Author: SPY

https://www.wgal.com/article/wilfredo-garcia-killed-columbia-pa-apartment-shooting/73196213

A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed in his home in Columbia Borough Saturday night, the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office reported Monday. 

Wilfredo Garcia was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head and neck, according to the coroner’s office. His death was ruled a homicide.

Coroner investigators were called to a home on the 900 block of Plane Street around 10:05 p.m. Saturday for a reported shooting. The investigators pronounced Garcia dead inside the home. 

The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office said investigators interviewed everyone who was inside the house when the shooting happened and there all occupants of the house at the time the shooting and based on the investigation so far, there does not appear to be a danger to the public and more information will bee released as warranted.

The DA’s office asks anyone with information regarding the shooting to call the Columbia Borough Police Department at 717-684-7735.

Garcia’s death is the seventh homicide in Lancaster County this year, and the second in Columbia in 10 days. Since 2000, the county has averaged about 12 homicides a year. The high mark was 2006, with 21.

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/17-year-old-killed-in-columbia-shooting-death-ruled-a-homicide-coroner-update/article_a000901e-f6a0-4a88-bb61-3135b5d72bfe.html

Fleckenstein Thomas, Fleckenstein Danielle K, Cleary Danielle, Cleary Danielle K, Clearly Danielle, Clearly Danielle K. conveyed 1338 Malleable Road to Tamang Migma Dolma, Tamang Nima Dorji for $379,900.

Kerper Alexandra C, Lydon Alexandra C. conveyed 750 Locust St. to Roldan Ambert Neftaly J, Ambert Neftaly J. Roldan, Ambert Antonia for $245,000.

Farabaugh Property Group LLC conveyed 912 Locust St. to Arias Albert Soriano for $199,900.

Teresa L. Kuhns conveyed 123 N. Seventh St. to 717homebuyers LLC for $68,700.

Delgiorno Investments LLC conveyed 405 Poplar St. to TKS Capital LLC for $1.

https://crimewatch.net/us/pa/lancaster/da/11617/post/fatal-shooting-columbia-borough-investigation-going?fbclid=Iwb21leATKGaZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR4vDSBRndp2orng88lujKCuF13uAgTVQVeLsKXkUONDdZPGvUsUr3Z980L0aw_aem_E9fcpVN6NIs8_oYREmPwIw

Columbia Borough School District is set to benefit from a significant increase in state education funding for the 2026-27 school year, as part of a broader wave of new money flowing to Lancaster County’s 17 school districts following a landmark court ruling on education equity.

Lancaster County’s 17 districts will collectively receive $248 million for 2026-27, a $1.3 million increase over the prior year. This money covers general operating costs such as teacher salaries, benefits, and transportation.

The county’s districts will receive $55 million total, up from $54 million the year before, to help cover the cost of educating students with individualized education programs (IEPs).

The funding boosts trace back to a 2023 Commonwealth Court ruling that found Pennsylvania’s system for funding public schools was inequitable. In response, the General Assembly began directing more money to disadvantaged districts through the existing Ready to Learn Block Grant program — the funding stream that saw the sharpest year-over-year increase countywide.

Columbia Borough, one of the county’s smaller and historically underfunded districts, is a natural focus of that equity-driven effort. Districts like Columbia have long argued that state funding formulas failed to account for local economic conditions and the added costs of educating high-need student populations.

These funding increases arrived as part of Pennsylvania’s new state budget, which lawmakers adopted several weeks late without tapping emergency funds. The budget’s ripple effects are expected to extend beyond school funding, potentially shaping state races in Lancaster County this November.

For Columbia Borough, more state dollars are coming for basic operations, special education services, and equity-focused support, continuing a multi-year trend of the state directing additional resources toward historically disadvantaged districts in the wake of the 2023 court decision.

[Source: LancasterOnline]

https://crimewatch.net/us/pa/lancaster/columbia-boro-pd/10552/cases/jared-gower-incidents

West Hempfield Township police are searching for a man they said stabbed another man Thursday night.

Jared Trent Gower, 21, of Columbia, stabbed a man in the abdomen around 11:30 p.m. in the 4500 block of Klinesville Road, police said.

The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment and was in stable condition Friday, police said.

Gower is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, and one count each of trespass, reckless endangerment and possessing a weapon.

Police ask that anyone with information about Gower’s whereabouts call 911.

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/west-hempfield-township-police-searching-for-man-charged-in-non-fatal-stabbing/article_2e26cedd-9609-465a-bb0e-d5bad6a369ed.html

PA State Senator James Malone announced Thursday that four projects in the 36th Senatorial District will receive a combined $6,293,000 in Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grants from the state.

Among the awards is $250,000 for the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors to continue renovations at the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia. The funding will go toward installing a new HVAC system required for preserving delicate historical artifacts.

