We were presented with another fragile gift of antiquity.
Here is a program from “The York Pageant” – a three-day celebration of York’s role in the founding of this nation. Click on the picture of the program below to read through the program.
Archive for the ‘Government’ Category
Celebration of York’s 150th anniversary of “the seat of government” in the York Pageant, October 1927
In Government, History and Heritage, Treasures on May 17, 2013 at 5:15 amCouncil, mayor and borough manager applaud Columbia’s fire and police response
In Everyday Living, Government, In Columbia, Opportunities, People on May 16, 2013 at 5:44 amAt Monday’s borough council meeting, councillor Jim Smith injected how impressed he was with the response from the borough’s volunteer fire companies’ response to a recent fire incident on Chestnut Street.
He related how orchestrated the response was and how the firefighters exercised great care in protecting the contents of the property as they acted to suppress the fire caused by a lightning strike.
The mayor and out-going borough manager added that the swiftness and cooperative nature of the borough’s responding public safety resources – fire, law enforcement and emergency management – was a result of “lessons learned” in the aftermath of a fire in the borough last year.
Councillor and chairperson of the Committee for Public Safety, Mary Barninger, reinforced that “lessons learned” and the open sharing of information and perceptions are important improvement processes influenced by the “after-incident” assessment and discussion. Departments across the country have given this discussion a number of names: the bumper talk, the hot-wash, the after action report, the debrief. All refer to the process in which, following the incident, persons involved in the response identify what happened, what was supposed to happen and what may be considered “to improve the outcome the next time something like this happens.”
The “after-action review” is a critical component of the Incident Command System (ICS) – a part the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Formally adopted in February 2003 as Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5, NIMS intended “to enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents by establishing a single, comprehensive national incident management system” in which “all levels of government across the Nation have the capability to work efficiently and effectively together, using a national approach to domestic incident management.”
To add consistency and teeth (and to be eligible for any future federal funding) to the directive, all municipalities and jurisdictions in the nation had to implement their own proclamations promising to “institutionalize” the establishment of a “single, comprehensive system.” Pennsylvania’s proclamation which “mandate(d) the National Incident Management System be utilized for all incident management in the Commonwealth” was signed in December, 2004.
Columbia Borough’s resolution was in March of 2006. (SOURCE: Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency)
The fire service has been a proponent of the principles of ICS since its introduction as a management tool in fighting wildland fires in the early 1970s. Many fire departments and other first (and subsequent response agencies and resources, including elected public servants) were slower to institutionalize or enable the ICS and NIMS principles.
The NIMS Integration Center strongly recommends that all elected officials who will be interacting with multiple jurisdictions and agencies during an emergency incident at the minimum, complete IS 700 and ICS 100. These courses provide a basic understanding of the National Incident Management System and the Incident Command System. Everyone directly involved in managing an emergency should understand the command reporting structures, common terminology and roles Read the rest of this entry »
Agenda from last night’s borough council meeting
In Everyday Living, Government, In Columbia, Lists, People on May 14, 2013 at 5:00 amThe May 2013 borough council meeting was held at the borough hall’s council chambers last night. All the councillors but Jody Gable, who was ill, were present, as was the mayor, solicitor, borough financial officer, the outgoing borough manager and the new borough manager. Council president, Michael Beury convened the meeting of nearly a dozen citizens – including five students from Lancaster Catholic High School’s government class – at 7:00 pm. The meeting was adjourned at 9:09 p.m.
Agenda – page 0ne
Agenda – page two
Meeting notes: Below are a few notes on some of last night’s topics of discussion. Again, the best way to know what transpired at any meeting is to attend in person. Otherwise, the information you get about what happened will be second-hand: it will Read the rest of this entry »
It’s on the Website – new traffic pattern in downtown
In Everyday Living, Government, In Columbia on May 13, 2013 at 3:58 pm
“Hospital charges a mystery to many: Federal report spotlights apparently illogical nature of health care costs for consumers”
In Education, Government, Lists, Opportunities on May 12, 2013 at 3:20 amColumbia news, views and reviews has posted several articles about the wide range and inconsistent pricing practices of hospitals. We shared our personal experience about prices for the same services at two Lancaster County hospitals.
SOURCE: Wesley Bedrosian | The New York Times
Today’s Sunday News article goes into more discussion of the issue of pricing.
by CINDY STAUFFER | Staff Writer | The Sunday News, Lancaster, PA
“If you need hip replacement surgery, you will face a wide range of charges here, depending on the hospital you choose.
“Lancaster Regional Medical Center charged the most for major joint replacement surgery, $60,434, of the four hospitals here, according to a recent federal report on 2011 charges.
“Across town, Lancaster General Hospital charged the least, $37,761, about $23,000 less than Regional.
“But hang on to your crutches, patients. There’s more.
“Though LGH charged the least, Medicare, the federal insurance for the elderly paid it the most of all the hospitals here, $13,400.
“Confused yet? Join the club.
“The federal government’s recent release of hospital charges and Medicare payments for common procedures at 3,300 hospitals is raising many questions.
“The report shines a light on the seemingly illogical nature of health care charges here Read the rest of this entry »
“Executive Order — Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information”
In Education, Government, History and Heritage on May 10, 2013 at 4:27 amEXECUTIVE ORDER
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MAKING OPEN AND MACHINE READABLE THE NEW DEFAULT
FOR GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. General Principles. Openness in government strengthens our democracy, promotes the delivery of efficient and effective services to the public, and contributes to economic growth. As one vital benefit of open government, making information resources easy to find, accessible, and usable can fuel entrepreneurship, innovation, and scientific discovery that improves Americans’ lives and contributes significantly to job creation.
