Breaking News

Editorials

County, CYS share blame on problems

It is understandable that the Blair County Office of Children, Youth & Families is not happy about having been issued its sixth provisional license by the state Department of Human Services, for shortcomings in the local department’s operation. Anyone unfamiliar with the local agency’s problems could be excused for questioning how an agency with such important responsibilities could have troubling issues festering for 3.5 years, the span of time that the six provisional licenses cover, without finding ways to resolve all of them, or at least all but a couple. But to be fair, Blair ...

Boy Scouts fallout will be felt for years

People of faith and nonbelievers alike were shocked and saddened when the issue of child sexual abuse by clergy erupted across this nation, even here. Similar responses poured forth when an ugly sexual abuse problem within the long-respected Boy Scouts of America became the focus of Americans’ attention, as former Scouts began revealing revolting conduct by adults supervising, helping or guiding them in their Scouting endeavors. The adults in question were dealt the responsibility of setting a good example with the young people under their supervision but, instead, in multiple ...

Optimism over airport rewarding

Optimism already is paying off for the Altoona-Blair County Airport. It is important that there be no interruption in it, going forward. Last July, officials in charge of the local air facility — specifically, the Altoona-Blair County Airport Authority — were knee-deep in planning for redirecting the airport’s 30-passenger jet service away from Philadelphia International Airport, which increasingly had been judged an inconvenience to most Blair-based air travelers, from a directional standpoint. Now, the optimism that was the foundation for that successful move, effective last ...

Public notices must remain accessible

Some state lawmakers seem to think they have come up with a way to modernize how local governing bodies get the word out about their meetings, pending actions, tax increases, new ordinances and other measures. But Senate Bill 194 — which resurrects the idea of putting public notices on governmental websites — is another way to keep the public in the dark because the idea begs the question: “Who’s going to see them there?” Public notices have long been published in the classified section of local printed newspapers. Those who follow local governments regularly monitor that ...

EPA’s work in derailment far from done

An Associated Press article about the Feb. 3, 2023, Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, said the accident prompted a national reckoning with rail safety and calls for reform, although proposals for new industry rules stalled in Congress. Unfortunately, though, with each new development related to the 2023 accident, that well-intentioned reckoning still underway seems farther from completion than it was just days before. A new development, reported in the June 4 Mirror, provided ample testimony to that. According to that article, a specialized plane equipped with ...

Baby Agnes mystery needs to be solved

The possibility exists that someone — or some persons — in Blair County or somewhere else in the region might be feeling much anxiety or outright fear today as a result of an announcement last week by this county’s coroner and the Pennsylvania State Police. For the benefit of anyone who might have missed the announcement, Coroner Ray Benton and the state police revealed that the unidentified partial remains of a child found deceased on Feb. 5, 1987, in a wooded area between Pinecroft and Bellwood had been exhumed on June 10 with the purpose of attempting to obtain DNA ...