Breaking News

Kids therapy provider leaves Easter Seals building on Valley View Boulevard

A therapy provider for kids with disabilities has quit leasing the Easter Seals building on Valley View Boulevard as a venue for those services, so that it can save money, disappointing the parents of some of its child patients. Procare had been losing significant money on the arrangement, due to low reimbursements from Medicaid, but had been off-setting some of those losses through a contract under which it provided daytime therapy for students of an area school, according to Procare Partner/ Director Jim Foreman. That unnamed school, however, recently cut ties with Procare, so that ...

Stocks dip after Fed interest rate hike

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks slipped Wednesday after the Federal Reserve hiked its main interest rate for the first time in three years and suggested more may be ahead as it tries to get the nation’s high inflation under control. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% after giving up a modest gain from earlier ...

Daily briefing

Nation District of Columbia FBI chief defends hiring policy changes WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel defended Tuesday a recent policy change to allow some applicants who have engaged in prostitution and bestiality to be considered for employment. The subject arose during a fiery Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in which Patel clashed with Democrats over his firing of agents who participated in investigations of President Donald Trump. Alabama Baptist church marks bombing anniversary BIRMINGHAM — Sixty-three years ago, dynamite planted by Ku Klux Klan members ...

Ticker: Stocks slip after oil, bond market up pressure

The U.S. stock market slipped as oil prices and the bond market cranked up the pressure on Wall Street. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.8%. They felt pressure as the yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed with oil prices. Higher yields mean everyone must pay more in interest to borrow money, which slows the overall economy. They also make people less willing to pay high prices for stocks because they can earn more from sitting in bonds, which are considered safer investments. Carney: Canada can be stronger ...

Top Court decision protects Pa. mail voting

A Monday Supreme Court ruling rejecting a proposal by President Donald Trump to use the U.S. Postal Service to restrict the use of mail-in voting represents a “major victory for Pennsylvania voters,” Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt said at a Tuesday afternoon press briefing. The decision, also “importantly, provides much needed finality for voters and counties ahead of this year’s election,” Schmidt said. “Nothing has changed about voting by mail in Pennsylvania. Any eligible Pennsylvanians who choose to vote by mail should have confidence that they can continue ...

On the level

Shea Fleck of Butler Restoration, Altoona, removes brick pavers under the Devorris Pavilion at Heritage Plaza in Altoona for leveling on Tuesday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski