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School supplies sought

The Family Resource Center of Blair County at United Way of the Southern Alleghenies has officially launched its annual Stuff the Bus back-to-school backpack registration and community school supply drive. The initiative runs through Aug. 7, helping ensure local students have the tools they need for a successful school year. Community members, businesses and organizations are invited to support the effort by collecting school supplies for Blair County students. Organizations interested in serving as collection sites may contact the Family Resource Center at 814-317-5108, ext. 4005, to ...

Pennsylvania State House OKs university funds

The state began its new fiscal year Wednesday with no budget in place and events in the House — a testy faceoff on one education-related bill, but bipartisan passage of another — made it unclear if a deal will occur anytime soon. Closed-door negotiations failed to produce a 2026-27 budget by the Tuesday deadline, the fifth year in a row the June 30 deadline has been missed. On Wednesday, state Rep. Jesse Topper of Bedford County, the top Republican in the Democratic-controlled House, raised his voice in irritation after Democrats in a committee scuttled language in a bill related to ...

Salvation Army creates certified animal response team to provide first aid, CPR

A 12-person team at the Salvation Army Worship and Service Center in Altoona has been certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid for animals. The idea for creating a Certified Animal Response Team (CART) began last summer after conversations with first responders and observations at emergency scenes, where first responders had to focus on care of human beings, according to Salvation Army Major Christopher Blessing, speaking after a recent meeting of Blair County’s Local Emergency Planning Committee, where he announced the group’s certification. After learning that ...

Deadline for state budget missed

For the fifth year in a row, state leaders have failed to meet the June 30 deadline for finishing an annual budget — a situation that will have little practical effect in the short term but raises the ugly specter of last year’s 135-day impasse. In 2025, even though political leaders ...

Blair County approves labor contracts with union employees

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County commissioners recently approved separate contracts with two groups of unionized employees. A three-year contract addressing wages and benefits for unionized personnel at the county prison, as approved June 25 by commissioners Dave Kessling and Amy Webster, introduces a 15-step wage scale and a retroactive effective date of Jan. 1. That scale sets a starting hourly wage of $23.50 for corrections officers and pay increases per step, to maximum hourly pay of $30.50. It also sets a starting hourly wage of $25 for sergeants, with pay increases per step, to a ...