The news staff voted late in December on the top stories from a ballot that included the most prominent news items from throughout the year. Also making the Top 10 list is the creation of a new tourist promotion agency and decertification of Explore Altoona, the ongoing Luigi Mangione saga and more.

1. Blair County Prison

The Blair County Prison was in the news throughout 2025, most times not for good reasons.

As the year came to a close, a location for a much-needed new Blair County Prison may have finally been found.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Orchard Park is located on the 200 block of Beech Avenue, a few blocks from UPMC Altoona.

During the last week of December, the Blair County Commissioners said they have identified a nearly 80-acre property that they hope to purchase for the new prison and are moving forward with steps toward a purchase agreement.

The Mirror, through investigation, has determined the property’s location, but is not releasing that information at this time after threat of a lawsuit from Commissioner David Kessling.

According to law, the commissioners can legally work in secret toward a purchase agreement, but are not allied to make the actual purchase until the details are made public and voted on in a public meeting.

The commissioners thought they had a site earlier in 2025.

In April, Alto-Reste Park survived an attempt by the commissioners to take 77 acres of future burial grounds to be used for construction of a new county prison. The commissioners backed away from using eminent domain to acquire the land after Alto-Reste received overwhelming support from the community.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Leap-The-Dips is at the center of the latest dispute between the Lakemont Partnership and the Blair County commissioners.

During the year, Blair County Prison inmates filed lawsuits with the federal District Court in Johnstown repeatedly complaining about rodent infestation and living conditions within the prison.

A lawsuit filed by Donald Earl Meyer, 50, is different in that he is filing not only for himself but on behalf of all of the inmates — as a class action.

The defendants in the case include a former warden, several corrections officers, two judges and employees of the District Attorney’s office.

One inmate, Kenneth L. Harrell, 36, of Hollidaysburg, said he knew about the rodent problem from personal experience.

Harrell, an inmate in the prison for more than 16 months, was eating oatmeal for breakfast when he said at the bottom of his bowl, he noticed a tail, and parts of what, in Latin, is called a mus. In short, he had eaten part of a rodent, and the experience left him feeling not so well.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / The miniature golf courses and batting cages at Lakemont Park.

It soon became hard for him to swallow and gather saliva and he was taken to Conemaugh Nason Hospital. He was diagnosed as having suffered an allergic reaction due to animal exposure, a condition called pharyngitis.

In his opinion, prison authorities were more concerned about taking his tray so that a video shot could not be taken of his bowl and tray.But eventually, Harrell was able to obtain a photo of the tail and parts of the rodent that remained uneaten. He said authorities took the tail of the animal and were supposed to send it to the Department of Health.

On June 9, Blair County Prison Warden Abbie Tate submitted a resignation notice that took effect immediately, prompting reassignment of the warden’s duties to Deputy Warden Shaun Edmundson.

The resignation followed the escape of an inmate who hid inside a transport van while other inmates were dropped off inside the prison’s sallyport. After the van was parked outside the prison’s sallyport, the inmate was spotted walking along Mulberry Street, before he was captured near Blair Street.

Tate has been working 20 years at the county prison, with the last seven as warden. She accepted that post in mid-2018 after prior county leaders took steps to improve security at the facility, which included votes to increase staff and increase the amount of surveillance cameras.

Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court for an evidence hearing, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in New York. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

On Sept. 11, Matthew Hale was hired as the county’s new prison warden ending a monthslong search that began with the resignation of former Warden Abbie Tate in early June.

The current deputy warden of facility management at the Bedford County Correctional Facility, Hale became warden effective Oct. 6. Hale had worked as deputy warden at Bedford since 2021, but started out as a corrections officer in 2006 in Cambria County.

2. Lakemont Park dispute

The future of the historical Leap-The-Dips rollercoaster at Lakemont Park remained unclear at the end of 2025.

On Dec. 15, Blair County President Judge Wade Kagarise issued a six-month injunction barring the Lakemont Partnership from selling the Leap-The-Dips in connection with a lawsuit the county filed against the partnership Dec. 9.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Explore Altoona literature was available at the Altoona Transportation Center Parking Garage Information Center.

