I am writing in regard to the recent denial for the Old Canal Inn to hold outdoor summer concerts. I attended an event this summer, and it was a very nice, family-oriented evening. My daughter and her friends were able to play outdoor games while the rest of my family enjoyed outdoor music ...
Standardized testing required by the State of Pennsylvania should be a realistic barometer of what children have learned rather than how well their schools have prepared them specifically for the examination. That’s the underlying issue dogging the tests known as the Pennsylvania System of ...
When the Dodge Charger of 20-year-old Nazi sympathizer James Alex Fields Jr., plunged into that crowd of protesters last Saturday, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer, Fields put Charlottesville on the map of modernity alongside Ferguson. Before Fields ran down the protesters, and then backed ...
By Paul Johnson On June 3, 2016, my son Dennis Paul Johnson died of an overdose. He was addicted for at least 15 years. I tried everything I could to help my son recover. Major Richard Kuhl, former director at Salvation Army Adult Rehab Center, told me of the possibilities of many relapses ...
I’ve been a licensed driver in New York from 1947 until 1985 when I moved to Bedford and have had a Pennsylvania driver’s license since. This past Friday, I was shopping in Altoona with my wife when we ran into a rain storm of up to 2¢ inches within one hour. In my 70 years of driving ...
There’s nothing wrong with the Claysburg-Kimmel School Board’s 8-1 decision on Aug. 9 to seek help from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association regarding the district’s search for a new superintendent. Claysburg-Kimmel agreed to pay the PSBA $3,500 for its assistance in finding a ...
After reading Sunday’s article in the Life section about Wopsononock Mountain that quoted Elaine Conrad, I can appreciate her relentless work on collecting articles/pictures on Wopsy. But it must have been quite awhile since she has been to the “lookout” as many call it. Anyone over the ...
President Donald Trump’s pledge to “Make America Great Again” requires nothing less than reigniting economic growth and prosperity. Wealth creation is essential. As Congress pivots to tax reform — which is crucial to the wealth creation — the president could take matters into his ...
Let us briefly rest from the obscene world of politics and turn to the more wholesome subject of hookups at bars. A 28-year-old named Justin Schweiger was recently caught lining up six dates for one night. He had ordered this “buffet of women” with the help of dating apps. Lisette Pylant, ...
The words “hero,” “heroic” and “heroism” all apply to today’s emergency responders. They put their own personal well-being, as well as their lives, on the line every time they respond to a call. The current opioid epidemic has added a new dimension to the challenges with which ...
I am urging the members of the Legislature to vote no on HB 1650. This bill wants to close all the mentally disabled centers in the state of Pennsylvania by the year 2023. I am an advocate for the care and safety that the centers provide for the profoundly mentally disable and autistic ...
There are no words to describe the senseless and barbaric act of violence committed in Charlottesville, Virginia. Such loss of innocent life is always tragic. On this day, I am reminded of a quote coined by the 3rd Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, “Love for all, hatred for ...
Chronic wasting disease was discovered just across the Pennsylvania border from Bedford County in our neighboring state of Maryland’s wild herd in 2010. Prior to that, CWD was discovered in adjacent West Virginia’s wild herd in 2005. Then more recently it was detected in ...
First-class postage stamps at 49 cents each may be about to go the way of the carrier pigeon. By next month, the Postal Service may be given permission to increase stamp prices dramatically. Increasing use of online communications has hurt the Postal Service, cutting deeply into its ...
I see that the City of Altoona is ready to exit Act 47. I only hope that city leaders conduct their business in a wise manner. I mean, just because the county commissioners got property values raised, I hope they don’t go on a spending spree with money collected from taxes. I also ...
The white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville seemed to think that their movement is committed to taking America back. They are mistaken. They cannot take America back because it was never theirs in the first place. It’s true that the legacies of slavery and centuries of legalized ...
Neither in the plain wording of the First Amendment nor in numerous court decisions reaffirming and elaborating on it is there any license for violence or inciting it. Yet some of those who use free speech as a shield clearly are bent on doing harm to others. A small group of bigots was ...
Forty years ago, the 300 block of Fifth Avenue in Altoona was a much different place. Most homes were owned by people who lived in them. When people passed away or moved, homes became rentals. In recent years, neighbors have dealt with drug dealers, foul-mouthed jerks and people who live ...
Decision-making quicksand within Pennsylvania’s state government continues to impede progress in completing work related to the $32 billion 2017-18 state budget — the spending part of which was passed and signed into law about a month and a half ago. There’s no sign that the current ...
Last year, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department approved insurance corporations to raise people’s marketplace health insurance premiums by an average of 33 percent across the state and by 22 percent right here in Blair County. They’re raising our deductibles and copays, too. Everyday ...