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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 ...

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 ...