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… “Violence sometimes may have cleared away obstructions quickly, but it never has proved itself creative.” – Albert Einstein

• Citizens may think that a notice about tax collection updates would be on the Borough Website; citizens also may want to find the agenda and minutes from the February council meeting. They will be disappointed, though.

• “Despite a number of signs telling people to wait, someone tried to pay property taxes at the Columbia Borough offices on Wednesday. But borough officials are reminding town residents that it will be Monday, April 2, until the borough resumes the collections. Columbia officials have said they can’t start collecting the taxes until after former tax collector Tom Vecchiolli closes his books with Lancaster County and they have time to learn the collection system. Columbia’s council had taken a series of steps Monday to enable the borough to collect the taxes, including appointing Borough Manager Norman Meiskey as tax collector. Residents who had tried to pay their 2012 property tax bills at Vecchiolli’s office on Cherry Street earlier this month saw a handwritten sign, notifying them he was no longer accepting payments. Anyone with questions can call the borough offices at 684-2467.” – MyColumbiaNews

• “Best Buy is closing 50 U.S. stores in fiscal 2013 and is looking to cut costs $800 million by fiscal 2015. A list of the stores to be closed was not immediately available. Best Buy said Thursday: ‘We will announce details about specific store locations and timing for closings once they are finalized.’” – USAToday

• Who dat? featured in Pittsburgh Magazine OnLine:  “Two great collections make this village (Columbia) situated on the Susquehanna worth the visit. The National Watch & Clock Museum has a gallery commemorating the famous Hamilton Watch Co., housed in Lancaster County until 1984, with an overview of the ways humans tell time. Nearby Wright’s Ferry Mansion is the former abode of one of Pennsylvania’s most accomplished early residents, Quaker settler Susanna Wright. Her 1738 home is furnished with exquisite 18th-century American furniture and crafts. Book your room at Sheppard Mansion in Hanover. Don’t miss: Prudhomme’s Lost Cajun Kitchen. Seriously.” – Congratulations, Sharon.

• Surveillance exoneration. At the Tuesday council meeting of the whole – part II, the mayor fessed up that the surveillance cameras recorded no substantiation to the wildly irresponsible and insidious rumor that someone spit on the window of the then “Hub” for Fourth Friday  in Columbia. It’s interesting that these cameras were installed to catch the ne’er-do-well’s. Quite a turnaround!

• Letters to the editors in today’s Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era are about hunting and guns and voting.

• “Ah, those trusted staffers in non-profit organizations – “Democratic campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee defrauded at least 50 candidates, officeholders and political organizations out of $7 million in a scheme that dates back more than a decade, according to a court filing made Tuesday by federal prosecutors.” – USAToday