• Columbia bus shelter removed: A downtown Columbia bus shelter was removed in March after borough officials deemed it public safety issue. Police Chief Jack Brommer said the station has received multiple reports of humane feces and litter at the station. Brommer contacted South Central Transit Authority, which operates the bus route. Officials agreed the shelter was in bad shape. Greg Downing, SCTA executive director, said the shelter was removed at the borough’s suggestion. He explained that cleaning the shelter once a week led to poor conditions and people started waiting outside, unless it was raining. Even though nothing is set in stone, Broomer said the borough plans on adding a new shelter at the stop in the future. (Source: LNP)
• Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro slams Trumps Tariffs: Trump’s blanket 10% tariffs “on all countries” went into effect on Saturday. Higher-rate tariffs on countries his administration says has comparably larger trade deficits with the U.S. are planned to go into effect on Wednesday. Speaking at the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau luncheon in Harrisburg, Shapiro criticized Trump’s tariffs “reckless” and “dangerous,” warning they’re likely to force U.S. allies to adopt retaliatory policies that would raise the cost of Pennsylvania-produced goods in their countries. Shapiro said the tariffs will harm Pa. farmers because they’ll force buyers like Mexico to search for cheaper products, lowering U.S. businesses’ share of international markets. Shapiro cited the 2018, retaliatory tariffs imposed by China in response to Trump policies ultimately required the federal government to pay some $27 billion to American farmers shut out of the China market. (Source. LNP)
• Octorara Area School District teachers set to have a salary increase: Octorara Area School District teachers will receive an average salary increase of 14% over a new four-year contract that expires June 30, 2030. Teachers will have an average salary increase of 4.75% each year of the contract. All nine school board members voted March 17 to approve the collective bargaining agreement, which goes into effect July 1, 2026. The first and second years of the contract, the board will remove a step on teachers’ salary schedule. Steps refer to salary increases based on years of experience. Therefore, teachers’ salaries will reach their maximum, aside from annual increases, after earning the equivalent of 17 then 16 years of experience, respectively. (Source: LNP)
• Funding boosts for Central Pennsylvania watershed projects: The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission announced that $75,000 is going towards projects, aiming to grow watersheds in central Pennsylvania. The money is going towards five projects in the Lancaster and York areas. The funding for the five projects comes from York and Lancaster Counties Habitat Improvement Grant Program. The program funds come from Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station and the Muddy Run Pumped Storage Project. (Source: ABC 27)
• Nation/world: AP Sources say, IRS acting Chief resign over tax agreement with ICE (Source: AP News) China hits back at U.S Tariffs (Source: NBC News) Canada hits back at U.S tariffs (Source: BBC News) Coalition agreement reached between Germany’s CDU and Social Democrats (Source: UPI)
