Brad Chambers is one of the Democrats looking to unseat longtime GOP state lawmakers in this year’s election

Brad Chambers held a campaign kickoff at the Columbia Market House Friday night, with over 50 people attending. 

In the 41st District, which covers Columbia Borough and East and West Hempfield, Chambers, 33, is looking to challenge five-term state Rep. Brett Miller, of East Hempfield Township.

Chambers told LNP | LancasterOnline he plans to leverage his youth and inexperience in politics against Miller’s incumbency.

Lancaster County Commissioner Alice Yoder expressed her support for Brad Chambers at Friday’s campaign kickoff at the Columbia Market House. 

“I think there’s a contrast,” Chambers said. “You have someone who has been in office for (almost) a decade, and all of the problems that were pretty much there when he started are still here, versus me, who hasn’t gotten a shot yet.”

Chambers, a labor administrator for Penske Corporation, ran for Columbia Borough Council in last year’s municipal election but fell 29 votes short of winning a seat.

Ismail “Izzy” Smith-Wade-El introduced Brad Chambers at Chambers’ campaign kickoff at the Columbia Market House last Friday. Izzy has represented the 49th Pennsylvania House of Representatives District since 2023.

At a campaign kickoff event at Columbia Market House Friday night, Chambers told about 50 of his supporters that he’s running to disrupt the status quo in Harrisburg that he said has let down many constituents, including himself.

“I have keenly felt the struggles of ordinary folks in my own life. I grew up in a single-parent home. While my mom was out working, I was often left in charge of my siblings,” Chambers said. “What I lacked in structure and stability at home, I gained in adaptability and resilience.”

MORE:

About Town – February 4, 2024

Recent photos of Columbia

(Click/tap on photos to see larger, sharper images.)

Faces about town . . .

*****************

The skeletons made no bones about their intention to invade.

*****************

Let’s hope these aren’t necessary.

Twisted Tea – Back in action?

Sit a spell.

Not time for kayaks – yet.

Winter sunsets are the best.

Lotsa lights on Locust

FORES

Market Manager Chris Vera recently painted and refurbished three Keeley stoves and moved them back into the Market House, where they belong.

 A similar product was big in Columbia in the ’80s. Some residents might remember.

Several piles of broken glass are still present along part of the railroad. A “found art” practitioner placed them there a few years ago.

Double-crossed garden

Does Columbia have a dog poop problem?

*****************

He was shy at first.

But he got over it.

JESUS SAVES

Don’t tell the borough about these bricks, or they’ll want to dig them up and put in a concrete sidewalk.

Protected by . . . no one? someone? anyone?

Crazy numbers, often used in municipal budgeting

St. Pete’s place

In the window of the former Fragments of the Past

OPEN?

See you later.

In prayer

PennDOT cleaning the deteriorating Veterans Memorial Bridge

From the redo at the Re-Uzit Shop

GOLD

2000-2019

Steeple

February 10th

Water-logged bulbs

Gandalf returned to Valinor.

[LNP | LancasterOnline] Welcome to the club: Columbia senior Brie Droege eclipses rare 2,000-point plateau [video]

The door to the magical 2,000-point club swung open Thursday. Columbia senior ace Brie Droege reached the scoring plateau in the first quarter of the Crimson Tide’s 63-5 L-L League Section 4 victory over Linden Hall in Columbia.

Droege swooped in on a fast-break and banked in a layup to hit the mark. She needed 15 points for 2K and she scored 17 points — all in the first quarter — and she’s at 2,002 career points.

Droege now has two things in common with her mom, former Columbia great Marjorie (Rhoads) Droege. First, they both scored their milestone 2,000th point in the same basket inside the Tide’s storied gym. And second, they’re both in the 2K scoring club.

Marjorie, a 1997 Columbia grad, is still atop the league’s all-time scoring chart with 2,573 points. She scored her 2,000th point against Elco in her senior season.

MORE:

Restaurant Inspections – Columbia Borough – February 2, 2024

Rising Sun Nutrition, 50 Lancaster Ave., Columbia, complaint, Jan. 26. Pass. No violations.

Turkey Hill No. 68, 342 Chestnut St., Columbia, Jan. 22. Pass. Boxes of food stored directly on the floor in the walk-in freezer rather than 6 inches off the floor as required. Sausages and hot dogs were held at 118 F and 120 F, respectively, on the roller grill, rather than 135 F or above as required.

Are robins really a sign of spring?

This male robin was hanging around Columbia River Park Thursday morning. 

Robins are considered a sign of spring in our area. Their arrival is often associated with the changing of seasons and the onset of warmer weather.

Many robins migrate during the winter, typically to warmer southern regions in search of food and more favorable weather conditions, but their migration patterns can be complex. Some may also stay in the area year-round if they are able to find sufficient food sources.

[LNP | LancasterOnline] Reptiles removed from Columbia home transferred to other shelters after ownership dispute [video]

The nine pythons, two lizards and a scorpion recovered from the home of a Columbia resident on Tuesday will no longer be up for adoption at the Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary’s event this Saturday after an individual put forward disputed claims of ownership.

The sanctuary recovered the reptiles from the home of Ryan Paraschos, 33, after he died unexpectedly.

Following the disputed ownership claims, Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary Director Jesse Rothacker said he consulted with Paraschos’ family and Columbia police before deciding that the best option was to transfer the animals to other shelters with experience in handling reptiles.

“Our hands are tied,” Rothacker said. “Ultimately, our main concern is the animals.”

Although Paraschos’ animals will not be present, a reptile adoption event co-sponsored by the Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary and That Fish Place – That Pet Place is still on for Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 237 Centerville Road in East Hempfield Township.

MORE: