Author: SPY

About Town

Pics about town from the past week…
 Compare…

 and contrast.

 Walking the beat

 Another one bites the dust!

 There’s another one of those rocks.
Probably placed there by a member of the Columbia PA Rockz Facebook group.
By the way, Columbia DOES rock.

 A peek inside the Market House.
There’s a Keeley and a couple of signs.

 Two more Keeley stoves in the abandoned space.
The three stoves were recently taken off the borough’s auction list.
They may have been manufactured at the Keeley Stove Company that was based in Columbia.

 At the apex of the inverted V

 Newly cleared
Compare and contrast with THIS PHOTO from last summer.

 So, even if guns don’t kill people, window decals still misspell “misspell” and Hillary is still the boogie man under every right-winger’s bed. 
 Race to the finish!
(Actually, the one on the right isn’t being operated.)

 A “closer-up” view

 Riding the gravy train into the sunset
 Down at the bridge plaza…

 the ground is being prepared for the installation of brick sidewalks.

 The deadline to have engraved bricks installed for military personnel is April 15 (for the May 26 dedication). More information HERE.

 Traffic control cameras? Or two of the borough’s “covert” cameras? An official has said the traffic lights here at 4th & Locust are on a timer. So, why the cameras?

 Columbia 2118?

 Mullen Books, near the bottom of Walnut

 Time to paint the poles

 And who among us hasn’t hauled our Moosehead around on our Thule roof rack?

Speaking of moose heads

 Yes, don’t litter. Don’t pour out your used motor oil or your leftover Moosehead here.

 Insert a very large quarter into this outrageously oversized piggy bank.

Not a downspout but a spout down

 Yes emphysize it.

 Biker chicks?

 No, just some very nice Mennonite girls – and boys

They were looking for the trail, and as is often the case with out-of-town folks, they got confused due to the lack of proper signage.

 Fortunately, Columbia Spy was there to direct them on their way.

 Afterwards, a giant cow sped by.
Just another day in Columbia.

 There’s a noncomformist in every crowd. Let’s hope so anyway.

 Yep, more of the same
 Pretty pretty

 Waiting for something to die

 Why do Hempfield buses park in our high school parking lot?

Seriously
 Speaking of school district vehicles…

Here’s one parked in a curious place.
(Note the sign.)

 What is that thing up there anyway? Even the sparrow seems to want to know.

 It’s atop the old Poplar Street School.

 Cut-rate basketball hoop

 Little red wagon painted green

 Documents…not shredded

 Get the shovels out. Mother Nature’s been a…

The claw descends.
Any day, it will take down this mobile home…

 and the houses behind to make way for the construction of an apartment building. More information on the project can be found HERE.

 For free. No, not the building – the table.

 The mayflies are early this year.

 Hinkle’s – on its way back.

 Follow that trailer!

 Bring that, too!

 Eagles in some sort of mating ritual
 Too far and too fast for the camera

 They chased each other for a few minutes…

 and flew into the distance.

 The parking lot-to-be at Walnut & Commerce is shaping up nicely.

 Springsteen fan

Education FAIL

Columbia is a hot spot for home sales

[Columbia Spy file photo]

With regard to the homebuyers program for eligible low- to moderate-income first-time homebuyers, LHOP’s Ray D’Agostino says the borough agreed to provide a match to LHOP’s $5,000 closing cost assistance no-interest loan, which raises the figure to $10,000. In the program’s first 10 months, there were 15 new homeowners in the borough, he says. The homeowner rehab program is just getting underway, so he does not have any data for that program.

MORE:

http://lancasteronline.com/alwayslancaster/lancaster-city-columbia-hot-spots-for-home-sales/article_da167a3e-337a-11e8-9d69-53921d86b0cc.html

Leo Lutz talks about Columbia's revitalization

Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz
[Columbia Spy file photo]

Today, Columbia is embarking on a very aggressive marketing strategy, downtown revitalization and neighborhood-improvement campaign. Columbia is open for business and homeownership.

MORE:

http://lancasteronline.com/alwayslancaster/leo-lutz-columbia-mayor/article_4c0a7a8e-32c0-11e8-a8b8-9b0cfab9dd6f.html

Columbia residents assaulted fish wardens and locked them up – Shad Wars: A long, violent period in Lancaster County over a fish in the Susquehanna

In a well-reported incident documented in local newspapers, five fish wardens sent to Columbia had their boat overturned by locals. When they swam to the Columbia shoreline they were assaulted by residents. They spent the night locked inside a room in a local hotel while an angry mob milled outside.
MORE:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/shad-wars-a-long-violent-period-in-lancaster-county-over/article_48c6e18a-3281-11e8-bbdd-c3310badc12c.html

16-year-old Columbia boy nabbed in Lancaster City drug bust | Lancaster Bureau of Police

