What I saw recently

Caught a big ‘un – a carp, that is.

 Scooping the chicken dung at McGinness’s field on Friday afternoon . . . 

and placing it in the hopper.

 Back to the pile for another scoop

 At the Earth Day celebration at Sahd’s, a young bag lady shows how many plastic bags the average American uses in a year.
Here, she’s talking to the bottle guy who’s showing – well, you guessed it.

 A male cardinal, one of the abundant variety of birds around town.

 A tunnel at Shawnee Creek, near Mill Street

 The Laurel Hill Cemetery regulations have been reposted after going missing for a while.

 Hey, where’s Jr?

 This dachsund caused a minor traffic jam on South Fourth Street on Saturday afternoon.

 Oblivious to the commotion he caused, he soon sauntered off.

Old-timey gas pump 

Here’s another one, from when gas was 41 cents a gallon.

 The Lake Meade Fire & Rescue crew practiced aquatic maneuvers Sunday morning.

 Here’s their truck.

Two in a row.
Why oh why do they ride their wheelchairs in the street where they can get hit, 
instead of on the sidewalk where they’ll be safe?
(The sidewalk curbs are handicapped accessible.)
The building that will house Little Caesar’s continues to rise.

Something smells

Recently, large piles of what appear to be chicken feces and feathers have been accumulating on the grounds of McGinness’s airfield near Manor and South 9th.
The recent high winds are probably capable of spreading the particulates from these piles.
Here’s a link to information about the potential health hazards of chicken feces:
http://www.idph.state.il.us/health/infect/Poultry.htm
And do we even want to talk about the smell?

Columbia Borough cleaning up and celebrating with spring events

Columbia Borough is doing more than an annual spring cleaning over the next few weeks — the borough is also celebrating, mulching and auctioning.

MORE:
http://m.lancasteronline.com/columbia/news/columbia-borough-cleaning-up-and-celebrating-with-spring-events/article_b76f1124-caee-11e3-b43c-0017a43b2370.html?mode=jqm

State withdraws call for office space in Lancaster County

A Department of Public Welfare call center that seemed on track to bring 300 jobs to Lancaster County beginning in October is on hold.

The eight bidders on the state’s call for proposals seeking 32,900 square feet of office space for the center were informed this week that the state had withdrawn it.

MORE:
http://m.lancasteronline.com/news/local/state-withdraws-call-for-office-space-in-lancaster-county/article_327f6cde-cb16-11e3-82f6-0017a43b2370.html?mode=jqm

Celebrate Earth

The community is invited to the annual Earth Day event, taking place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, at the Sahd Metal Recylcling salvage yard, located at 1045 Lancaster Ave., Columbia. Numerous businesses and organizations will set up displays and interactive exhibits for children and adults to explore. Admission and activities are free; however, interested attendees may register and complete a safety waiver by visiting www.recycleyourmetal.com/earthday.html.
The event will be held rain or shine.

14-mile Northwest Lancaster County River Trail nears finish line

It’s been 20 years since farsighted officials and individuals dared to dream of a 14-mile, multiuse paved trail along the Susquehanna River that would celebrate its beauty, rich transportation and industrial history, and draw visitors to its river towns.
Now, with a flurry of spring construction underway and the missing links falling into place, the reality of the Northwest Lancaster County River Trail is finally within sight.
By this fall, the public should be able to walk or bike 9 contiguous miles from the old Point Rock railroad tunnel on the northern edge of Columbia to Bainbridge’s American Legion Park in Conoy Township.