Trending
Shining rays of sun on some good news:
Operating small-town airports is not easy, especially during a pandemic.
That's why Kay Stephens' recent report in the Mirror that the Altoona-Blair County Airport enjoyed its best year in the last 12 was encouraging.
Nearly 9,000 used the Martinsburg-based facility, the highest number since 2009, and a dramatic leap over 2020 as COVID-19 was chiefly responsible for ridership sinking to just 2,836.
The airport also ended the year strong with 937 passengers flying in December.
Credit goes to Tracy Plessinger, the airport manager, along with the airport authority, which replaced Southern Airways with Boutique Air in 2021.
Having an airport less than 30 minutes from most of us shouldn't be taken for granted, and here's hoping the Altoona-Blair County hub can show continued growth in 2022.
With February being African American History Month, the new class on Black history at Altoona Area High School is getting some deserved media attention.
Junior Anaiyah Crone led the student push for the class and 40 students have expressed interest, according to Andrew Neeley, AAHS principal. About 20 students are taking the class this semester.
The class is being taught by Carolyn Kline.
Andrae Holsey, local NAACP president, praised Altoona's addition of the course, saying it's a "long time coming," and he's right.
The Black community in Altoona runs deep, and its members have every right to be further educated on its history.
Dave Marko, head wrestling coach at Central High School, became the all-time winningest coach in Blair County high school wrestling history last month by notching his 318 career victory.
Ironically, it came at the expense of Claysburg-Kimmel, where Marko began his coaching career and earned 234 victories in 18 seasons. For the past eight seasons, Marko has been at Central, where his team has won 84 matches.
Marko surpassed the previous mark held by former Altoona Area High School coach Marty Rusnak.
No profession has struggled with the pandemic quite like the health care industry.
Between staffing shortages and COVID-19 challenges, ask anyone who works in a hospital what the last two years have been like, and you'll probably be listening for a while.
That's why the $250,000 donation made by Robert Montler of Lee Industries to UPMC employees over the holiday season deserves mention. Each employee received $100.
Montler is a member of the UPMC board of directors.
Sheetz and L.S. Fiore also teamed to contribute 230 gift cards to UPMC employees during the holiday season.
Bedford County-based Rockland Manufacturing has purchased the former Harbison Walker Inc. site in Claysburg, which is good news for the community. The 44-acre site includes more than 150,000 square feet of warehousing, office and manufacturing space.
While still working through plans for the site, Rockland has job openings at the Claysburg location already listed on its website.