17512 Columbia

Archive for February 1st, 2012|Daily archive page

today’s news … Wednesday, February 1, 2012

In Uncategorized on February 1, 2012 at 5:30 am

today’s news and information gleanings from here and there! 

Quote for today… “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” – Harper Lee


  • LEGAL NOTICES published in the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era, February 1, 2012: “LEGALNOTICE Notice is hereby given that the Columbia Borough Council meetingsscheduled for 02/27/2012, 03/26/12, 04/23/12, 05/22/12, 06/25/12, 07/23/12, 08/27/12, 09/24/10, 10/22/12, 11/20/12 and 12/18/12 have been rescheduled to begin at 6:00 pm rather than 7:00 pm. These meetings will be held in the Columbia Borough Municipal Building, 308 Locust Street, Columbia, PA. If you are a person with a disability wishing to attend these meetings and require an accommodation to participate, please contact the Columbia Borough Office at 684-2467. Norman B. Meiskey III Borough Manager”

Groundhog Day: tomorrow

In History and Heritage, Opinions on February 1, 2012 at 5:27 am

“Punxsutawney Phil at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in January”

“The groundhog’s seasonal forecasting accuracy is somewhat low.
Phil’s Winter prognostications have been correct only 39% of the time.”

Tomorrow is Ground Hog Day in Pennsylvania. Tomorrow there’ll be lots of attention on a bunch of folks who make pilgrimages to visit the furry weather forecaster in Punxsutawney and Quarryville.

Here’s a bit of the lore about the Western Pennsylvania ground hog.

“In 1723, the Delaware Indians settled Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania as a campsite halfway between the Allegheny and the Susquehanna Rivers.  The town is 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, at the intersection of Route 36 and Route 119.  The Delawares considered groundhogs honorable ancestors.  According to the original creation beliefs of the Delaware Indians, their forebears began life as animals in “Mother Earth” and emerged centuries later to hunt and live as men.

“The name Punxsutawney comes from the Indian name for the location “ponksad-uteney” which means “the town of the sandflies.” The name woodchuck comes from the Indian legend of “Wojak,the groundhog” considered by them to be their ancestral grandfather.

“When German settlers arrived in the 1700s, they brought a tradition known as Candlemas Day, which has an early origin in the pagan celebration of Imbolc.  It came at the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.  Superstition held that if the weather was fair, the second half of Winter would be stormy and cold.  For the Read the rest of this entry »

A perspective: fire company consolidation and community communications

In Everyday Living, Government, In Columbia, Opinions, Opportunities, Uncategorized on February 1, 2012 at 4:24 am

And what’s a “quint?”

The 77’ aerial ladder is clearly the most popular aerial employed by the fire service today. Ferrara’s HD – 77 delivers premium performance, flexible body configurations with the added benefit of extra reach. The HD – 77 is the tallest quint aerial available on a single rear axle. (SOURCE: Ferrara Fire Website)

Those who attended one of the two parts of last week’s Council “meetings-of-the-whole” recall there was some discussion about the issue of fire department consolidation and the purchase of a piece of apparatus.

Someone suggested the apparatus was a “quint” – others vehemently denied that.

At issue, in a much larger sense, is the community lack of awareness of the nature of the consolidation initiative. Some of the lack of awareness has to do with the fact that information is not easily available from the sources. We found this opinion on the Columbia Consolidated Fire Department Website. The Fire Chief’s concerns about openness and transparency are ours and maybe yours.

“While money certainly is a major concern for the new fire department, informing the citizens of Columbia Borough is an even greater concern.

“In any case, the focus of this rumination is intended to dwell more on the communication aspect that has been sorely lacking with the consolidation/merger effort taking place here in Columbia.  Case-in-point, while attending the Borough Meeting this past month, questions were raised in regards to the consolidation/merger progress.

“I addressed the Borough Council and the few member of the general public there and one of my final comments was that the meetings were in fact open to the public.  The room was silent except for someone stating that they were not aware of this fact.  The gentleman that made this statement has traditionally been involved in a lot of things going on in town and if he was unaware of the standing invitation to the public, it is a Read the rest of this entry »

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