today’s news and information gleanings from here and there! Today’s Weather!   Today in History!

Quote for today… “Rulers do not reduce taxes to be kind. Expediency and greed create high taxation, and normally it takes an impending catastrophe to bring it down.” ─ Charles Adams

• Columbia Borough council election results by district (Republican) (Democratic)
• Columbia Borough School Distict Board of Directors – Democratic tally – Republican tally 
• From the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era: “In District 02-3-01, which covers the Columbia, Mount Joy and Mountville area, Scott E. Albert made a successful bid against two contenders for the open seat. Here are the Republican votes, with all precincts tallied: Scott E. Albert ….. 1,400; Joseph B. Goody ….. 439; Michael A. Catanese Sr. ….. 220″
• “In Columbia, GOP candidates Mary Barninger, Elaine Beckley, Vernon Detz Jr., Lee Manuel, Kelly Murphy and Renae Sears sought the nomination for four seats. The unofficial results were:Mary Barninger ….. 185
  Kelly Murphy ….. 180
  Renae Sears ….. 167
  Vernon R. Detz Jr. ….. 147
  Lee Manuel ….. 145
  Elaine Beckley ….. 83″
• “Still, turnout was low — just under 15 percent. Officials blamed the turnout, in part, on the rain and the fact that there were relatively few big-ticket races at the county level. Nominees for Lancaster City Council and state and county judgeships, as well as county offices such as commissioner, district attorney and coroner, were unopposed. There are more than 300,000 people registered to vote in Lancaster County, but only the 257,815 signed up with one of the two major parties were eligible to cast ballots for political candidates under the state’s closed-primary system. Only 38,441 county residents voted, or 14.8 percentof those eligible in the primary.” This excerpt from an article in the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era (Reese wins GOP nod for sheriff) should send a strong signal for the imperative to vote. The right to vote is a backbone of free societies; certainly it is one that all citizens of this nation enjoy. 
• If you voted yesterday. thank you for being a good citizen. If you did not vote, please make a pledge to become informed and promise to vote in the November general elections and future ones. If you are not registered; please register to be able to vote. Your vote is your right and your responsibility. It is your legacy to generations yet unborn. Your vote and your involvement in monitoring and maintaining integrity, ethical actions and transparency in governance is the only way to preserve the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.
• from the Harrisburg Patriot-News: an excerpt from this article (“If I don’t vote, I have no right to complain“) – “By participating in a low-turnout local primary, these scarce voters stand to hold a larger sway over pressing issues of taxes, spending and cost cuts at the municipal, school and county levels. In other words, these few primary voters seized a dry-eyed opportunity to push the levers of government that’s closest to the people.” They have it right: the local elected public servants are the ones who determine municipal taxes; set school taxes and make decisions that will impact citizens directly. Low turnouts in these “it’s-just-a-primary” elections provide ideal opportunity for a few to impact the majority.