A crowd of people withstood the rainy weather December 14, 2019, to pay homage to those who served the country in Columbia, PA. John Hinkle Jr. welcomed volunteers and the Catholic War Vet Color Guard presented the American flag.

Sergeant 1st Class Karen Zercher (Army),1st Class Petty Officer  Owen Brunner (Navy), Corporal Jeffrey Detz (Marine), Staff Sergeant Nicholas McCarty (Air Force), 3rd Class Petty Officer, Thomas J. McCarty (Coast Guard), and 2nd Engineer George Biagio (Merchant Marine) presented decorated wreaths for their branch of service.  Sergeant Albert C. Storm Jr. (Army) presented a decorated wreath for POW/MIA veterans.

A resolution was made to honor of Chief Warrant Officer 4 Edmund J. Wickenheiser Jr.

Ending the ceremony a gun volley by Vet 21 and taps played by Frost Umble.

As rain continued to fall, families stayed to lay wreaths at the veterans’ graves. Over 600 veterans are laid to rest at Mount Bethel Cemetery and every single one of them received a wreath. People throughout the community made monetary contributions to make sure every veteran grave was decorated.

Friends of Mount Bethel Cemetery organized it, but it’s about all the people who volunteer and sponsor wreaths, to make it happen in Columbia.

Everyone who placed a wreath said the veteran’s name out loud so they are never forgotten. Wreaths now lay inside Mount Bethel Cemetery. – SOURCE: news release

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A Christmas Stocking for Pennsylvania Drivers:

The Legislature wants to give you a Christmas present: a ticket in every stocking.

Speed limits are purposely set below the safe speeds you drive every day. That makes you a “speeder” liable to get a ticket. To make it far easier to give you that ticket, the Legislature wants give municipal police RADAR guns via Speed Trap Bill SB 607.

Speed Trap Bill SB 607 will lead to speed traps everywhere you drive, even though you drive a safe speed almost all the time.

This time of year people aren’t paying attention to the hijinks in Harrisburg. The Christmas season is when the Legislature likes to sneak in bills they have been lobbied to pass. Along with the RADAR profiteers, Harrisburg will profit handsomely from Speed Trap Bill SB 607 because tickets start North of $170. Add your insurance sur-charges to that and it means big money out of your pocket.

And , none of it is for safety.

Highway engineering is the source of true highway safety. Setting limits at the safest speeds, the 85th Percentile Speeds, will provide real safety. But that would make predatory speed enforcement unprofitable, so safety is not likely in our motoring future, if the Legislature has anything to do with it.

Tell your Representative and Senator to vote NO on Speed Trap Bill SB 607. For a truly Merry Christmas.

Tom McCarey, Member National Motorists Association – Letter to the editor

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Spotted some scenes on a dreary Saturday late morning.

Nah, the holiday canine is not on the  truck.

Where’s The River? Tough to see in this misty view down Perry Street.

Three accessible curb cuts at this intersection. Why not four?

Hiring … but what kind of company is MS Companies? What is the company do? Where is it located? What are the jobs? Well, according to the company’s Website:

“MS Companies is bridging the gap between the manufacturing industry and the rapidly growing tech industry. As a data-driven technology company we provide our customers with workforce solutions to increase efficiencies, while also serving as a gateway to the gig economy.

We utilize predictive analytics on our database of over 200,000 talent profiles to identify ideal employees for our customers. Not only can we identify ideal candidates, but also instantly communicate with them through our employee engagement technology.

And now you know … RIGHT?

I’s the borough’s bulletin board, in a way. Next year’s budget is taped to the borough hall windows for your study.

Those barriers still make little sense. Yes there’s signage on the fencing that says cross street at corner crosswalk. But they are so misplaced that few see them. This kind of dumass barrier would never fly in another borough. Barriers are to protect pedestrians from being hit — not to protect some stupid chain link fence.

The house on the left was the site of a house fire leaving it uninhabitable; the two house on the right have also been condemned as uninhabitable too.

A pair of orange gloves lies in the gutter across the street from the burned out house. This pair is just one of more than a few gloves strewn into the gutter. We were told that first responders to the fire scene just discarded them —  just threw them to the street. We’re shaking our heads on that note.

There was a food distribution on Saturday around noon; in spite of the weather people began queuing before the food trucks arrived.

Is this a veterans club or a bar? There are lots of definitions of veterans clubs; the Internal Revenue Service has a definintive narrative that includes: “At least 75 percent of its members are veterans, spouses of veterans, or related to a veteran within two degrees of consanguinity (i.e., grandparent, brother, sister, grandchild represent the most distant allowable relationships).” Military.com says, “Veterans associations usually aren’t just social clubs.”

This Locust Street store is kind of an everything store — serving drinks and snacks.