Today’s news and information gleanings from here and there.

Today’s quote … ““Weasels may look cute and cuddly;  you don’t want to get too close to these little beasts. They might have cute little faces, but weasels are also bloodthirsty.” – Weasel facts [NOTE: Weasel-like actions seem to happen frequently in government.]

• Ben Gorman, founder of Columbia-based enterprise, obituary – Lancaster Online

• “Grace United Church of Christ invites you to Faith Over Fear, a post-election panel to help us understand what the electoral results might mean for Lancaster. Joining us at Grace on December 9th at 6:00pm will be Mayor Gray, other civil representatives, and local representatives from support organizations such as Church World Service, the NAACP, the YMCA as well as a legal perspective of rights for the LGBTQIA community.”

• There is a trove of comments following this Columbia Spy article: “Municipal Authority vs “Professional Services” – What’s the bottom line?” that have piqued questions about transparency.

• Curiously, the state’s code appears to exempt “professional services” agreements from the competitive bidding process. Why, you may ask, would the legislators write a code that allows for the issuance of non-competitive issuance of contracts or agreements? Mull on that for a while!

• According this article, “Competitive Bidding of Municipal Contracts in Pennsylvania and the Litigation It Generates: Who Is the Lowest Responsible Bidder?”, “‘Bidding requirements ’are for the purpose of inviting competition, to guard against favoritism, improvidence, extravagance, fraud and corruption in the awarding of municipal contracts, and to secure the best work or supplies at the lowest price practicable, and are enacted for the benefit of property holders and taxpayers, and not for the benefit or enrichment of bidders, and should be so construed and administered as to accomplish such purpose fairly and  reasonably with sole reference to the public interest.”

• Drain that swamp! | “Trump Appoints Goldman Sachs Insider as Treasury Sec, Bank’s Stocks Skyrocket to Record Highs” – The Free Thought Project

• “Why Is the USDA Dumping Millions of Pounds of Fatty Cheese on Poor People?” – AlterNet

• Rape charge at a church – Pennlive

• “Pennsylvania high school coaches ordered not to pray with players following complaints” – Lancaster Online

• “Congress Approves Measure for Crusade Against “Fake News” — Using DoD Funding” – The Free Thought Project

• Cocalico decides against school resource officer according to an article in today’s LNP – Always Lancaster. – Read the details in a comprehensive School Board Special Meeting minutes report.

• Pennsylvania’s Deadline for Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program is Dec. 31 Senior citizens are reminded that the deadline to apply for the Pennsylvania’s 2015 Property Tax/Rent Rebate program is Dec. 31. The rebate program benefits eligible Pennsylvanians age 65 and older; widows and widowers age 50 and older; and people with disabilities age 18 and older.