The HVAC upgrade is timed to coincide with interior renovation work that will expand the museum’s indoor exhibit space. That new space will include a dedicated area to display one of the tallest street clocks in the country, giving visitors a chance to see the piece showcased in a way the museum hasn’t previously been able to do.

The museum grant is one of four RACP awards Malone announced for projects across the district. The state funding, he said, is aimed at bolstering municipal services and supporting economic growth in the Lancaster area.

“Investing in these projects will strengthen local municipal services and grow Lancaster’s economy,” Malone said in a statement. “From improving facilities for public servants like our local police to creating new commercial space for small businesses, these funds will help Lancaster continue to thrive.”

The RACP program provides state funding for the acquisition, construction, and renovation of economic, cultural, civic, recreational, and historical improvement projects across Pennsylvania.

[Source: senatormalone.com]

JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY 

The Columbia Borough Planning Commission will meet Tuesday, July 21, at 7 p.m., with a review planned for the proposed ordinance to prohibit data centers in the the light business zoning district.

Item 8(a) on the agenda calls for the commission to review “a new ordinance to prohibit Data Centers in LB”: the light business zone that includes the former McGinness property along Manor Street. The issue has already divided borough council and residents and drawn hundreds of attendees to public meetings this year.

Columbia Borough Council voted 4-3 on July 14 to advance the ordinance, which would remove data centers from the list of permitted uses in light business zoning districts, a move that could block a data center from being built on the long-vacant former McGinness airfield property. Council members Byers, Cooper, Ziegler and Geesey voted in favor, while Kauffman, Zink and Murphy voted against.

The motion was introduced by Councilman Ethan Byers and seconded by Councilman Tom Ziegler. 

If ultimately adopted after review by the county and municipal planning commissions, the ordinance would designate data centers as “Not Permitted” in light business zones and shift them to “Conditional Use” status in general industrial zones instead.

Byers has said he pushed the change now rather than waiting for a broader rewrite of the borough’s zoning code. He said the one-page ordinance had already been reviewed by borough solicitor Evan Gabel and drew on language used in the borough’s past zoning ordinances, and that he had briefed councilors Jeanne Cooper and Tom Ziegler, who lead the community development committee overseeing zoning and planning.

Byers said he had been considering the change for weeks as delays piled up around re-advertising the McGinness property, and that data centers had come to dominate public discussion of the site’s future. He said he wanted the property sold without the complications a data center project could bring, warning that a legal appeal could tie the sale up for years.

Byers had originally hoped to raise the change at a workshop session ahead of a separate, more comprehensive ordinance covering the same topic. When that workshop was canceled and the broader ordinance was pushed to a future meeting, Byers said he decided not to wait. He said he had asked Council President Eric Kauffman twice to add the item to the agenda — first for a July 7 workshop, then again on July 9 for the regular meeting — and that both requests were turned down before he brought the motion directly to the floor.

The move didn’t go unchallenged. Councilman Kelly Murphy raised concerns that the motion hadn’t gone through the proper legislative process, and Byers pushed back, arguing that as a councilman he himself represents part of that legislative process, and that crafting legislation isn’t the sole responsibility of any one council member.

Supporters of blocking a data center at the McGinness site are treating the council vote as an early win, but the matter isn’t resolved. The ordinance still needs to clear review at both the municipal and county planning commission levels before it can come back to council for a final vote. Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting is part of that required review.

LancasterOnline has noted that state law limits how far municipalities can go: Pennsylvania requires local governments to permit all legal land uses in at least one zoning district, so Columbia cannot ban data centers outright. The borough currently allows them in three districts: general industrial, light industrial, and light business, and council could choose to limit that to one or two, but not zero.

The backstory:

The zoning push follows months of controversy surrounding the McGinness site. In May 2026, Saadia Holdings LLC, a New York-based company, submitted a $6.35 million bid (the only bid received) to purchase the former airfield property, with plans that included a data center. News that the deal involved a data center drew hundreds of residents to a four-and-a-half-hour meeting at the Columbia Borough Fire Hall, where residents raised concerns about noise, water and power demand, and impacts on property values.

Council ultimately rejected the bid on procedural grounds, because Saadia’s offer didn’t guarantee full payment within the 60-day window required by state law for sealed-bid sales, since the company wanted to wait for borough approval of its site plans first. 

Local advocacy group Lancaster Stands Up, which has organized residents around the issue, called the rejection and subsequent zoning vote the result of a months-long community effort to protect the borough’s land, water and power resources.

Given the scale of public interest in the McGinness property and the ordinance since May, residents opposed to and in favor of data center development in the borough are expected to turn out for public comment. The commission’s action Tuesday is advisory within a multi-step process; the ordinance must still pass through the Lancaster County Planning Commission and return to Borough Council for a final vote before it could take effect.

[Sources: Agenda, Columbia Spy, LNP/LancasterOnline, WGAL]