, 15 S. Third St., Columbia, Sept. 16. Pass. No violations.
Eisenhaur’s Sweets & Eats, 15 S. Third St., Columbia, Sept. 16. Pass. No violations.
South Lime, 15 S. Third St., Columbia, Sept. 16. Pass. Static dust on the fume hood; scheduled for cleaning. A working container of detergent stored on a shelf next to food equipment (lids and containers).
Columbia Spy 