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

Quote for today… “Man, if pain could stop me, I’d already be dead.” – Army Special Forces Captain Ivan Castro in this article, “Blind Ambition.” CPT Castro was introduced during last night’s Spirit of America performance. Wounded and blinded during hostile actions Operation Iraqi Freedom, CPT Castro suffered permanent loss of vision in his left eye, which left him blind for life. Today, he is the only blind soldier in the Army’s Special Forces.

• Letter to the editor in today’s Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era  bemoans Columbia’s high property taxes

• Barry Ford’s writing sports again; read his article on last night’s Columbia game – Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

• Route 30 construction begins on Monday – PennDOT news release

• You can still get FREE tickets to see the United States Army’s Spirit of America production; two shows today at the Giant Center in Hershey. Although Spirit of America is a FREE event, you must obtain a ticket for the location, date and time you want to attend. Today, September 27, there are shows at 2 pm and at 7:20 pm – Visit the Giant Center Box Office to get your free tickets.

• Opportunistic burglars are everywhere – Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

• Car stolen in West Hempfield Township – WGAL-TV8

• Citizens might expect to go to the Columbia Police Department’s facebook page to find out about traffic signage changes or burglaries in town. They’d be disappointed! There’s nothing there!

• West Hempfield Township’s Police Department uses its page to alert citizens and get responses (maybe helpful tips and sightings.)

• The borough does a tad better at its Website: the new traffic signage information is there; so, too, is Trick or Treat Night information. And the crowing about the Smithsonian Magazine‘s including Columbia in its 20 BEST SMALL TOWNS TO VISIT article. Unfortunately, there’s no mention notifying citizens about the current rash of burglaries.

• Want to find out more about the burglaries? Look here: “You know you’re from Columbia PA if…” page’s threads.