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

Quote for today… “Our police do what they want because there’s no leadership. Our department is pretty much despised by the community.” – Extracted from a letter to the editor in today’s LNP – Always Lancaster

• And the comments are pouring in about the letter to the editor – Lancaster Online

• Page one news – Mayflies close down bridge again – LNP – Always Lancaster

• Bridge closings make international news – BBC News

• “The mayfly’s lifecycle is one of the most fascinating and fleeting stories in the natural world. A mayfly’s life cycle starts with the males forming a swarm above the water and the females flying into the swarm to mate.  The male grabs a passing female with its elongated front legs and the pair mate in flight.” – freshwaterblog

• “‘I didn’t think it would be this bad. That’s actually why I parked my car on the Wrightsville side and came to look for myself. Last year, it was pretty bad but not as bad as this,’ said Columbia resident Todd Wagner.” – FOX 43 TV

• Did you read the article in yesterday’s LNP – Always Lancaster about the Medicare payouts to area medical services providers? According to the article, “Two ambulance companies were also among the top 10 recipients: Lancaster EMS ($1.4 million) and Susquehanna Valley EMS ($1.1 million).” According to the online database, Susquehanna Valley EMS’s actual receipts were $1,123,359.00. More than enough to pay its chief operating officer $134,755.

• Here are a few more IRS Form 990 (The Form 990 is an annual reporting return that certain federally tax-exempt organizations must file with the IRS. It provides information on the filing organization’s mission, programs, and finances.) statements: Columbia No. 1 Fire Department – Susquehanna Fire Company – Columbia QRS – Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce

• O-o-h-h, ouch! Letter-to-the-editor writer, Jim Morrisiy of Columbia in today’s LNP – Always Lancaster blasts Columbia with lines like this: “Columbia is going nowhere. It’s just a cleaned-up cesspool.” And just yesterday, in a column with notes about the revamped editorial board and letter-to-the-editor standards, this appeared: “We reserve the right not to publish letters and opeds that are mean-spirited, or racist, or otherwise incivil.”