Decades ago, the U.S. Government made both weather data and the Global Positioning System freely available. Since that time, American entrepreneurs and innovators have utilized these resources to create navigation systems, weather newscasts and warning systems, location-based applications, precision farming tools, and much more, improving Americans’ lives in countless ways and leading to economic growth and job creation. In recent years, thousands of Government data resources across fields such as health and medicine, education, energy, public safety, global development, and finance have been posted in machine-readable form for free public use on Data.gov. Entrepreneurs and innovators have continued to develop a vast range of useful new products and businesses using these public information resources, creating good jobs in the process.
To promote continued job growth, Government efficiency, and the social good that can be gained from opening Government data to the public, the default state of new and modernized Government information resources shall be open and machine readable. Government information shall be managed as an asset throughout its life cycle to promote interoperability and openness, and, wherever possible and legally permissible, to ensure that data are released to the public in ways that make the data easy to find, accessible, and usable. In making this the new default state, executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall ensure that they safeguard individual privacy, confidentiality, and national security.
Sec. 2. Open Data Policy. (a) The Director of Read the rest of this entry »
Columbia officials receive awards
In Everyday Living, Government, In Columbia, People on May 8, 2013 at 4:00 am
Columbia Borough Elected Officials Mayor Leo Lutz, Councilwoman Mary Wickenheiser, and Borough Manager Norman Meiskey received Awards At the Pennsylvania Borough’s Association Spring Legislative Conference for 10 or more years of service to their community. – (SOURCE: news release)
“Prevention not prison: justice reinvestment makes dollars and sense” – The Conversation
In Everyday Living, Government, Opinions on May 7, 2013 at 5:31 am
Overcrowded prison holding areas in California. Should Australia really go down the increased imprisonment route? AAP/California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
“Australia spends billions of dollars every year on our prison system yet the number of those being sent to jail keeps increasing.
“Is this sustainable? Simple logic would suggest not, unless we want to start actively cutting health and education budgets to warehouse criminals.
“Wouldn’t we better off spending that money more wisely, trying to prevent people ending up in jail rather than providing facilities when they are sentenced to custody?
“‘Justice reinvested’ may sound like a new term here in Australia, but the concept is one which I have been urging for more than twenty years.
“It is built on the understanding that our present criminal justice system, and especially our prisons, are not working effectively in the service of the wider community and is failing in its attempts to maintain community safety and to build community harmony.
“Given expenditure on Australian prisons is now approaching $2 billion a year, it is also a particularly expensive operation. Consequently the ‘justice reinvestment’ movement proposes that it is now time to consider more effective and more economically viable alternatives.
“So ‘justice reinvestment’ is about not only reinvesting the money that we are currently spending on the construction and operation of an expanding prison network in more effective programs of crime prevention and control, but also ensuring that we protect the human resources that have been substantially impacted by this expansion: particularly our indigenous population, migrant and refugee communities, the mentally ill, the homeless and persons from low income families and neighbourhoods.
“Surprisingly this movement has been given momentum by some of the more conservative political forces operating in the United States, namely Republican representatives in Texas.”
To continue reading this column at The Conversation, click here.
10 Reasons The War On Terror Is Killing You – Listverse
In Everyday Living, Government, History and Heritage, Lists, Opinions on May 7, 2013 at 5:00 am“In 2001, a handful of extremists perpetrated the single biggest massacre on American soil in history. Since then, the entire Western world has gone into lockdown—ramping up security, launching international wars and trying its goddamn best to wipe out the terrorist menace. Only problem is: it isn’t working. Not only is ‘terror’ alive and well, our failed war on it is harming all of us, thanks to things like:
SOURCE: Listverse
“Cruel Country: Debtors Prisons Are Punishing the Poor Across America” – AlterNet
In Everyday Living, Government, Opinions on May 6, 2013 at 5:00 amA 19th century tool for instilling fear in the public to pay off debt.
“‘In the 1990s, Jack [Dawley's] drug and alcohol addictions led to convictions for domestic violence and driving under the influence, resulting in nearly $1,500 in fines and costs in the Norwalk Municipal Court. Jack was also behind on his child support, which led to an out-of-state jail sentence.’ After serving three and a half years in Wisconsin, Dawley, now sober for 14 years, is still trying to catch up with the fines he owes, and it has ‘continue[d] to wreak havoc on his life.’
“Tricia Metcalf is a mother with sole custody of two teenagers. In 2006, Metcalf ‘was convicted of passing multiple bad checks. The fines mounted into the thousands. Unable to pay the total amount owed, Tricia entered into a payment plan of $50 per month.’ Although she’s worked temporary jobs, a long-term job has been hard to find. ‘Whenever Tricia missed a payment, a warrant was issued and she was taken to jail.’
“The stories of Jack Dawley and Tricia Metcalf are only two of several compelling accounts in the ACLU’s new report, The Outskirts of Hope: How Ohio’s Debtors’ Prisons Are Ruining Lives and Costing Communities.
“The jailing of people unable to pay fines and court costs is no longer a relic of the 19th century American judicial system. Debtors’ prisons are alive and well in one-third of the states in this country.
“In 2011, Think Progress’ Marie Diamond wrote: ‘Federal imprisonment for unpaid debt has been illegal in the U.S. since 1833. It’s a practice people associate more with the age of Dickens than modern-day America. But as more Americans struggle to pay their bills in the wake of the recession, collection agencies are using harsher methods to get their money, ushering in the return of debtor’s prisons.’”
