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

• Today’s Weather! 
• Today in History!
• Traffic Cam Rts. 30 & 441
• The Official Time! – Population Clock (U.S. and World)

Quote for today… “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” – Gustave Flaubert

• “Thanks to a quick-acting neighbor, two Columbia men were arrested Tuesday night after allegedly burglarizing two homes in Bainbridge, police said. Susquehanna Regional police Officer Laurel Maryot quickly apprehended Scott R. Gaenzle, 33, of 305 Walnut St., Columbia, Englert said. The other occupant, later identified as Cody A. Campbell, 21, of 38 S. 8th St., Columbia, got away.” – LancasterOnLine

• “Meiskey will collect taxes” – MyColumbiaNews

• Yep there was a council “meeting of the whole” on Monday night. As stated before, in order to find out what is on the agenda and what’s happening and proposed, you have to attend the meetings. The borough’s postings of  minutes and agendas from previous meetings appear to be at least two months in arrears at the borough Website at this time. – Columbia Borough Website

• Communicating with your residents is a relatively uncomplicated task … if you really care about and like your residents! The spring newsletters are online now: Manor Township’s – West Hempfield’s – Mt. Joy’s – East Donegal Township’s

• “Thirteen Lancaster County school districts (including Columbia) have won permission from the state to boost property taxes next year by more than their state-mandated limits. The districts qualified for waivers, called exceptions, to fund nearly $11 million in expenses that are rising faster than the rate of inflation. That means residents in those districts could see their property tax bills rise in 2012-13 by an average of 4.1 percent, twice the limit districts were to adhere to under Act 1.”When schools have higher expenditures and state funding is stagnant, local taxpayers suffer,” said Laura Cowburn, assistant superintendent for business at Columbia School District. Columbia won exceptions that will enable it to raise taxes by as much as 7.6 percent — three times its index — next year to pay for $419,567 in pension and special-ed costs. Despite that extra taxing ability, Cowburn said, the district will seek to limit any increase in next year’s budget to its Act 1 index of 2.5 percent or less.” – Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era

• Corporations write laws; your elected “public servants” just follow their bidding; read this Paul Krugman opinion: “Lobbyists, Guns and Money.” – The New York Times

• “As public school districts across the midstate begin building their budgets for the next school year, a slow, steady song is emerging. It contains three main beats; deficits, staff furloughs and program cutbacks.” – Harrisburg Patriot News

• Hindsight is 20/20; what we need is forethought! From the elected “public servants.” – “Support in U.S. for Afghan War Drops Sharply, Poll Finds” – The New York Times

• If you have been in the military; if you revere justice; if you treasure equality; if you honor humility; if you believe in the American ideals … you must watch this. The “sunnovabitch Hungarian Jew” said, “I gonna’ become a GI Joe.” Shalom, Tibor … you are an American hero.

• Despicable person(s): “A nearly 7-foot male Burmese python was found Monday in York Haven, dumped by the roadside, slashed in several places, and with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, according to a woman who found it.” – York Daily Record

• Another opinion on Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity” Budget – Ruth Ryan, The Washington Post