Complaints about long waits in the emergency department and a lack of registered nurses plagued the hospital throughout the year, with many patients calling the Mirror newsroom to voice their dissatisfaction with the local medical facility.

Some patients reported wait times in excess of 20 hours in the Emergency Room.

No. 2 — UPMC Altoona in crisis

Staffing issues flared in May when a hospital management newsletter suggested UPMC Altoona have nurses in the medical/surgical unit responsible for more patients.

A spate of fatal home fires were among the top news stories of 2022.

“Until things improve, we are asking staff to be understanding that taking 8 patients on med/surg is possible, when staffing situations are poor,” the newsletter passage stated. “This is not ideal, nor is it safe, but this is a direct order coming from upper management … and refusal to take 8 when asked to may result in an HR (Human Resources) trip.”

This caused an outcry in the community and among nurses and patients, as typically there is one registered nurse for every five or six patients.

UPMC attempted to tamp down the fiery reaction.

“The allegation is simply not true,” hospital spokesman Ed DeWitt stated in an email, citing an “A” safety grade for the hospital released by The Leapfrog Group, an organization that evaluates medical facilities. “Delivering safe, quality patient care is always our highest priority,” DeWitt wrote.

Still the newsletter shone a spotlight on the hospital’s need for more nurses and highlighted UPMC Altoona’s pay scale.

Altoona Fire Department crews respond to a fire on the 500 block of Second Avenue Jan. 14, 2022, that claimed the life of Penny Hatch, 60, of Altoona. File photo for the Mirror by Allison Gressler

Nurses and their union, the Service Employees International Union, kept the pressure on the hospital and in July, UPMC Altoona offered to open negotiations on a new contract, so it could make nursing jobs at UPMC Altoona more attractive sooner — an offer the union accepted.

On Dec. 21, the registered nurses of UPMC Altoona voted “overwhelmingly” to ratify a new contract with the hospital that both sides hope will help rectify a nursing shortage and ease long wait times.

Other top stories of the year include:

No. 3 — Multiple fires

Numerous fires, including several fatal fires, hit Blair County in 2022.

Penny Hatch, 60, was killed in a Jan. 14 house fire on Dutch Hill, and just a few weeks later, Martin Williams, 77, died during a fast-moving structure fire Jan. 31 on the 200 block of Waites Lane in Sinking Valley. Williams’ dog was also killed in the blaze.

Two weeks later, Mark Stuart, 75, was killed in a Feb. 15 house fire on the 100 block of East Fifth Avenue.

The spate of fires in Blair County continued, with firefighters responding to two separate dwelling fires just minutes apart during the morning of Feb. 21. Five people were displaced after a fire tore through a duplex on Washington Avenue, Tyrone, and another family lost their home in a fast moving fire on Gesser Avenue, Lakemont.

On April 17, a fire at Logan Hills Apartments on Fairway Drive sent a man and a woman to UPMC Altoona and rendered about 24 others temporarily homeless. In October, Capt. Ben Barstow and 12 of his colleagues received medals from Altoona City Council for their work that day, as they rescued an unconscious woman from a burning apartment.

Two residents were left without a home after a fire swept through their residence the morning of June 21 on the 14000 block of South Eagle Valley Road in Snyder Township. The next day, June 22, a home in the Logan Ridge Trailer Park in Tyrone was destroyed.

On July 18, less than a month later, a fire destroyed a duplex and damaged a second residence on the 1300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue.

A Freedom Township family was left homeless after a fire broke out early Oct. 26, destroying three mobile homes, including the home the family was moving out of and the home into which they were moving.

The next month, Tim and Brenda Clapper lost their home in Scotch Valley during a Nov. 10 fire.

Working smoke detectors, neighbors and first responders were credited with saving the couple’s lives. Both are being treated for burns and smoke inhalation.

Snow, high winds and freezing temperatures challenged firefighters in two recent fires that left two families homeless.

Late Dec.23 and into the next morning, a fire whipped by high winds destroyed a home in the Greenwood section of Altoona and on Dec. 26, a fire broke out in a home on Apple Blossom Lane, Duncansville.

