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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 ...

Wolf needs bolder action vs. COVID-19

Harrisburg Patriot News It’s a shame politics is part of the COVID equation, otherwise the Wolf Administration might be able to take bolder action to protect the citizens of Pennsylvania from the Delta variant of COVID-19. Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf took a cautious step to require state workers in health care facilities or other “high-risk” settings to be vaccinated or get tested weekly. And he’s trying to coax state workers to save their own lives by offering them an extra day off if they get vaccinated. A bolder and sensible move would have mandated state workers get ...

Perpectives: Step toward transparency

Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice Although it originated on the other side of the state Capitol, state senators took notice of the recent arrest of Democratic former state Rep. Margo Davidson of Chester County. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, a Centre County Republican, has announced a rules change to counter the problem, common to both chambers, that created the culture underlying Davidson’s conduct. She admitted taking expense reimbursements for expenses that she did not actually incur, which is possible only because legislative rules provide for daily expense payments ...

Our view: Altoona ‘inventory’ appealing

The city of Altoona will be doing itself a great service when it assembles its proposed inventory of vacant commercial buildings that officials believe are good candidates for rehabilitation and redevelopment. Such structures are potential golden eggs not only for the tax rolls, if they can become home to healthy business enterprises, but also vehicles for getting Altoona noticed by additional businesses that might be seeking a home —entities from who-knows-where. Altoona is a beautiful city with many amenities. What it needs at all times is a comprehensive library of ...

Our view: Afghan exit plan botched

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan cannot be laid entirely at President Joe Biden’s feet. The lack of a coherent exit plan with contingencies that could have addressed what we witnessed over the weekend, however, is entirely Biden’s fault. And the loss of American credibility and leadership and the blood of Afghans who have died and will die because of this exit failure is on his hands. From failing to clearly define mission objectives, overlooking corruption from supposed Afghan officials and allies and misleading the public by a lack of honesty on the challenges we faced, ...

Perspectives: Legislature springs into usual inaction

Scranton Times-Tribune Outrage among state lawmakers over the most recent scandal regarding one of their own is so overwhelming that they have vowed to leap into action and ... review their own ethics rules that facilitate criminal behavior. That’ll show ‘em. Democratic state Rep. Margo Davidson, who represented parts of Delaware County, resigned in July after pleading guilty to stealing from taxpayers in the form of reimbursements for bogus expenses, and to misusing campaign funds. That was after she crashed her state-leased SUV twice in 12 days while driving with a ...