Kagarise initially issued an injunction against the sale but when the judge learned that the partnership had “no immediate plans” to sell — and given that “the parties desire to work together to attempt to reach an agreement” — he issued the longer injunction, according to his order.

The order doesn’t negate “any rights, claims or defenses” previously held by either party — so if there is no resolution or the injunction hasn’t been extended after six months, the county can refile its motion to enjoin, Kagarise wrote.

The county sought the injunction upon expiration of a 60-day period during which it could have exercised an option to buy the coaster from the partnership — a period that began upon expiration of the partnership’s responsibility to maintain and preserve the coaster, if such maintenance and preservation proved financially unfeasible, as outlined in a 2006 agreement between the parties that doesn’t expire until 2066.

The county cannot afford to buy the coaster, Commissioner Dave Kessling said.

But the partnership has forfeited its right to sell the coaster for having violated the lease by “failing to properly preserve and maintain (the coaster) through Oct. 8 (of this year)”; failing to pay “requisite percentage rent” for the park; failing to “open their books and records to the county”; and failing to operate the area within the fence line at Lakemont as a “public park” during the summers of 2024 and 2025, according to the county suit.

That county suit includes “numerous baseless allegations and attacks,” and is a “retaliatory act” in response to a partnership lawsuit in August that asked the court for “intervention and guidance,” stated partnership President Andrea Cohen, who is named personally in the county suit.

The county suit besmirches the partnership’s reputation and shows an unfair disregard for her family’s history of community philanthropy, wrote Cohen, who is the daughter of the late Don Devorris, namesake for the Devorris Downtown Center of Penn State Altoona and the Devorris Center for Business Development, home of the Altoona Blair County Development Corporation.

Kessling isn’t optimistic that the additional six months would lead to a breakthrough, given that the parties have talked several times in the previous year without success.

However, Cohen said the partnership is committed to resolving all issues with Blair County. The partnership hopes the contending parties can use the newly established six-month injunction period to move toward such a resolution, she said.

3. Blair County creates new TPA; Explore Altoona decertified

Blair County has a new tourist promotion agency.

The Blair County Commissioners unanimously approved certification of Discover Blair County Aug. 27, officially launching the area’s new tourism promotion agency.

The previous county TPA, Explore Altoona, was formally decertified on May 1 after negotiations between Explore Altoona and the commissioners broke down, leading the commissioners to pursue another TPA more aligned with their vision of expanding Blair County’s outdoor recreation assets. This action meant that Explore Altoona would no longer receive funding from the county’s hotel bed tax.

The effort to decertify Explore Altoona began in September 2024 when Blair County Commissioners Dave Kessling and Amy Webster revealed their support for replacing Explore Altoona as the county’s Tourist Promotion Agency, naming the Blair Alliance for Business and Economic Growth — the organization formed through the merger of Altoona Blair County Development Corp. and the Blair County Chamber of Commerce — as its choice.

They said they wanted to make the change from Explore Altoona because the Blair Alliance had a track record of asset development and it was willing to pursue the development of rail trails.

That revelation, however, drew backlash from representatives and supporters of Explore Altoona, who pointed to the agency’s expertise and marketing efforts to bring in visitors, who pay the bed tax that funds the marketing agency.

The move to unseat Explore Altoona prompted a clash at municipal meetings, where several governing bodies heard Kessling and Webster ask for a vote to decertify Explore Altoona and where representatives of Explore Altoona asked for a vote against decertification.

For the decertification to be approved, the law requires the county to have a supportive resolution from municipalities representing an aggregate of more than 65% of the county’s total population.

In December 2024, the commissioners directed local municipalities to put a hold on their votes to decertify Explore Altoona as the county’s tourist promotion agency.

4. Mangione saga continues

The saga of Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in downtown Manhattan on Dec. 4, 2024, and days later was arrested at the McDonald’s on Plank Road in Altoona on Dec. 9 after he was spotted by a customer, continued throughout 2025.

A three week pretrial hearing on Mangione’s fight to exclude evidence from his New York murder case wrapped up Dec. 18 in New York.

Mangione, 27, was seeking to exclude items seized during his arrest in Altoona, including a gun and notebook that prosecutors say tied him to Thompson’s shooting in Manhattan.

