Columbia Spy

Registration Underway for Chiques Challenge 7th Annual Running and Kayaking Event

Join other veteran and amateur athletes as they run and kayak through the 7th annual Chiques Challenge hosted by the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce. This duathlon slated for Saturday, August 12, will stage from Columbia’s River Park at 41 Walnut Street.

Participants will be transported to Vinegar Ferry Road for the 8:30 a.m. start time. The course takes runners along the Susquehanna River via the Northwest Lancaster County River Trail and through the streets of Marietta. The run portion of the event ends at the Marietta Boat Launch. There, runners will take to the river aboard a kayak and finish downstream at the Columbia River Park. Offered again this year is the option to enter as a team with one participant handling the running portion while the other takes on the kayaking duties.

This annual event is held rain or shine. It is made possible through the Gold Sponsorship of Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority and the sponsorships of additional businesses listed on our website.

Pre-registration is required to participate in the Chiques Challenge. This year’s event is limited to 150 participants. Participants must be at least 16 years old. Registrants need to provide their own kayak, but may contact Shank’s Mare or Chickies Rock Outfitters for assistance with kayaks. All participants are required to wear a life vest at all times during the kayaking leg and to be equipped with a whistle.

For more information or a registration form, visit www.PaRivertowns.com or call 717-684-5249.

Please, no pets. This is a FUN event! Even though it is timed and participants may feel competitive, the main focus is to have some fun along and in the Susquehanna River!

The Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization serving the tri-borough communities of Marietta, Wrightsville & Columbia, PA as well as the outlying areas. Annual fundraising events such as this help to keep the Visitors Center open year-round as a gratis service to guests to our region.

Spend an Hour with a Park Ranger – Tuesdays at Columbia Crossing

Join Samuel S. Lewis State Park’s Environmental Educator, Curtis Sherwood, for a free kid-friendly weekly nature series! Meet on the deck at Columbia Crossing to explore exciting topics including Bird Watching, Amphibians, Totem Poles, and more! Tuesdays 10-11 a.m.
MORE INFO:
http://www.susquehannaheritage.org/event/hour-with-a-park-ranger/2017-07-11/

Nuns build chapel on pipeline's route, judge says company can condemn the land for pipeline project

A federal judge ruled recently that the Williams Partners can condemn land owned by nuns at the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, just outside Columbia, but not before an outdoor chapel dedication ceremony tomorrow. Williams attorneys had wanted to seize the land before the dedication.

Following is the backstory of the company’s plan to extend its natural gas pipeline through land owned by the nuns.

COLUMBIA, Pa. — A group opposing a natural gas pipeline scheduled to go through land owned by some Pennsylvania nuns has built a prayer chapel on the proposed right of way.

Lancaster Against Pipelines and the sisters, The Adorers of the Blood of Christ, plan to dedicate the chapel at a prayer service on Sunday.

Williams Partners is the group building the pipeline across 183 miles of Pennsylvania. It has asked a Lancaster County judge for an emergency order to seize the land. A ruling on that is pending.

The company’s spokesman says the chapel is a “blatant attempt to impede pipeline construction.”

The nuns said in a news release that they “revere Earth as a sanctuary where all life is protected” and contend the pipeline violates their commitment to the environment.

— The Associated Press

Police activity about town

Monday, July 3

State police vehicle at Miles Bixler’s office.

***

Tuesday, July 4

During Wrightsville’s fireworks display on July 4, Wrightsville and Hellam Township Police pursued a vehicle across the Veterans Memorial bridge. The vehicle pulled over on the Columbia side of the bridge near Rotary Park. When Columbia Spy arrived on the scene, police were handcuffing the driver of the vehicle, who was then led away and placed in a police car. A partially empty liquor bottle was sitting atop the vehicle, presumably placed there by the driver or police.

A visibly upset female was sitting in the passenger seat, and police were attempting to talk to her. Unfortunately, the crowd on the sidewalk (and in Rotary Park) was a bit unruly and shouted and jeered at police. One of the officers asked the crowd to be calm, because he was trying to communicate with the female passenger. At 9:45 p.m., the situation still had not been totally resolved.

Note the bottle on top of the vehicle.

Wednesday, July 5

Chief Brommer cites a driver going the wrong way on the 500 block of Chestnut, which is one-way.

This past weekend . . .

An altercation involving occupants of two vehicles occurred Sunday evening, July 2, at the Weis Markets parking lot along Columbia Avenue. According to a witness, a road rage incident began on Route 30 between a vehicle occupied by two men, children, and a female driver – and another vehicle occupied only by a male driver.

It is unclear what sparked the road rage, but both vehicles pulled into the parking lot, and occupants of both vehicles jumped out, exchanged words, and began fighting. During the fight, the driver of the first vehicle was punched in the face and put into a “choke hold” by the men in the second vehicle. The driver’s wife, who had been following in a separate vehicle, stopped to help but was punched in the head by one of the two men.

Columbia Police quickly responded, followed by West Hempfield, who had jurisdiction. Reportedly, West Hempfield Police said they would either charge everyone or no one, since they had not witnessed the fight and there were conflicting accounts. Bystanders had been recording the incident with cellphones.

Columbia to get bigger Sunoco station, laundromat

Several new signs were mounted yesterday and today (July 5 & 6) at the former Exxon gas station at 15th Street and Route 462 – and the existing Sunoco station beside it. The project is a first stage in expanding the Sunoco station.

The Exxon station, which also housed a “snack mart” and ATM, shut down a few years ago. Its signs were removed yesterday.

Workmen then installed a new sign frame . . .

. . . using a “bucket truck” and crane.

Today, a new Sunoco sign was installed inside the frame.

The soon-to-be Sunoco building will also house a laundromat, according to a worker on-scene.

The existing Sunoco station got a small facelift – another new sign.

Obviously, the pricing display is yet to be programmed.

Columbia rentals exceed all others locally; home ownership 4th smallest

According towncharts.com, Columbia Borough has the highest percentage of renter households to total households (41.6%), as compared to other area municipalities. The percentage is higher than the national average.

Columbia also has the fourth smallest number of owner housing units (58.4%) – as compared to all the other places in the area.

The figures come from most recent demographics data available from the Census Bureau released in December of 2016.

Figure 5 shows the percentage of renter households to total households. Columbia indicates it has 41.6% Renter Percent which is at the top of all other places in the area.

Figure 6 shows the number of owner housing units and it has 58.4% Owner Percent which is the 4th smallest Owner Percent of all the other places in the area.

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Other Columbia statistics, such as demographics, economy, education, and healthcare are also available at Town Charts HERE.