Despite agreement across Pennsylvania that bullying in schools is a problem that needs much more preventive action, it is hard to imagine that proposals being prepared by state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Johnstown, will achieve passage without formidable challenges. It is reasonable to wonder how ...
Getting U.S. troops out of Afghanistan would be quite a coup for President Donald Trump. It would give him a foreign policy advantage going into next year’s election — one no Democratic candidate could criticize. But would it also be setting the stage for a bloodbath? Would it mean a ...
Police officers and sheriff’s deputies are accused regularly — and as a class — of being too eager to use violence, especially against African-Americans. Those who have that attitude ought to consider what happened last Wednesday night in Philadelphia. During the day there, police ...
Pennsylvania lawmakers still are trying to think of ways to undo the Legislature’s shortsightedness and narrow-mindedness when they passed a law in October 2017 to abandon what was then the commonwealth’s archaic, overly restrictive fireworks rules. The effort to bring rules governing ...
The finding that a former northwestern Pennsylvania district judge misclassified more than 800 civil claims raises serious questions that need to be addressed. Probably the most basic one in many people’s minds is whether district judge training is all that it should be in terms of ...
The potential impact of a $1 million state grant targeted for a long-abandoned section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bedford and Fulton counties extends far beyond that former part of “America’s First Superhighway.” The grant will impact in a positive way, as well, these other ...
Soundbites won’t stop the horrific mass shootings that are plaguing America and killing or altering the lives of dozens of Americans. Yet that is all politicians seem willing to offer: Ban assault weapons, add more security, limit the capacity of ammunition magazines, reduce violence in ...
Wise Guys Pizza might have to take a “slice” out of the way it tries to attract customers to its 11th Avenue entrance. The city’s Zoning Hearing Board will make a determination when it considers a Wise Guys application for a variance on Aug. 14. But for now, during this summer that has ...
Residents of this part of Pennsylvania have been watching and grieving, along with other people across the nation, as mass shootings have grown both in frequency and in the toll of death, injury, profound sadness and psychological wounds they have inflicted. However, unlike the tragedies that ...
Federal regulators should continue their current push for more consistent labeling to help consumers identify when food should no longer be kept for consumption. Those efforts by the federal government, discussed in a July 28 Mirror article, actually should be stepped up, considering the ...
Blair County Commissioner Ted Beam Jr. summed up the issue of safety at this county’s magisterial district courts correctly last week when he said, “I don’t think you can ever skimp on safety.” Beam’s comment came as the county commissioners were announcing that they would continue ...
During this time when compassion and aid toward fellow human beings is so much an issue on the national scene, due to the immigration crisis on America’s southern border, it is uplifting whenever anyone has the opportunity to witness how the spirit of love, compassion, understanding and human ...
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is using valid arguments trying to justify the 6 percent toll increase scheduled to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 5 on all sections and extensions except three western Pennsylvania “cashless” toll facilities. Anyone familiar with the facts about why ...
Newry Borough was correct in seeking — and receiving — approval from Blair County Court to shrink the size of its governing council to three members from five. Now, hopefully, the right scenario exists for the town’s government to operate without borough council vacancies going forward, ...
It will not be an economic catastrophe if neither the Altoona area nor the area close to Johnstown lands a mini casino as the result of an auction to be conducted by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board around Sept. 4. Pennsylvania is saturated with gambling options, and some people rightly ...
Now, a half-century after America’s victory in the race to the moon, many people in this country might be lamenting that much greater space achievements have not been forthcoming over the five decades since that great accomplishment. Sure, there were additional moon landings, the subsequent ...
It has been pointed out that President Donald Trump’s attack on four Democratic congresswomen may have been calculated for political reasons. That is, Trump may have hoped outrage over his tweet would show his base that moderate Democrats have more in common with their party’s radicals ...
Gov. Tom Wolf is opting for “Plan B” to help counties pay 60 percent of their costs tied to acquiring new voting machines with voter-verifiable paper systems. It’s unfortunate that the General Assembly and governor haven’t been able to achieve an accord through the preferable ...
Pennsylvania has kicked the proverbial can down the road on the issue of single-use plastics, unlike what has been happening in numerous other states. For example, Vermont and Maine have just imposed statewide bans on plastic bags while Palo Alto, Calif., and Orlando, Fla., last month passed ...
Trust that Roman Catholic Church officials will do the right thing about allegations of sexual misconduct by members of the clergy is in question in many countries, not just the United States. What Pope Francis and others in the Catholic hierarchy do about the matter is watched closely ...