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

Quote for today… “A request for proposal (RFP) is a solicitation made often through a bidding process, by an agency or company interested in procurement of a commodity, service or valuable asset, to potential suppliers to submit business proposals.”

• Columbia Police Department news release

• What if “requests for proposals” were used for all purchases and leases? “The PennBid Program efficiently matches buyers and sellers of goods and services, providing significant cost and time savings for public agencies, private companies, and their vendors. PennBid is used by over 400 public agencies and private sector firms for material purchases, skilled craft and professional services, and construction projects. Public agencies and private companies can take advantage of the Program to post and manage all aspects of their competitive bid process at absolutely no cost.”

• Council Meeting of the Whole

• Big day in Columbia on December 6 – Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening of “our new building”: the Northwest River Trail Services Building and the Columbia Winterfest Christmas Tree lighting.

Check out the article about Columbians at the Market House in today’s LNP-Always Lancaster on page B-2

• On the back of the November sewer bills. News from the Office of Code Enforcement –186-49. SNOW REMOVAL REQUIREMENTS. (Amended 12-16-03 by Ord. No. 726) Each tenant, owner or person in charge of any property fronting on or adjoining any street in the Borough of Columbia shall clear a pathway of at least three feet in width on the sidewalk in front of or adjoining such property within eight hours after the snow which is the cause thereof has ceased to fall or to be formed or after the same has been deposited thereon in any manner; provided however, that if the snow shall have ceased to fall between dusk and dawn, the pathway shall be cleared before 10 am the following day. The snow cleaned from the pathway shall not be deposited in the street after the street has been plowed. As used herein, “snow” shall mean any precipitation depositing any accumulation on the street and sidewalks, such as snow, sleet, hail, ice and freezing rain. There’s also the Police Department News – With winter just around the corner here is a friendly reminder: DO NOT PLACE ITEMS ON A PUBLIC STREET TO SECURE A PARKING SPACE. The practice of “saving” a parking space is unlawful and could result in a citation being issued and/or the confiscation of the item. – Borough Website

• Know any state workers? Want to see that person’s salary? [NOTE: This report provides information on the annual salaries or hourly/daily wages earned by employees.  Salary and wage amounts do not include other forms of compensation, such as overtime. Or health insurance benefits, we’d guess, too.]

• “One face of the national heroin crisis” – Public Source [NOTE: See this NBC News report, too: “Ground Zero: Tracking heroin from Colombia to America’s streets.”]

• “In a rush to maintain profits, newspapers are abandoning the art of customer service” – NiemanLab

• “How to stop the flu from spreading at home” – futurity.org

• Hope! Penn State’s football team has “now lost four Big Ten games by a combined 15 points.” – Frank Bodani column in the York Daily News