If people of area counties want a respite from thinking about the partial federal government shutdown, they have the option of focusing on two growing trends in education — four-day weeks and bans on homework — that, who knows, might someday take hold here, for better or worse. It’s ...
Washington County, located in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, is not a quick ride from Blair County. However, what is happening there should evoke notice and contemplation from people here and throughout the rest of the commonwealth. For the benefit of readers who might have missed ...
Better-than-average January weather conditions have greeted the 103rd annual Pennsylvania Farm Show, which is underway this week in Harrisburg. The absence of snow, slippery highways and other adverse conditions is providing a great opportunity for area residents — non-farmers as well as ...
“Climate change” was a major topic during 2018, referring, of course, to the issue of global warming and the factors allegedly contributing to it. Blair County is beginning this year with a different kind of climate change; some people might prefer to use the words “different ...
Pennsylvania’s two public pension systems received a wake-up call on Dec. 20, delivered by a review commission in a 400-page report. What’s clear from the report is that, if the two pension funds don’t respond appropriately, the funds risk increasingly shaky times. Fortunately, they ...
On the subject of New Year’s resolutions, central Pennsylvania is like anywhere else in America. Many people will make resolutions — some of them frivolous, but some very meaningful. Some of those resolutions will fall by the wayside quickly, others will remain intact for several months ...
Looking back on 2018, it was in numerous ways similar to 1968, which a 2008 publication by Time Books described as “The Year That Changed the World.” Reflecting on that year five decades ago, Smithsonian magazine, in its January-February 2018 issue, provided a more negative description: ...
There’s nothing wrong with the “serious and honest look” at legalizing recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania that Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed. “Taking a look” wouldn’t obligate the Keystone State to pursue the legalization. That study would merely identify the pros and cons tied to ...
Christmas is a time of joy and celebration, but it’s also a time of faith, hope, gratitude and appreciation. People here should reflect on that today and feel comfort as they ponder Jesus’ birth in a manger in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, but also not fail to acknowledge how much the world ...
For many families, Christmas Eve, from before dawn through midnight, holds as much or more excitement than the actual holiday observance itself. It’s not necessarily because of the rush to tie up the proverbial loose ends of holiday shopping, although that might factor into the overall ...
It’s not exaggeration to say that additional clouds of shock and disgust descended upon parishioners of the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese earlier this month when they learned the financial toll of the diocese’s child sexual abuse scandal whose fallout isn’t destined to go away ...
For most families, the purchase of a home is the biggest investment they’ll ever make, and protecting that investment is among their most important personal interests. It’s no wonder then that some Logan Township residents who own properties near Penn State Altoona are concerned about a ...
Pennsylvania taxpayers won’t have to look under their Christmas trees on Dec. 25 to find their gift from the state Legislature. It’s already been delivered, not by Santa Claus, but by way of an assurance from Republican leaders that they don’t intend to seek any tax increases as part ...
Time is short for those of us who have fallen behind on our Christmas shopping. As we cope with the struggles of everyday life while trying to find the perfect gifts for everyone on our lists, let us not neglect to take care of the one task that ought not to require any thought: ensuring Santa ...
As U.S. presidents born nearly a century ago, the late George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter each reached the age of 94. Observing Carter seated in the front row during Bush’s Wednesday funeral, we couldn’t help but reflect on how dramatically the nation’s political landscape has changed ...
AMED and other ambulance services across Pennsylvania are in the proverbial dark — and rightly concerned — about how much they ultimately will benefit from a new law dealing with reimbursements for situations in which transportation to a hospital isn’t needed. About all that can be ...
The Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee — and the General Assembly as a whole — need to take a close look at Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposal that the state cover at least half the cost of voting machines that would leave a paper trail as a safeguard against hacking. Doing that would ...
Older Americans are well aware that two dates always should remain etched in the minds of the people of this nation. Younger Americans obviously are aware of the more recent of the two dates: Sept. 11, 2001, the day that this country was victimized by a four-pronged terrorist attack from the ...
Much is being said — and will be said in the days ahead — about the exemplary life and the honorable presidency of George H. W. Bush, this nation’s 41st chief executive, who died late Friday. But beyond reacting to the former president’s death, this also is a time when Americans ...
Just because incidents of suicide don’t usually garner front-page headlines or bulletins in the electronic media, that in no way diminishes the seriousness of the problem here in central Pennsylvania. Mirror reporters have delved into the problem and its effects on families, loved ones, ...