Prosecutors called several witnesses, including several Altoona Police Department officers.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges.The pretrial hearing applied only to the state case. His lawyers were making a similar push to exclude the evidence from his federal case, where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Mangione’s lawyers contended that anything found in Mangione’s backpack should be excluded from his trial because police didn’t have a search warrant and lacked the grounds to justify a warrantless search.

Prosecutors said the search was legal because it was conducted in conjunction with an arrest and officers were checking to make sure there were no dangerous items in the bag that could be harmful to them or the public.

Judge Gregory Carro said he won’t rule until May 18 “but that could change.”

Meanwhile, Mangione continues to face charges in Blair County.

The Blair County District Attorney’s Office stated a pre-trial hearing in Pennsylvania in the case against Mangione may be unnecessary following the conclusion of ongoing testimony in New York, according to recently issued court documents.

District Attorney Pete Weeks stated in the documents that presiding Judge Jackie Atherton Bernard could rule on motions that would be made during a pre-trial hearing after the New York hearing transcripts are submitted.

For pre-trial hearings, defense attorneys submit motions and arguments they intend to make to the court ahead of time, which allows the District Attorney’s Office a chance to submit their arguments against those motions. The pre-trial hearing itself is time set aside for both attorneys to argue their cases in front of a judge with the defendant present.

The Blair County pre-trial hearing scheduled in Mangione’s case was initially set for Nov. 7 but was ultimately canceled after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York indicated that Mangione would remain in federal custody.

Weeks wrote that “the involved Blair County law enforcement officials will be presenting testimony” in Manhattan, where “it is anticipated that (Mangione) will be present.” The receipt of the New York transcripts by Mangione’s Blair County defense attorney Thomas Dickey, Weeks and Bernard would “thereby eliminate the need for having a hearing or the personal appearance of Mangione,” court documents state.

Bernard previously denied and dismissed Dickey’s requests for a pre-trial hearing and relief as Mangione was “unwilling and unavailable” to appear in Blair County court remotely based on his previous filings. The order was a part of a monthslong effort by Dickey to get Mangione in Blair County’s custody for pre-trial litigation.

In Blair County, Mangione, 27, is charged with forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, records tampering, false ID and possessing an instrument of crime, while he faces federal homicide and related offenses in New York.

5. UPMC staffer attacked

A UPMC nurse, a patient care technician in the hospital’s emergency department was attacked and knocked out causing a brain bleed that required emergency surgery Nov. 1.

Bradley Scott Lloyd, 40, Tyrone, was charged with the attack on Travis Dunn.

When UPMC Altoona police arrived in the ER, the nurse was on the floor unconscious with other nurses rendering aid.

The nurse was struck several times about the head and face and knocked unconscious by Lloyd, according to a witness.

Lloyd then fled and was detained at Taser-point by an officer after refusing to follow commands. With a second officer drawing a Taser, Lloyd began to comply and was taken into custody.

Dunn was taken into a trauma room where his injuries were evaluated. A CT scan showed a fractured skull and brain bleed. He also had a broken tooth, left nasal obstruction, hematomas and multiple lacerations.

Meanwhile, testimony at Lloyd’s preliminary hearing, indicated LLoyd was known to hospital police due to an incident earlier the same day.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Lloyd had six charges, including three felony counts of aggravated assault, two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and a misdemeanor count of simple assault, held for court. The District Attorney’s Office withdrew 11 additional charges due to a lack of evidence.

Lloyd remains in Blair County Prison with bail denied.

A GoFundMe page to help support Dunn and his family was created with a goal of $60,000.

In the aftermath of the attack, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents Dunn and SEIU Healthcare PA, which represents the hospital’s registered nurses, have accused UPMC of not doing enough to ensure worker safety, with short-staffing alleged to be one of the key shortcomings.

The union distributed an online petition calling on UPMC to take action to protect workers from attacks like one on Dunn.

The main union demand in the aftermath of the attack that left Dunn with a fractured skull and brain bleed is for more robust staffing, according to an SEIU Healthcare PA news release.

