Altoona City Council’s current exercise aimed at amending the city’s ordinance covering collection of the business privilege tax is necessary as well as instructive, not only for other Blair County communities but also places beyond. The crux of this Altoona tax situation is this: The ...

People attending a school board or municipal government meeting often are puzzled when a member of one of those elected bodies chooses to abstain from voting on a particular agenda item or issue. Perhaps, most of those people soon learn that the abstention was the means by which the member in ...

National Newspaper Week presents an opportunity to reflect on the value of journalism — an American treasure essential to our way of life. Around the globe and nationwide, across the commonwealth, and in our own backyards, newspaper journalists provide the accurate, fair, timely and ...

Both political parties in Congress and the Biden administration must not escape criticism over their inability to cooperate, compromise and end the uncertainties — expeditiously — regarding the proposed massive, needed national infrastructure initiative. Shame on them all for the ...

“Your tap water can hang out in some pretty seedy joints” is the message in close proximity to containers of one brand of bottled water sold by some area stores. Accompanying that message and, of course, the containers of water for sale is a picture depicting one example of the ...

A path of open communication averts misunderstandings and, generally, can be beneficial to all involved in, or affected by, a decision or new policy. Thus, the Altoona Parking Authority’s plan to meet with downtown businesses’ owners to gauge support for what has been described as a more ...