Eric Frein exuded cowardice when he used the cover of darkness, trees and vegetation to mask his ambush of two Pennsylvania state troopers in September 2014 in Pike County. One of the troopers died at the attack scene — outside the Blooming Grove state police barracks — and another was ...
Tuesday didn’t produce the strong voter turnout that the primary election deserved, but people who did venture to the polls provided evidence that they were paying attention prior to the balloting. That was especially true in Blair County, which will elect two new state House members in ...
Officials of municipalities in this part of Pennsylvania should be interested in watching how Reade Township’s missing-equipment saga plays out but not for a reason some might expect. To those other municipalities, the identity or identities of anyone who might have had a hand in making the ...
For once, Hillary Clinton is right on target. Her warning about negotiations over North Korea’s weapons buildup is absolutely correct. Clinton, during a visit to Australia last week, said U.S. officials should make no concessions to the North Korean regime without seeing concrete action ...
The unflattering housing-condition information compiled by a survey launched by Altoona’s city planning office last summer doesn’t mean the Mountain City is a bad place to live. To the contrary, the survey’s optimistic side is that this community is being proactive in trying to ...
All of Blair County’s registered Republicans and Democrats should exercise their duty to vote in today’s primary election. With the national political situation so mired in uncertainty in this midterm election year, the eyes of the nation will be on Pennsylvania throughout today, ...
One of the many downfalls of Pennsylvania having too many units of local government is needlessly convoluted and redundant tax collection. Millions of dollars that could go to services or back to taxpayers go instead to the cost of collection. The state government partially resolved that ...
As has been evident for months, Pennsylvania’s state budget-preparation exercise for the 2018-19 fiscal year has been less acrimonious than the commonwealth’s three previous annual budget-making processes. Regarding those previous years, most state residents can recall the $2 ...
The upgrades planned for Bellwood-Antis Community Park will enhance the facility as an asset for people to enjoy — and about which to be proud — for many years. But as area residents look forward to a day when the upgrades will be completed, they should not fail to understand the three ...
Area school districts should set aside time this summer to deal with the issue of electronic cigarettes. For those districts that already have implemented policies and actions, the summertime task should consist of evaluating what’s been done so far and the success of those efforts, plus ...
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey sat in Sun-Gazette offices in late February and talked about the need for bipartisanship and civility in the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Nice words. Then Sen. Casey voted against Michael Pompeo’s confirmation as secretary of state, choosing to ...
Relatives and friends of the victims in unsolved murders, including some in this region, no doubt are wondering whether new hope might exist for closing some of the cases. That new anticipation stems from the arrest on April 24 of an alleged serial killer and rapist in California who had ...
Supporters of the state Supreme Court redistricting ruling have made the point that the ruling was an independent judgment of the justices. And Gov. Tom Wolf’s office never misses an opportunity to spout self-proclaimed transparency values. Recently, a Right-to-Know request was made by ...
Whether or not two Blair County volunteer fire companies — Pinecroft of Antis Township and Excelsior of Bellwood Borough — ultimately merge, an upcoming study examining the feasibility of combining the two departments stands to benefit the municipalities that they serve. The study, which ...
Big government’s standard answer for any problem is to insist it needs more power, usually in the form of additional burdensome regulations. Time and time again, however, the public sees clearly that the problem is ineffective enforcement of existing rules. The ongoing scandal involving ...
Pennsylvania Act 88 of 1992 has had success in curbing the number of public school teacher strikes. Whereas the Keystone State experienced more than 700 teacher walkouts between 1970 (the year Act 195, the Public Employee Relations Act, became law) and 1992, there have been “only” 240 ...
One possibility for curbing distracted driving in Pennsylvania might be to make the violation a primary offense. Currently, it’s a secondary offense triggered by a separate primary one. Distracted driving is a current topic in the state Legislature, which is considering two bills aimed at ...
The future holds the answer of whether gambling-saturation fears have begun detouring Pennsylvania’s journey into gaming expansion. Even more importantly, hanging out there is the question of whether — and how much — that possible new development will impact Keystone State budget ...
William Higgins’ successor as Bedford County district attorney, Lesley Childers-Potts, has embarked on her new responsibility commendably. Thrust into her new role virtually without notice, Childers-Potts has set out to restore the public’s trust in the DA’s Office — trust that was ...
House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said he is leaving Congress because he doesn’t want his children to reach adulthood having experienced only a “weekend dad.” After 20 years in Congress, Ryan’s decision is understandable in that light. But one wonders if Ryan, R-Wis., may ...