The union also calls on UPMC to adopt “unit-specific” violence prevention plans and mandatory de-escalation and safety training; provide assurance that all violent incidents are reported; enforce transparency with data on workplace violence; install metal detectors at all public entrances; and provide more trained security workers, panic alarms in every patient care area and support for workers affected by violence.

UPMC has already made “hundreds of safety upgrades this year,” with guidance from national security experts and worker suggestions, according to a UPMC spokeswoman.

Those upgrades include “de-escalation and workplace violence prevention training, signage reinforcing our zero-tolerance policy, panic buttons, secure rooms, active drills, expanded public safety and police officer presence, limited access points and additional entrance technologies such as metal detectors.”

6. Orchard Park

The fate of the ground at Orchard Park remained unclear at the end of 2025.

In January, a member of the group that opposes the Altoona Redevelopment Authority’s plan to build homes on Orchard Park in Logantown said he would go to court to stop the project, based on a 1959 state law designed to protect public access to municipal green space.

Along with two other park advocates, Tim Smith addressed City Council to express his opposition to the project, citing the Donated or Dedicated Property Act.

Council, however, showed no signs of backing away from support of housing construction on the ground on the 200 block of Beech Avenue, work that the Redevelopment Authority had awarded to developer Jeff Long — the only respondent to the authority’s request for proposals.

According to a publication of WeConservePA provided by Smith, the state Supreme Court has interpreted the DDPA to protect not only parkland that has been explicitly dedicated, but also parkland where dedication was “informal; no formal record of the dedication is required.”

In December 2024, city solicitor Mike Wagner justified the authority’s plans to take the park for housing minus a formal decommissioning of the park based on the lack of a formal dedication and there having been no deed restrictions that would have caused the ground to remain a park when it was conveyed to the city.

The park ground was drawn into lots in a plan submitted to the city about 1910 by Logantown developer John C. McCartney, but was not actually developed by McCartney so that there would be green space for the neighborhood, according to Chuck LaMark, another housing project opponent.

In March, as expected, the lawyer for an environmental services organization presented the city with a letter demanding that the city back off its plans to develop housing on Orchard Park in Logantown — or face an injunction request.

City Council members had no comment on the letter at their meeting Monday, in keeping with advice from Wagner, who cited the litigation threat.

Unless it obtains permission from Orphan’s Court to give up the park, the city’s proposed action would violate the state’s Donated & Dedicated Property Act, according to the letter from Tim Fitchett of Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services of Pittsburgh, who was engaged in the case by local park development opponent Tim Smith.

In August, the city and the city Redevelopment Authority filed a 16-page answer to a lawsuit filed in April by the local group challenging city plans to develop housing on Orchard Park in Logantown.

In that answer, the city repeatedly denies that the ground on the 200 block of Beech Avenue ever was a park.

Meanwhile, the dispute between the city and the community group over the fate of Orchard Park in Logantown seems likely to extend for at least several more months, after a pre-trial conference in September at which Judge David Consiglio scheduled an evidentiary hearing for March.

7. Blazier cases cleared up

Fallout from the 2020 sexual assault case against former Bellwood-Antis Middle School wrestling coach Ryan Blazier continued throughout 2024.

In January 2022, Blazier was sentenced to 21 to 42 years’ incarceration after an October 2021 jury trial convicted him for sexually assaulting two student wrestlers in 2019 and early 2020.

Bellwood-Antis Athletic Director Charles Burch and former head wrestling coach Timothy Andrekovich went on trial in 2025 on charges stemming from the Blazier case.

In May, a Blair County jury acquitted Burch of the felony victim/witness intimidation charge filed against him in January 2024 that developed after Blazier was convicted of sexually assaulting two middle school students.

However, Andrekovich was convicted on one felony count of endangering the welfare of children during a jury trial in early July.

He was convicted of failing to keep Blazier from unsupervised contact with students in 2019 and 2020 was sentenced to three months to 23 months in prison. In addition to the sentence, Senior Judge Richard A. Lewis of Dauphin County, who presided over Andrekovich’s jury trial, ordered him to pay a $2,500 fine and complete 200 hours of community service.

In November, Lewis heard arguments regarding a motion for judgment of acquittal in the case against Andrekovich.

