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

Quote for today… “By the looks of the trash on Fourth Street, no one cares. The borough may fare better during the appeal process if they clean up that entire area. Columbia has a very nice highrise for the elderly across from Club Good Times, but those residents have to walk through filth to get over town. You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something in your life.” –  one of more than a few comments about Club Good Times at Columbia Spy.

• “”If it wasn’t for what happened outside, (residents) wouldn’t be so concerned with what went on inside.” Another comment, this time from Columbia’s mayor, in the LNP – Always Lancaster article about the recent court decision overturning the borough’s denying nude dancing. Maybe the mayor’s referencing the inconsistency of codes application throughout the town. [NOTE: See the comments at Columbia Spy.]

• Yeah, but you can’t show your ta-ta’s in Red Lion: “‘Do fat men… get arrested for going topless? NO, so why should women?” – The York Daily Record

Into the Weeds

C’mon codes … the foot-high foliage (aka, weeds) in front of this vacant property (photo taken yesterday afternoon) on Ironville Pike are “out of sync” with the other manicured yards on that newly “sidewalked” part of town.

[NOTE: The weeds have been cut; noticed at 5:45 pm Sunday.]

• Derailment after derailment. They just keep happening. – Public Source

• Police misconduct | It’s wrong and it’s really expensive – Public Source

• 1.1 Million Pennsylvanians lack Internet access and breaking up the Internet monopolies is tougher when state laws hand over the keys to certain providers. Lancaster’s on a path to change the landscape. Look at what happens in Tennessee, where “state laws, which are suppoprted by the cable industry.” – various sources

• In Lancaster County – Lancaster Online.

• A complete listing of all inspections at food serving facilities in Lancaster, York counties and the entire state, except those in Columbia, are listed at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Website. “Inspections are a “snapshot” of the day and time of the inspection. Also, at the time of the inspection, violations are recorded but are often corrected on the spot prior to the inspector leaving the facility. Inspection results are posted as inspections are conducted, and only represent eating and drinking establishments and retail food establishments that fall under the inspection jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, and those county and local health departments which have elected to post results.”

• Of course, if you’re trying to see the results of any food serving establishment in Columbia, you’re out of luck – Columbia’s codes folks choose not to share that information, if it exists, unless a right-to-know request is submitted.

• “Most Americans live in poverty at least once.” – Futurity.org