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

Quote for today… “It was while making newspaper deliveries, trying to miss the bushes and hit the porch, that I first learned the importance of accuracy in journalism.” – Charles Osgood

• Columbia woman’s letter to the editor published (Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era)
• Lancaster’s Central Market draws accolades for “preservation” – improvements include “unsealed large windows near the roof to increase ventilation.” (LancasterIntelligencer Journal/New Era)
• Another blog reference to THE.
• REMINDER: LEGAL NOTICE: The Zoning Hearing Board of the Borough of Columbia will meet on Wednesday, August 31, 2011, at 7:00 P.M., in the Municipal Building at 308 Locust Street, Columbia, PA, to consider the following application(s) and/or appeal(s): Todd and Lauren Kauffman, is requesting a modification to a previous zoning decision condition for Kauffman’s Salon located at 310 North Eleventh Street in a Low Density Residential (LDR) zoned district. TMIS, LLC, is requesting special exception(s), variance(s) for parking and/or a modification of a previous zoning decision at 401 Locust Street in a Downtown Commercial (DC) zoned district. Jaydesh Properties, LLC, is requesting special exception(s) and/or variance(s) for construction of a 4 unit mixed use building with parking at 400 Locust Street in a Downtown Commercial(DC) zoned district. If you are a person with a disability wishing to attend this meeting and require an accommodation to participate in the meeting, please contact the Columbia Borough Office at 684- 2467 to discuss how the Borough may accommodate your needs. Jeffrey M. Helm, Zoning Officer.
• Indiana’s school voucher program creates “spike” in parochial school enrollment. “Weeks after Indiana began the nation’s broadest school voucher program, thousands of students have transferred from public to private schools, causing a spike in enrollment at some Catholic institutions that were only recently on the brink of closing for lack of pupils. It’s a scenario public school advocates have long feared: Students fleeing local districts in large numbers, taking with them vital tax dollars that often end up at parochial schools.” Read more here. (Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era)
• From FLASHBACK, a column in today’s LancasterIntelligencer Journal/New Era in which events and incidents from
  the past are revisited, “COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK: The New Era reported on a successful experiment in wireless telegraphy undertaken by two Manheim residents. The men were able to communicate with one another, and the larger of their two sets was able to reach Columbia, a distance of 12 miles. (Sept. 4, 1911)
• Irene’s wake left four Pennsylvanians dead (most resulted from trees falling on them) and several thousand homes without power. Some, according to reports, will be out for several more days. During our yesterday walk, we encountered trees across power lines at two separate locations. Folks with Columbia addresses living east and north of Prospect and the Ironville Pike were out of power until mid afternoon yesterday. We heard the small engine whine of more than a few generators; we saw the typical hurricane residue of snapped branches and foliage debris everywhere.