At Altoona, ‘everything just works’

October 14, 2018

To many who never set foot inside Altoona Area High School, stereotypes are conjured of a gritty, urban institution where both gangs and drugs are prevalent. And when a rare story is newsworthy — like students making poor choices at a basketball game last year or the rumor of a shooting this past month — it only reinforces those opinions. But from teaching at AAHS since the early 2000s, I cannot begin to tell you how far those perceptions are from reality. We have amazing students who are without a doubt our school’s and community’s biggest asset. Our population is ...

Telemedicine bill will be positive

October 9, 2018

Anytime a family member gets sick, it’s only natural that we want to find the best options to figure out what’s wrong and help them get the care they need. As technology advances, families have more options to receive care — not just in the office of a physician or other provider. Thanks to telemedicine, patients can use their phones, tablets, laptops and connected medical devices for everything from virtual medical appointments for non-urgent symptoms to complex home monitoring that allows care providers to continuously review vital signs of patients with chronic ...

Mirror carries torch for coverage

October 7, 2018

Eleven years ago, when I first came into office, there was a vibrant and engaged local media regularly attending our county commissioners meetings. They reported on a myriad of important issues for our citizens after listening to their presentation and debate. The media members in attendance were also able to present their own questions for response which resulted in a more informative report for the public. The media in regular attendance at that time included WRTA radio, Altoona-based WTAJ (Channel 10), Johnstown-based WJAC (Channel 6), and the Altoona Mirror. Their coverage ...

New political low has been reached

September 21, 2018

Character assassination is distinctly the order of the day. This is not to be accepted for the good of the country. It is alive and well. The question is rather obvious and the roots for World War III are well underway. The battleground — whether we like it or not — is in the continental United States. Readers are entitled to ask: “What is going on?” The newest low in national politics has been reached. A distinguished jurist with an impeccable record is smeared unmercifully by opponents only because he has been nominated to the Supreme Court by President Donald ...

Medal of Honor ceremony stirs emotions

September 2, 2018

Editor’s note: Rita (Lehman) Novak graduated from Central High School in 1962. After her schooling, she raised her family in Windber. Last week, she attended the Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House recognizing her son-in-law, Tech. Sgt. John A. Chapman, who died in action in 2004. Chapman was married to Novak’s daughter, Valerie. Following is Novak’s description of the experience, as told to the Mirror’s Neil Rudel. We were excited to be there and glad John was getting the respect that he deserved. It was a very moving ceremony. I was happy and sad at the same ...

Opioid crisis needs help from above

August 14, 2018

Most of us, whether Catholic or not, have heard the story of Saint Maximillian Kolbe (1894-1941), the Polish saint who died in Auschwitz, a German death camp. Father Kolbe was a Franciscan priest who volunteered to take the place of an inmate who was sentenced to death. Because three unknown men escaped the death camp, the deputy commander of the camp selected 10 prisoners at random to die in an underground bunker to deter further escape attempts. After two weeks, Father Kolbe was the last one remaining in the bunker, and the impatient guards wanted to empty the bunker. On ...