When high school football resumes this fall, Tom Baker begins his 40th season as the voice of Bellwood-Antis football for varsity, junior varsity and junior high competitions. Throughout those years, he’s missed announcing just one game — when it moved to a Saturday night and conflicted ...

The constant clamor on Altoona’s train tracks has gone, yet the city holds the railroad close. Now, some people tied to the industry believe in a local renaissance, driven forward by a donation. Bryan Schlake is an assistant professor in the Rail Transportation Engineering program at Penn ...

To show support for area law enforcement and first responders, people from around the area came together Friday evening to march to Legion Park in Hollidaysburg. “With everything that is going on in this country, we needed a little positivity,” said Rod Barr, who, along with Anthony ...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the past week has received several friend-of-the-court briefs both supporting and challenging a landmark decision made by the court last year in which it allowed an Altoona woman to proceed with a sexual abuse case against a priest, even though the alleged ...

HOLLIDAYSBURG — An Altoona man was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for the fatal shooting death of 58-year-old David Alan Hoover during a 2018 confrontation in the parking lot of Bethany Lutheran Church in Altoona. John Patrick Stiver II, 35, showed no emotion in court ...

James W. Lower, 86, Williamsburg, died Thursday morning at his home. He was born in Royer, son of the late James F. and Levada K. (Kifer) Lower. Surviving are his beloved wife, Donna (O’Neil); two sons: James E. and Dwayne A.; two grandchildren: Jessica T. Lower and Joshua J. Lower; two ...

Delays in getting results for COVID-19 tests are causing onerous uncertainty nationwide, statewide and locally — with delays as long as three weeks reported for this area. An adult son of Valerie Metzler of Altoona waited three weeks and two days, then was called in to a local specimen ...

The Blair County Emergency Management Department is hoping to entice people with interpersonal skills, computer ability and the discretion to maintain confidentiality for its proposed new coronavirus contact tracing team, to be comprised of volunteers, according to department Director Mark ...

HOLLIDAYSBURG — When Robert Buchanan bought a house along Beaver Street in Hollidaysburg 11 years ago, he said he thought he had found his dream home. But what he had hoped would be a peaceful life for him and his two children has turned into a daily battle with rodents, and the constant ...

A house fire last week on the 800 block of Sixth Avenue was intentionally set, according to the Altoona Fire Department. “We did make a ruling that it is incendiary in nature,” Altoona Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Tofano said Friday. Firefighters were called out at 11:40 p.m. July ...

An Altoona man faces charges after police say he was high on methamphetamine when he crashed a Ford Expedition through the wall of a garage after hitting a parked vehicle. According to charges filed by Altoona police, 38-year-old Robert W. Stetter was behind the wheel of a Ford Expedition when ...

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County will resume criminal court jury trials Monday for the first time since March. “We were successful in seating six juries this week,” Blair County President Judge Elizabeth Doyle said Friday about the revised selection process during the ongoing coronavirus ...

Some national news organizations seem confused as to whether Penn State University is located in University Park or State College. Stories coming out of PSU very often specify State College as the locale. Good. As someone steeped in nostalgia, I prefer the older nomenclature of State ...

An Altoona man was jailed Thursday night after Logan Township police allegedly found methamphetamine on him at a motel. Matthew E. Rhoades, 37, was arrested Thursday night after officers found him in a room at the Cedar Grove Motel, 1671 Bellemade Drive, with methamphetamine in his pocket, ...

The Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission will receive $4.3 million in CARES Act funds, according to U.S. Sen Bob Casey, D-Pa. Economic development assistance programs in Pennsylvania will receive $35.5 million in new funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s ...

A worker hoses down the dust during demolition of the Altoona Area High School B Building on Thursday afternoon. The seats in the old auditorium are seen in the foreground. (Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski)

John Patrick Stiver II, 35, Altoona, was sentenced this morning in Blair County Court to life in prison without parole, based on a first-degree murder conviction. On July 28, 2018, Stiver shot and killed 58-year-old David Alan Hoover in the parking lot of Bethany Lutheran Church during a ...

PETERSBURG — An overheard conversation among a group of military women has led to the realization of a dream for the Petersburg American Legion Post 150. A 20-foot, 10-panel mural, with each panel representing the major wars the United States has fought since the Revolution, is set to be ...

HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Blair County judge on Thursday rejected arguments for a new trial in the case of an Altoona man convicted in February of first-degree murder. The rulings, rendered by Judge Timothy M. Sullivan, clear the way for this morning’s sentencing of 35-year-old John Patrick ...

An inmate, who has been in the Blair County Prison for more than a year awaiting trial on burglary and other offenses, is suing prison officials for allegedly confiscating a personal letter he wrote and turning it over to police. Joshua Wade Roland, 30, of Altoona, in a federal lawsuit filed ...