No. 4 — Graphic novel causes uproar

In November, some Hollidaysburg Area Junior High School parents expressed their concerns about a graphic novel, “Gender Queer,” appearing on the desk of a junior high teacher.

One of those parents, a mother who wished to remain anonymous, said her son informed her his teacher had been bringing the book to school. The woman called the junior high principal, Kenneth Krott, to inform him of the book and her concerns.

Krott investigated and found the teacher did have the book on her desk.

The mother also sent Superintendent Robert Gildea, other members of administration and the school board a letter to make sure they were aware of the situation.

The mother received a response from Gildea that confirmed the teacher had been bringing the book to school and was told to not bring it anymore.

He also sent out a letter to parents of the junior high students to address the situation regarding the book.

The outcry over the novel had hundreds of concerned parents and residents showing up at school board meetings.

In December, after weeks of debate and heated public comment, the Hollidaysburg Area School Board approved the first readings of a pair of proposed policies to address the issues.

An amendment to policy 824 deals with maintaining professional adult/student boundaries, while new policy 321 defines what is and isn’t allowed in district classrooms concerning political activity.

No. 5 — Cinko gets sentence of 104 years

In March, Brian S. Cinko, 49, received one of the longest sentences in county history when Blair County President Judge Elizabeth A. Doyle sentenced him to 104.5 to 209 years behind bars on child sexual abuse charges.

It took a Blair County jury just two hours on Dec. 8, 2021, to convict Cinko on 34 counts of child abuse, which included child rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and corruption of a minor.

Doyle mentioned that Cinko had repeatedly violated not only the boy, who at the time was 8 years old, but also violated the friendship and trust that the boy, his family and friends had placed in Cinko.

His acts against the child were “heinous and painful,” Doyle said.

Cinko, who previously served more than 20 years in a state correctional institution on child sexual abuse charges, befriended the boy’s family, and when they needed a place to stay, he invited them to come to his apartment, which they shared for up to two months.

Cinko repeatedly abused the youngster, and police eventually charged him with 126 crimes, including 20 counts of rape of a child, according to trial testimony.

No. 6 — DA clears sergeant in Russell death

In July, the Blair County District Attorney’s Office exonerated the late Altoona police sergeant who fired a shot at an inmate who had taken a Blair County corrections officer hostage in November 2021.

The shot, fired by George Bistline, struck and killed Rhonda Russell, a 14-year veteran corrections officer, who had been disarmed and restrained by inmate Christopher Aikens.

The DA’s office faulted security procedures in place at Central Court and recommended improvements to prevent a recurrence. Those improvements have already begun, according to Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks.

In August, Russell’s estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit naming several factors in a “state-created danger” leading to her death.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Johnstown, names the defendants as Blair County, the city of Altoona, county prison Warden Abbie Tate, deputy wardens James Eckard and Shaun Edmundson, Lt. David Fogel, shift commanders Nathaniel Port and Zachary Smith, Sheriff James Ott, Deputy Sheriff James Hopkins and the estate of Altoona Police Sgt. George Bistline.

Pittsburgh attorney Robert Bracken said the civil court lawsuit is seeking monetary damages — with no amount specified — and procedural reforms beyond ones already initiated. That case continues.

No. 7 — Blair job opening woes

Throughout the year, Blair County continued to have difficulty hiring and retaining staff.

On March 2, two employees told the Blair County Salary Board the problem was due to low pay as the board voted on starting pay ranges for 15 vacant or soon-to-be vacant jobs.

At that time, the county had about 90 open positions, Human Resources Director Katherine Swigart said.

United Mine Workers of America Local 2002 President Steffan Housum asked the salary board, which includes county commissioners Bruce Erb, Laura Burke and Amy Webster, to take another look at what the union proposed to resolve stalled contract negotiations.

“There is a revolving door in this county,” Housum said. “We’re trying to fight for fair wages, equitable wages. … These are people’s lives we’re talking about.”

Meanwhile, on March 3, the commissioners approved a three-year contract with a group of unionized employees while another employee contract remains outstanding.

The approved contract, with the residual unit of the United Mine Workers of America, affected an estimated 60 positions held by 45 current employees at the 911 Center and in the assessment, treasurer, human services, data processing, tax claim, voter registration, controller and other select offices.

