What does America mean to me?
As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, residents are sharing what they love best about our country. Click here to view the page. — Compiled by Colette Costlow
Creating history: AAHS students, teachers paint mural depicting iconic images of city
National politics has been divisive in recent years, including the politics surrounding the celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday this weekend. A semiquincentennial collage created by Altoona Area High School students under guidance of an art teacher and the school’s artist in ...
Afghan pays tribute to Revolutionary War Patriot from Bedford County
Sometimes the string that ties the past to the present can simply be that: a string. Or at least that remains true for Diane Smith of Spokane, Washington, whose female ancestors can all be traced back to the American Revolution in Bedford County, where all were bequeathed spinning wheels, ...
Let’s be frank: How German sausages became America’s iconic hot dog
Nineteenth-century Indiana passed some of the country’s toughest “blue laws” to protect Sunday’s rest and worship from alcohol and ... hot dogs? But Indiana’s push was noteworthy for another reason: It produced the country’s earliest known use in print of the culinary term that ...
Election laws still point of debate in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania wrote the founding documents. It has spent 250 years arguing over what they mean. In courtrooms and committee rooms, Harrisburg and Philadelphia are fighting over the same questions the founders left unresolved: Who votes? Who draws the maps? And who gets to decide? As the nation gathers in this state to mark its 250th birthday, the battles over Pennsylvania’s election laws offer an unsettling mirror of how democracy actually works — and how easily it can be bent. The state escaped the redistricting battles that played out over the last year, largely because power is ...
Erie museum celebrates return of US Brig Niagara
The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission on Thursday welcomed the U.S. Brig Niagara back to her home port at the Erie Maritime Museum, on time as promised to kick off the holiday weekend. The return marks the successful completion of an extensive $6.9 million restoration and refit, ...