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Altoona Area School Board adopts 3% tax increase

Local News

By a split 5-4 vote, the Altoona Area School Board adopted the final 2026-27 general fund budget with a 3% tax increase Monday, with board President Val Mignogna, Vice President Kelly Irwin Adams, Bob Pacifico and Stephanie McGinnis opposed. The budget’s revenues are listed at about $129.3 million, while expenditures total slightly more than $135.1 million, leaving the district with a deficit of about $5.78 million. With the 3% tax increase, the district’s millage rate is now set at 7.3003 mills. The increase will generate about $666,509 in revenue for the district, according to ...

AMED planning to build new station near Claysburg

Local News

AMED is planning to build a new ambulance station near Claysburg, in cooperation with Greenfield Township, to radically cut down the time it takes to respond to emergencies in the rapidly growing Claysburg area. Currently, it takes about 18 minutes for ambulances at AMED’s station in Roaring Spring to respond to the Claysburg area, but when the new station is built on a lot along old Route 220 at Park Road, it will take about five minutes, according to AMED Executive Director Gary Watters. Recent or proposed development in the area includes expansion connected with the Sheetz ...

Freedom Ride in Tyrone looks to grow

Local News

TYRONE — Officials hope to surpass 500 riders for this year’s Freedom Ride, a bicycle ride to celebrate the Fourth of July. More than 400 riders participated in last year’s event. The event, now in its 15th year as a nonprofit, has grown since its beginning. “It started as a bike ride among friends and has turned into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit where the funds benefit the veterans served at the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center,” said event spokesman John Harlow, retired chief of public affairs at the medical center and now Tyrone mayor. After last year's event, a check ...

Spring Cove School District seeks superintendent

Local News

ROARING SPRING — Following the monthslong search for a new superintendent, Spring Cove School District is reopening the application and advertising process for the position. Board President Amy Acker-Knisely said during the committee of the whole meeting that they are continuing the search for qualified candidates as current Superintendent Betsy Baker approaches her retirement date at the end of the month. If the district fails to find a superintendent after Baker’s departure, Acker-Knisely said it can hire an acting superintendent while the board continues the search. She ...

PennDOT centers to be closed for holiday

Local News

All PennDOT driver’s license and photo centers, including the full-service center in Harrisburg, will be closed Friday, June 19, in observance of the Juneteenth holiday. June 19, known as Juneteenth National Freedom Day, is an official annual observance in Pennsylvania. Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when union soldiers reached Galveston, Texas — the furthest point in the south — with news of the end of the Civil War.

Public schools in Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference seek dismissal of Bishop McCort suit

Local News

The public schools that participate in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference late last week filed petitions with the U.S. District Court in Johnstown seeking dismissal of a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by Bishop McCort Academy. McCort, located in Johnstown, is one of three religious-based schools in the conference that also includes Bishop Guilfoyle Academy of Altoona and Bishop Carroll Catholic High School of Ebenburg. While the 19 public schools and three religious-based schools of the LHAC, spanning a six-county area, make for good athletic competition, McCort in its ...