Americans who leave our country to reside in another are outside the protection of our government in most ways. But the sheer horror of what happened in Mexico last week — nine women and children massacred, apparently by drug cartel terrorists — cries out for some meaningful reaction by ...
On this Veterans Day, the perception that the world never will be able to live in total peace and harmony remains ingrained. Among Americans, there’s virtually universal acceptance of the theory that, as long as the United States exists, there will be tyrants and other foreign entities that ...
Not until early 2020 will motorists who violate Pennsylvania work zone speed limits experience lighter wallets and pocketbooks under provisions of Act 86 of 2018, which authorizes speed cameras in highway construction and repair areas. Unfortunately, it is taking the commonwealth too long to ...
Now that Tuesday’s general election votes have been counted and congratulations have been extended, successful governmental candidates — especially those elected to offices for the first time — need to begin gearing up quickly for the formidable tasks they will be facing when they take ...
Don’t be fooled into believing that today’s election is less important than those devoted to state and federal offices. It cannot be emphasized too much that municipal elections like today’s definitely are as important, because they involve offices that are closest to the people. Just ...
Especially at major powers in the collegiate sports world, purely amateur athletics has been a myth for many years. Under-the-table gifts by well-to-do boosters have ensured that. Now, however, even the pretense may be about to end. Last week, the NCAA Board of Governors voted to allow ...
If it’s true that “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” Pennsylvania’s 67 counties can be faulted for not being “squeaky” enough regarding state funding of their courts. But hopefully the “noise” that emanated from the Blair County commissioners meeting room on Oct. 22 ...
Mirror readers who have been following news about the Blair County commissioners’ current, challenging budget preparations are aware of the county prison’s projected “bite” out of proposed 2020 spending. An article on Oct. 17 reported that a budget draft for 2020 indicated that the ...
During today’s observance of Halloween, you won’t be able to look out a window of your home and see a witch riding across the night sky on a broomstick. Or will you? Most likely, your yard won’t be beset with a host of black cats trying to give you bad luck if you cross their paths. Or ...
For years, many states have been collecting corporate income taxes from companies that do not have offices, employees or property in them. Pennsylvania finally will be doing the same, beginning Jan. 1, thanks to the lifting of constraints imposed by courts of this commonwealth on how the ...
Criticism and second-guessing of the decision-making process leading up to the controversial construction-renovation project currently underway in the Altoona Area School District seems destined to continue for years after the project’s completion. The total cost, which exceeds $80 million, ...
Most Social Security recipients are rightly disappointed in the 1.6 percent cost-of-living increase that they will be receiving in 2020. As in most years of the recent past, they will complain that the “yardstick” for determining if they will receive an increase — and if so, how much ...
Fire sirens again are a hot topic in Hollidaysburg, as they were in 2017 when the borough’s Phoenix Volunteer Fire Department announced plans to replace its two sirens that had been out of service for — at that time — about eight years. Noise is the issue — and whether new technology ...
With a male-dominated Pennsylvania General Assembly, it will be interesting to watch how the following legislative proposal is greeted, discussed and, finally, plays out. Most women will agree that it is a measure that should not be tabled. By way of an Oct. 7 press release published by the ...
Members of Congress who want to “overturn” President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria are engaging in an absurd performance of political theater. Many lawmakers, both Republican and Democrat, have been critical of Trump’s decision to abandon Kurdish separatists in ...
Most Pennsylvania motorists, at least the owners or leasers of many newer models, probably are unaware that their personal vehicles might be equipped with a data-collection “black box.” Most people generally think of such devices only regarding large commercial aircraft. Whenever ...
The Pennsylvania General Assembly’s error in late June, in which lawmakers stripped arrest powers from Altoona Area School District police — as well as police of other school districts — is not the first time the Legislature brought about unintended consequences from actions during the ...
Pennsylvania residents who are outdoor-recreation oriented — and even those who aren’t — can find plenty of informative reading by accessing the preliminary “Penn’s Parks For All Plan” on the website of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources ...
The main point emerging from the Sept. 24 hearing by the Pennsylvania House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee regarding the state’s current fireworks rules was that significant modification of those rules isn’t likely to be a quick, easy exercise. It’s reasonable to speculate ...
The powerful messages emanating from the two-hour walk by Saint Francis University students and faculty on Sept. 25 extend beyond trying to prevent suicides. Heeding the messages that the student-faculty walk delivered could have the additional effect of saving lives under different ...