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

Today’s quote … “It’s getting old, getting bounced around all the time.” – Mark Popovich, a regular working class guy (as many of us) talking about his life after holding three jobs following his job loss after the fat cats made billions in shady acquisitions. – The New York Times

• “Most Americans Who See Fake News Believe It, New Survey Says” – BuzzFeed News

• Old news, but “Wow!” | The December 1, 2016 Re-Organization Meeting Minutes show that Kathy Hohenadel, vice president (the minutes show “Current Board President”) of the Columbia Borough School Board of directors was not selected to be the president for the 2017 year. In a 4-3 vote, Keith Combs became the president.

• Kudos to the School District for the prompt posting of the December 1, 2016 meeting minutes! Note that Keith Combs, newly installed board president, presided over the December 1 committee of the whole meeting.

• Applause, too, for the Borough Councillors heading up the assorted committees for the prompt posting of committee meetings. The minutes are accessible by going to the Website (http://www.columbiapa.net/) – click on the GOVERNMENT TAB on the left and then click on “Committees” to display the the separate committees.

• Unfortunately, the Borough Council meeting minutes are not as up-to-date. The last minutes posted are August’s.

• Safely back in the saddle for six more years, bank-loving Pat “wants to undo provisions that he says are ‘badly flawed’ and have been overly restrictive to the financial industry.” – The Morning Call

• “A dog’s owner lay dying — so she came to the hospital for a final goodbye” – The Morning Call

• “Pets Help People Manage The Pain Of Serious Mental Illness” – NPR

• “For your protection, the Pennsylvania Department of State’s Bureau of Charitable Organizations maintains a publicly accessible online database which contains all legally established charities in Pennsylvania. Prior to giving, you can verify the legitimacy of any charity by using this database.” – PA State Representative Brett Miller’s email to constituents

• “Check your grandma’s attic for vintage toys” – The Reading Eagle

• Lancaster County inspections – Lancaster Online

• York County inpections – The York Daily Record / York Sunday News

Click here to go to the state’s Website of inspections … and the listing of the violations at each location. The statewide directory lists inspections for all municipalities in York County and Lancaster County.… except those in Columbia – Columbia persists in having its own inspection system with its own forms and inspection items – rather than the one used statewide.

• Afterthought 1: Now that the overly annoying political ads have disappeared from the TV advertising landscape, the just-as-annoying year-end car ads have hit. Gawd, they’re awful.

• Afterthought 2: Charging for overhead space? No, thanks, United!