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

Quote for today… “The average Joe should be just as concerned about embezzlement, even more so, because it’s so easy to do. All you have to do is be trustworthy to do it.” – Peter Henning

• “We really felt strongly that this has to be a year where we had to hold the line because of the overall economic situation,’ said Tom Strickler, president of Columbia school board. Columbia was able to adopt a zero-tax-increase budget and avoid major cuts when its entire staff — teachers, administrators and support workers — agreed to freeze their wages, saving the district about $330,000. Several coaches also have agreed to work this year without pay, and community members have stepped forward to volunteer as ticket takers and scorekeepers at athletic events to cut costs, Strickler said. Strickler knows the district is hardly on firm financial footing, with pension and special-education costs continuing to soar and state funding not likely to recover from the hit it took this year.” Read the rest of this Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era article here.
• LEGAL NOTICE … This Legal Notice in today’s Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era is a requirement under Pennsylvania law; it provides public notice that the Columbia Historic Market House Trust has been registered as a non-profit organization with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (https://columbianewsandviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/pa-business-entity-registration-columbia-historic-market-house-trust.pdf.)  
• “Trust, but verify!” … Here’s another instance of why those trusted non-profit organizations need to comply with IRS and state guidelines concerning transparency in accounting and open records: Deputy fire chief indicted for alleged embezzlement of FEMA funds. Here is a link to the lawsuit filed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): AL FF lawsuit embezzlement of funds
• And they keep saying, “Trust us.” Last week Exxon Corporation reported a “small” oil spill and release into the Yellowstone River in Montana; here is more on that incident. (New York Times)
• Welcome new businesses on Locust Street. Now Open: Dollar Castle Plus has been operating for about a week but the sign just appeared. Columbian LuAnn Henny is the owner; stop by and say “hi.”
• Across the street theWeeWichery Sandwich Shop is slated to open today. As the sign states, the WeeWichery Sandwich Shop is located where the Daily Grind used to be. 
• Columbia High School’s 100-year old alum (www.lancasteronline.com)
• Remember the month’s ago pictures we took of Dianne (Musser’s Landscapes) readying a Columbia “gateway” – the Musser plot just east of town on Route 462? Well, here are some follow up pictures now that summer has finally arrived. Didn’t Dianne’s hard work pay off well? We think so; thank you, Dianne.

• What if? If you owned this building, what would you do with it? What if someone gave it to you … what would you do with it. Remember there is a council meeting tonight or send us an email; call us or comment (below) on this question and let us know your thoughts.