In the first year, employees covered by the contract would receive a wide range of pay increases, averaging 11.28%, achieved by assigning job classifications to positions and placing them within pay scale ranges developed after the county’s salary study was completed.

Swigart told the commissioners that 27 of the employees affected by the contract would receive raises of at least 10%. The highest increase awarded was 35%.

On March 29, the commissioners approved a labor contract affecting sheriff deputies despite pleas to reconsider wages proposed for those deputies.

The current base starting pay for a sheriff deputy was $15.39 an hour, with the new contract, that hourly rate increased by 13 cents, to $15.52 an hour.

Chief Sheriff Deputy Christopher Tatar said the commissioners should reconsider all pay rates, especially in the sheriff’s office where the rates fall below industry standard.

The pay rates, according to Sheriff James Ott, are a reason why his office keeps training deputies who move onto other jobs.

On July 26, caseworkers for Blair County Children, Youth & Families asked the commissioners to address pay levels contributing to staff shortages and hiring difficulties.

“We are desperately asking for help, and we are begging you to be child welfare champions for the kids and families of Blair County,” assessment caseworker Allison Morgan told commissioners.

Morgan, who has worked three years for the county, said that of 37 caseworker positions in her office, 25 were vacant and their workload has fallen on the remaining 12.

“Caseworkers are vital to the safety of the kids in the community,” she said. “With so many caseworker vacancies, the remaining staff is burning out.”

In late August, a former supervisor for Blair County Children Youth & Families said she saw no immediate relief coming for the office in crisis due to significant understaffing and lack of leadership.

No. 8 — COVID-19 rules end

On Feb. 9, the Hollidaysburg Area School Board voted to end masking requirements effective immediately and to do away with contact tracing after Feb. 23. Those actions were mimicked by other school boards and organizations that relaxed COVID-19 rules throughout the year as the number of cases dropped.

“I think it’s time our lives come back to normal,” Ying Li said during the Hollidaysburg Area School Board meeting.

No. 9 — Penn State Altoona

The year 2022 marked a change in leadership at Penn State Altoona.

On Dec. 13, Ron Darbeau, vice president for faculty affairs and academic operations at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, was named as chancellor effective Jan. 3.

Darbeau succeeds outgoing Chancellor and Dean Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry, who retired at the end of 2022 after more than 38 years of service to Penn State and 43 years in higher education. Bechtel-Wherry has led the Altoona campus since 2005 and has also served as a professor of biobehavioral health and women’s, gender and sexuality studies.

She is credited with facilitating the acquisition of several buildings in downtown Altoona to create the Penn State Altoona Downtown Campus and with aiding in the creation of a bike trail between the Ivyside and Downtown campuses.

Under her tenure, Penn State Altoona expanded its academic offerings to include the only environmental studies program offered by a Penn State campus. In addition, Penn State Altoona added the rail transportation engineering program, the only degree of its kind in the nation.

But on April 15, a memo sent to the local college staff indicated that Penn State Altoona was discontinuing at least six academic programs for which enrollment had shrunk in recent times, a move that is part of universitywide cost cutting.

In keeping with the discontinuations, the college was not renewing the contracts of eight faculty members for the 2022-23 academic year and had canceled or postponed searches for eight faculty posts that had gone vacant and been left unfilled due to COVID-19.

The college is making the cuts to comply with a university requirement to reduce the overall budget here by $4.7 million over two years.

No. 10 — Blazier sentenced

On Jan. 6, a former Bellwood-Antis School District wrestling coach was sentenced to spend more than two decades in jail for sexually assaulting two student wrestlers in 2019 and early 2020.

Blair County Senior Judge Daniel J. Milliron, who presided over the October 2021 jury trial for 41-year-old Ryan L. Blazier, assigned jail sentences for each of Blazier’s convictions, then announced that each sentence would be served consecutively.

The judge’s decision — adding up to 21 to 42 years’ incarceration — prompted sighs of relief and smiles among family and friends of the student wrestlers who were in court and asked the judge to impose maximum penalties.

While the sentencing wrapped up the case in county court, members of the public remained frustrated with the district’s actions, claiming the board wasn’t transparent in its dealings in the case.