16 year old juvenile male Columbia Borough resident

Charged with- Possession with Intent to Deliver Heroin/Cocaine and Crack Cocaine; Possession of Drug Paraphernalia-

Committed to Youth Intervention Center (YIC)

MORE:

https://lancaster.crimewatchpa.com/lbop/19659/post/seu-drug-arrest-recovered-stolen-handgun-400-blk-new-dorwart-st-03262018

Benson, Philip N – (1) Count Possession of Marijuana and 1 additional charge | Manheim Township Police Department

Possession of Marijuana Arrest, 2:02 a.m., Sunday, March 25, 2018, 1000 block North Duke Street (MT) – Philip N. Benson, M/45, of Columbia, PA, was charged with the above offense following a traffic stop. Officers searched Benson’s vehicle which yielded 11.89g of marijuana. A criminal complaint was filed.
Arrest Date: Monday, March 26, 2018
Case Number: 2018-MT-03021

Charges:
(1) Count Possession of Marijuana
(1) count summary traffic violation
Source:

Manheim Township Police Department
MORE:

https://lancaster.crimewatchpa.com/manheimtwppd/53783/arrests/benson-philip-n-1-count-possession-marijuana-and-1-additional-charge

About Town

56 photos from the last two weeks…
The borough has been notifying residents of the upcoming street sweeping season with these yellow warning tickets. Next time (starting March 26, 2018) will be the real deal, and it’ll cost you.
Even the codes car got a warning ticket.
 Good thing the street sweeper is running again. Here’s a view of the 400 block of Locust a week or two ago. The sweeper hadn’t been operating since late last year. The borough should have issued corn brooms and dust pans in the interim.

 Anyway, here’s a line of jeeps at River Park.

 And here’s a posterior view.

 These two were tethered to a parking meter in front of Stover’s. Hopefully, the owner plugged the meter with a quarter. Or would it be two quarters in this case?

 They terrorized people going in and out of the store.

 But quickly got their act together when they spotted the paparazzi.

 Cannabis – not just for stoners anymore.

 A miracle crop?

 Who says there’s no free ride?

 Lady harpsichordist at 5th & Cherry…

 accompanies a lady on the flute.

Seen at a local gas station 
[From Wikipedia]:

Since November 2000, the standard Washington, D.C. license plate design has featured the slogan “Taxation Without Representation,” referring to the unique circumstance that the district’s residents face, in which they must pay federal income tax but cannot elect a voting member of the United States Congress.

Unfortunately, many other elected officials don’t really represent their constituents.

 One order of seagull, over light

 A possible Apache helicopter flying over
[Follow-up: We’re told it’s a Blackhawk.]

 On Bank Avenue – Ghost signs, evidence of the Columbia that once was

 The former Columbia No. 1 Fire Department building along Front Street
The borough has been trying to unload this, although it may become construction headquarters for the upcoming Veterans Memorial Bridge project.

 It was built in 2003.

 PA State Police helicopter flying over

 More work from our local junk artist

 He arranges found objects down at the railroad tracks.

 Some of which include shards of glass, pieces of bricks and rusted metal objects.

Other materials include dried-out plants and metal strips.
Here’s another example, piled high.

 A dead possum was incorporated into this piece.
Immortalized…temporarily

 Sliver of green cheese

On Bank Avenue, an old microwave has been added to the trash pile.
Is this the varmint that’s been molesting the trash?

 Behind the abandoned trailer, most of the tires have been moved.

 They’ve been piled into a dumpster.

 As seen here

 Speaking of tires, here are two more for the dumpster.

 This accident occurred last Friday at Short 6th & Union. No one was seriously hurt.

 That’s one way to keep your bike’s essentials dry.

 A white-breasted nuthatch(?) with something in its beak at Laurel Hill

 This is what happens when you throw your money around.

 Furry feral felines

 Here comes the thaw after Mother Nature’s gut-punch last Wednesday.

 And here’s a photo of a photo of the bridge in a window on the 400 block of Locust.

 A Picassoesque glass head peers out of the window at Through the Fire Studios.

 Gone fishin’

 A grinch in bunny’s clothing?
(Tacos to Go)

 Mardi Gras beads at Lazy K

 Free furniture, gently used

 So much for the sign

 Apartment 1 must be OK.

 But Apartments 2, 3, and 4 are unlawful.
This is the building with the French Quarter wrought iron railings.

 Easter’s on the way.

 Amazing Spider-Man poster at Cooper’s Comics at North 5th & Locust.
(Johnny Romita Sr. was the best Spider-Man artist.)

 Hours of operation

 Here’s a joyful fellow waiting for something to die.

 And here’s an eagle that has turned to stone.

 Even NO PARKING signs get cold in the winter.

A Chinook flying over