An offer you can’t refuse… Columbia Cat Action Team member Frank Doutrich has announced that he will donate $10 to the CCAT organization for each person who attends the meeting this Wednesday, November 11, 2026. For example: If 20 people show up that’s a $200 donation to the Columbia Cat Action Team!
Not only will your presence generate a donation, you will learn about the Columbia Cat Action Team.
The meeting will be held 5:30-6:30 p.m. on the second floor of Columbia’s Watch and Clock Museum at North Fifth and Poplar.
A preliminary count of provisional ballots Friday in the race for Pennsylvania’s 41st House District put Democrat Brad Chambers ahead of incumbent Republican Brett Miller.
When polls closed on Election Night, Miller held a 41-vote advantage over Chambers, 14,225 to 14,184.
After adding 139 provisional votes to the tally Friday, Chambers led the contest 14,289 to 14,259.
Seven provisional ballots were challenged, and 14 overseas or military ballots are outstanding and have until Tuesday to arrive to be counted.
Chambers’ 30-vote margin appears to be insurmountable, meaning Democrats will add a third House seat in Lancaster County and grow their state House majority to at least 112.
Two members of the Ziegler family have stepped away from Columbia’s government bodies within weeks of each other, leaving one vacancy on the Columbia Borough School Board and, pending a vote, another on Borough Council.
School Board
Thomas G. Ziegler’s resignation from the school board was approved and took effect October 9. He was appointed to the board in December 2025, according to the district’s website. His brief letter to the board gave no reason for leaving.
Thomas G. Ziegler
The school board must try to fill its vacancy within 30 days to comply with state law, according to the board’s website. (Letters of interest for the school board seat were due on Thursday, October 29.) The board plans to interview interested community members at a committee meeting Thursday, November 5.
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Borough Council
Thomas J. Ziegler
Councilman Thomas J. Ziegler, his son, has also resigned — from borough council — Columbia Spy reported October 29. Ziegler, a Republican, won a council seat in the November 4, 2025, municipal election and was sworn in January 5, 2026.
Council is scheduled to vote on the resignation Thursday, November 5, according to council’s workshop agenda. Council members then have 30 days to appoint a replacement by resolution at a public meeting.
An appointee must be a registered voter in the borough and must have lived in the borough continuously for at least a year immediately before the appointment. For more information, contact borough hall at 308 Locust Street, or call 717-684-2467.
