Coronavirus quarantines | Tough decisions for local officials – Route Fifty

“Shifting to an earlier time is just like flying eastward, and our bodies adapt much more easily when we fly westward, or have the time change in the fall when we get an extra hour of sleep,” David Earnest says. “The time change in the spring—when we’re pulled from our beds an hour earlier—is more significant.” (Credit: Aya/Flickr)

Why? | Does Daylight Saving Time make some of us feel so miserable – Futurity

The Numbers

March 8 we’ll be springing forward as daylight saving time takes effect. Let’s take a look at the numbers behind DST.

102 years

Daylight saving time is a little over a century old in the U.S. During World War I, Germany put a daylight saving law into place to conserve energy in support of military efforts. The United Kingdom and U.S. soon followed suit — the U.S. enacted a wartime daylight saving law in 1918.

$400 million

That’s how much extra revenue the golf industry estimated it could bring in when it lobbied for more daylight saving time in 1986. Other businesses also get a DST boost: The home improvement, hiking, barbecuing and sports industries all benefit from longer daylight hours. Gasoline sales typically go up, too. It turns out, if you give Americans a little extra daylight, they’ll find a way to spend money enjoying it.

70%

Not everyone wants to keep changing the clocks. A recent poll found that 7 in 10 Americans want to stick to just daylight saving time or just standard time. The problem is, no one can agree which clock to stick with. And as for that myth that daylight saving time exists because of farmers? Not so much. The farming lobby fought against DST for decades and was one of the main reasons there was no peacetime daylight saving law until the 1960s. – SOURCE: MarketPlace

the price of policing in Columbia & more | Observations from the agenda and meeting packet for the Tuesday Columbia Borough Council Meeting:

• The police department report (beginning on page 41) is much more detailed than previous police department reports.
• There’s considerable detail, too, concerning the police department’s proposed new vehicle (including the outfitting with police department paraphernalia).
• There’s also a repair estimate for a police vehicle that was disabled as crash outcome. What is unknown is what caused the crash. Usually collision damage to the rear of a vehicle is caused by another vehicle driver. Why is the cost of repairs not being borne by the other driver’s insurance?
• This note is from the Board of Health/Zoning/Planning Report on page 61: “There was discussion, at the work session to possibly retain Jeff Helm to continue work on the text amendments for the Zoning Ordinance.”
• Doesn’t seem like a great idea.  This agenda item: “Consider request from Our Home of Hope to use the Borough Hall as an emergency gathering site,” seems incongruous with critical incident management. Almost never is it a prudent practice to have “other than authorized personnel” be housed near the emergency operations center during critical incidents.

panic buying | At the first indication of a snowfall, too many folks have to have their “milk and bread.” Seems that’s the case, too with the threat of a global pandemic. This New Yorker piece claims, “We are all irrational shoppers,” as runs on masks,hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes create shortages on store shelves.

Follow the money in politics | Who knew? Do school guidance counselors even suggest politics as a career field? “Lancaster County GOP executive director is leaving for new statewide role.”