Among the good reasons for getting a flu shot is to keep yourself healthy enough to be there for the folks who need you this time of year. That is true in a larger sense when it comes to those in need of donated blood — and there are many more than we may think. According to blood banks, ...
Tyrone Borough Council resolved a minor, albeit nagging, issue by deciding to reinstall five parking meters on Logan Avenue, next to the municipal parking lot just south of the borough building, that the borough removed a few months ago as a convenience to customers of businesses across the ...
Many Blair County taxpayers probably are not happy about the Jan. 7 decision not to reopen the county’s 2020 budget to cut expenses and possibly pare down or eliminate this year’s 3.7 percent real estate tax increase. New Commissioner Amy Webster sought those moves, but her motion failed ...
For the past two fiscal years, Pennsylvania taxpayers have had cause for cautious optimism about the Keystone State’s financial condition for the short and longer terms, going forward. During numerous months of those fiscal years, which run from July 1 through June 30, incoming revenue ...
The saying “you have to spend money to make money” is not new, but it deserves considerable thought by officials of Amtrak going forward, especially regarding places such as Altoona and Johnstown — and other communities like them in Pennsylvania, west and east. A report in the Jan. 2 ...
Haven’t gotten around to getting that flu shot yet? Figure you’re young and strong and wouldn’t have any trouble fighting off a bout of influenza? Well, if you come in contact with older people, children or anyone else for whom flu is serious business — perhaps deadly — shame on ...
What were they thinking? What was their motive? What prompted their decision to deface more than three dozen Altoona properties? Why were they out roaming city streets at 4:30 a.m.? If they live at home with their parents, aren’t there any rules about being out late, or otherwise any ...
Debate will continue about whether the decade of the 2020s really began on Jan. 1 of this year or whether that actually will occur on Jan. 1, 2021. Either way, the period of time has been traumatic for the Roman Catholic Church here, across Pennsylvania, across the nation and, indeed, around ...
For Blair County’s vast farming community, as well as many county residents who are not at all involved in agriculture, the passing of the year-end holidays does not mean settling in immediately for whatever the weatherman might have in store. For early January, at least, the people in ...
In these early hours of 2020, memories of the dismal 12 months of 2019 should be the basis for strong will and incentive by individuals and leaders alike to make this year much better than the one just completed. Whether that will be possible, with the divisive presidential election campaign ...
The year that is about to end will be recorded as one of disgust, frustration, sadness and madness — one justifying fear about how it might impact 2020 and beyond in a negative way, both domestically and internationally. Few need to be reminded of all the reasons. Even 10 editorials might be ...
The blaze that destroyed the residences of at least 12 families on Dec. 13 at Country Club Terrace Apartments on Brush Mountain Road — displacing initially 24 families — garnered the considerable news coverage that the tragic incident merited. True, the fire was a Blair County story. ...
“Revamp” might be too strong of a word for describing the mission of a soon-to-be-formed three-branch task force that will be examining Pennsylvania’s juvenile justice system over the next approximately 11 months. One definition that Webster’s dictionary provides for that word is ...
Last evening, while many children were awaiting the news from NORAD that radar and satellites had observed a sleigh-like object leaving the North Pole, their parents or guardians were making final preparations for the most important aspect of today’s Christmas celebration — the ...
On this Christmas Eve, it is important to remember that the political controversy in which this country is mired should not be permitted to ruin the holiday season that is upon us. During the coming days, be sure that any agitation, bitterness or divisiveness you might harbor, stemming from ...
Little by little, the bright, appealing shell that is Obamacare is being stripped away to reveal a thoroughly rotten core. More of it was being exposed this week. Former President Barack Obama’s administration went to great pains to shield the truth about Obamacare from the American ...
Over the nearly three months since the Mirror’s Sept. 22 editorial “FAA oversight needs total reevaluation,” there have been a number of significant developments in the deeply troubling saga of Boeing Co.’s 737 MAX jet, which has remained grounded since shortly after the second of two ...
State and local police and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation should not have to remind motorists — or spend time and money posting special signs in specific areas — about the commonwealth’s law dealing with school buses stopped for the purpose of picking up or dropping off ...
We Americans have torn down a lot of statues during the past few years. You know the type: Memorials to military and civil leaders of the Confederate States of America. Perhaps it’s time to switch gears and erect a few new statues. Give credit to the people and public officials of ...
Current opposition in Pennsylvania regarding the proposed closing of two centers for individuals with intellectual disabilities — Polk in Venango County and White Haven in Luzerne County — is not unique. The announcements in 2017 about the closings of the state centers in Norristown, ...