During the hearing in Blair County court, defense attorney Todd Michael Mosser told Lewis, appearing via Zoom, that he wasn’t there to argue over the Commonwealth’s evidence and was “accepting it as true.”

Instead, Mosser focused on the extent of Andrekovich’s knowledge of Blazier’s actions. He said there was “no direct evidence (Andrekovich) violated his duty of care” at the school.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Lauren Eichelberger, who prosecuted Andrekovich’s case alongside Julia van Leeuwen, told Lewis that a previously filed motion for acquittal had been denied and that “the trial transcript speaks for itself.”

She argued that Andrekovich was the overseer of the district’s wrestling program and that a parent had a conversation with him about why children were being left alone with Blazier.

Eichelberger said Andrekovich “didn’t even read the safety plan” so he couldn’t properly implement it. After the safety plan was put into place, Eichelberger said students reported seeing other students alone with Blazier.

Following their arguments, Mosser brought up Andrekovich’s bail. He has remained free on $50,000 unsecured bail pending appeal.

Lewis ultimately allowed Andrekovich to remain free pending the outcome of his appeal. He told Mosser and Eichelberger he would need to go over the case law cited before handing down his opinion.

A next court appearance for Andrekovich has not been scheduled.

Meanwhile in September, Blazier said he was seeking a new trial or the dismissal of charges against him on the grounds of ineffective counsel during his October 2021 criminal jury trial.

Defense attorney Thomas Dickey represented Blazier during the four-day trial and subsequent Superior Court appeal.

Court documents filed by defense attorney Joseph Addink on Blazier’s behalf allege ineffectiveness of counsel at trial by failing to call witnesses, providing the court with a “sufficient estimate of the time it would take” to mount his defense and preventing Blazier from testifying on his own behalf.

In arguing for a new trial, the court documents allege Dickey failed to call witnesses who would have testified to being present at the time of the assaults, that they didn’t see the assaults and that “the demeanor of the alleged victims was inconsistent with the alleged acts occurring.”

Blazier included two affidavits from such witnesses, and wrote he anticipated more would become available as he had hired a private investigator “who is currently interviewing potential witnesses.”

Meanwhile, a post-conviction relief act hearing for Blazier is scheduled for Jan. 20.

An opinion hasn’t been filed in regards to Andrekovich’s PCRA.

8. Fatal house fires in March

There were three fatal house fires in Blair County in March.

On March 10, a 61-year-old Bellwood woman died in a fire at her house on the 400 block of South Second Street in the borough.

The body of Tammy Stewart was found in the living room, where the fire started, according to Jack McCloskey, chief of Excelsior Fire Department No. 1 in Bellwood.

The fire was not suspicious, according to McCloskey.

Stewart was alone in the house when the fire started.

A fire early March 18 killed one occupant of an approximately 22-unit apartment building on Burgoon Road and Sixth Avenue in Altoona while leaving about 20 other residents homeless.

The deceased was identified as 65-year-old Darren Duffel. The coroner’s office was able to identify Duffel by crossmatching a surgically implanted prosthesis with medical records.

Duffel lived in the third-floor apartment where the fire apparently started, according to city fire inspector Justin Smithmyer.

No one else was injured in the blaze, Smithmyer said.

Most residents of the 17 occupied apartments got out of the 200-foot-long, three-story, rectangular building before firefighters and police arrived after the 12:51 a.m. alarm, according to Smithmyer. He said there were smoke detectors in all the units, pull alarms in common areas and tenants knocking on doors to rouse other tenants.

On March 19, the Altoona Fire Department was able to quickly contain a structure fire on the 200 block of Crawford Avenue.

First responders were able to locate the sole resident of the two-story home and remove him without incident.

Cary Bott Jr., the 56-year-old sole resident of the property, died at UPMC Altoona after being rescued from the building, according to Blair County coroner Ray Benton.

The 911 call came in around 11 a.m., with the fire department and AMED arriving on scene about two minutes after, according to Fire Chief Adam Free. The fire was successfully contained about 10 minutes later, he said.

The official cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Free said, but it appeared as though it started toward the front of the second floor of the structure, with the majority of the damage constrained to that level and portions of the attic.

