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Yo, drivers: Be mindful of students

Every year at this time, drivers are reminded about their responsibility under state law to know what to do – and not do – when encountering a school bus transporting students to and from school. They also are reminded about the stiff penalties they would face for failing to obey the law to its full extent. What motorists also should know – and, if they do, sometimes fail to acknowledge – is that the bus drivers are not devious people; they strive to be courteous and understanding of others on the roads. They do not gain delight, if and when they must report or testify ...

Biden fails to frighten terrorists

President Joe Biden’s uninspired and passionless address in response to Thursday’s horrific attack in Afghanistan — an attack that killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 60 civilians — likely didn’t leave those responsible quaking in their boots. In a largely monotone response, in which he seemingly was just reading words on a paper, he failed to show reverence for those killed and wounded and proper respect for those who continue to put their lives on the line serving in the military. The families — those grieving and those still worried about the safety of their ...

Hoover legacy impressive

Shining rays of sun on some good news: The recent recognition of Merrill “Whobbie” Hoover through his work at the Blair Regional YMCA Summer Basketball League for girls and women was most deserving. Despite a long battle with throat cancer that renders him unable to speak, Hoover has contributed to the program in various ways for more than 30 years. He wrote a letter to the YMCA Summer Basketball League staff, players, coaches and spectators, thanking them for being a big part of his life. “It has been fantastic,” Hoover wrote. “I began in 1989, and I’ve loved ...

All aboard in Scranton? Not just yet

Amtrak released its preliminary report last week on the potential economic benefits of restoring passenger rail service between Scranton and New York City, and it makes the prospect all the more tantalizing. Local rail and economic development advocates have attempted for decades to restore the passenger service, which ended in 1970. It was only this year that Amtrak, the federally subsidized passenger service, included the Scranton-New York service in its proposed expanded route map, along with potential lines from Reading to Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley to New York. ...

The ‘big lie’ infects local governments

After voluntarily turning over election software to a third party that had no valid claim to it, Fulton County’s majority commissioners have lawyered up to fight the state Department of State’s order to reestablish election security by obtaining a new voting system. The commissioners wanted to spawn an Arizona-style post-election “fraudit,” furthering the egregious lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania, which he lost to President Joe Biden by about 80,000 votes. But at least those benighted officials have legal authority over elections. ...

Crime report for Altoona is incomplete

Altoona residents have not been sitting around for the past month pondering the contents of their police department’s 2020 annual crimes report, delivered last month by Chief Joe Merrill, who became head of the department in March upon the retirement of Janice Freehling. Nevertheless, anyone who read Mirror reporter William Kibler’s article of July 13 about the chief’s presentation to the city council on July 12 — and who tried to digest all of what they were reading — should have felt somewhat troubled about what the report did not reveal. The chief deserves no blame for ...