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

Quote for today… “If public safety is so important, why are there so many break ins? Why is heroine use higher than ever here in the borough? Why are kids allowed to hang out in a public park, causing a nuisance while harassing and disrespecting other passersby?” – One of the comments from Cole Umber’s article about the September council of the whole meeting and the ever-increasing, high cost of policing in Columbia.

• Article: Columbia Consolidated shortage of volunteers leads to missed fire calls – Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

• LETTER: The number of people being killed by police is steadily increasing – NewsLanc

• What happens the state takes over your schools: Imposed health care cuts; staff reductions; no raises. – The New York Times

• Tackling the bureaucracy: How the Catholic Church is addressing change – BloombergView [One can only hope other institutions with stodgy infrastructures – school systems, politics, the post office, the VA – catch on.]

• 10.16.2014

• Why gas prices are so cheap – The New York Times