Fire and smoke damage along the front face of the building were visible from the South Third Street and Crawford Avenue intersection across from the property.

9. Businesses close while others open

Several local businesses closed their doors and others opened during 2025.

In February, Joann announced it was closing 500 stores, including its Altoona Fabrics location, as the company navigates through bankruptcy.

The company said more than 30 stores in Pennsylvania are closing. In addition to the 3415 Pleasant Valley Blvd. location, the Joann locations along Benner Pike in State College and along Scalp Avenue in Johnstown were closing.

That news followed an announcement in December 2024 that after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and closing hundreds of stores, Big Lots was preparing to close all of its locations, including the stores at 415 Orchard Ave., Altoona, and 503 Benner Pike, State College.

In May, it was announced that many Rite Aid pharmacies in the region were closing their doors, leaving few options left for community members to fill their prescription medication orders.

Rite Aid Corporation was founded in 1962 in Scranton and at its peak operated more than 5,000 stores. By May 2025, it operated only 1,200 stores across 15 U.S. states and was the seventh-largest pharmacy in the U.S. when taking into account big box chains.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2023 due to a large debt load, thousands of lawsuits alleging involvement in the opioid crisis and a failed restructuring. It emerged in September 2024, but filed again less than a year later in May 2025, liquidating all remaining assets and closing its last remaining stores by September 2025.

In December, Dutch’s Hauling, which had served the community for many years, was sold to Burgmeier’s Hauling Inc.

On the positive side Rural King and Home Goods opened locations in Altoona.

Rural King opened for business in the old Kmart building at 528 W. Plank Road on May 15 with a soft opening with a grand opening set for May 23-25.

The Illinois-based retailer known as “America’s Farm and Home Store” bought the Kmart property in 2021 and previously planned to open there in 2023.

HomeGoods opened its Altoona store June 12 at 197 Falon Lane in Logan Town Centre.

Merchandise departments include furniture, rugs, lighting, decorative accessories, kitchen and dining, bedding, bath, pet accessories, storage, workspace, outdoor, gourmet, wellness and more.

In April, Center City Market in the former McCrory’s building in downtown Altoona opened its doors.

Builder Christopher Cook transformed the building into a mixed-use development, with his multi-tenant Center City Market at ground level and eight apartments on the upper floors.

In February, Crumbl, which is known for extravagant takes on classic cookies, opened a store in Logan Town Centre.

In October, Pho Love, a Vietnamese restaurant, opened in the Park Hills Plaza.

The restaurant, owned by Kenneth Van Nguyen and his father, Pae “Kenny” Somphonphakdy, focuses on Vietnamese food. The menu includes pho (pronounced “fuh”), fried rice meals, noodle meals, white rice build your own bowls, bun (Vermicelli noodle) meals and Thai specials.

10. Airport having great year

The Altoona-Blair County Airport had a great year in 2025 following a switch in its jet service route.

Airport manager Tracy Plessinger said now that a year has passed since the airport authority changed their jet service route with Contour Airlines from Philadelphia to Charlotte, passenger numbers continued to climb.

For example, Plessenger said passenger numbers for October were up 27% from September and up 68% from October 2024 — when the route change was made.

Contour carried 2,125 passengers to and from the airport, providing the highest monthly passenger loads since the route’s change, with more people from the Pittsburgh area traveling to Martinsburg to use Contour’s Charlotte service.

According to Plessinger, for the first time in history, the airport had passengers waiting on standby for flights.

Business has also been doing well at the airport’s Avis/Budget rental vehicle service. Plessinger said October was the fifth consecutive month that the airport exceeded 200 rentals sold.

Sales also have been up at La Fiesta, the airport’s restaurant. Sales for October were up 12% from September and up 5% from October 2024, according to Plessinger.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.

Courtesy photo / The roof of the 22-unit apartment building on Burgoon Road and Sixth Avenue in Altoona was destroyed and the third floor was heavily damaged in the March blaze, according to city fire inspector Justin Smithmyer. One person was killed and 20 others were left homeless.

Mirror photo by William Kibler / Center City Market owner Christopher Cook (right) talks with people at the market in Altoona.