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Railroad merger may aid Altoona

If Norfolk Southern Railroad’s proposed merger with the much larger Union Pacific Railroad comes to pass, the combining of the two carriers might be bad for Altoona’s Juniata Locomotive Shop, but it actually might be good instead. Look at the possible merger from two perspectives, first the negative one that seems to be dominant at this point. The negative perspective envisions at least a cutback in employment, if not total closure of the local operation. Union Pacific no doubt would control major decisions, if regulatory approvals are forthcoming, because it is the much bigger of ...

Weather spikes cause concern for our future

People here feel and express sorrow for those in this region and state, as well as those in other parts of the country and around the world, who increasingly seem to be beset with catastrophic weather events. Even in this region, which has experienced virtually nothing when compared with what others have experienced — destruction, injuries and deaths, thousands of people and families having been afflicted — many individuals and families here also have experienced difficult circumstances due to Mother Nature’s fury and ravages. While this region’s winter snow events are mild ...

Broad Avenue building’s woes could be worse

If there is one positive thing that can be said about the now-condemned apartment building on the 200 block of Broad Avenue, across from the front of the Jaffa Shrine Center in Altoona, it’s that it gave a warning before reaching a moment of disastrous collapse. Having extended that consideration to the neighborhood and the city as a whole, the building allowed all residents of the seven occupied apartments to leave safely — and take most, if not all, of their possessions with them. Had the situation played out in a more negative way, only one’s imagination can project what the ...

Faith in 911 system needs to be maintained

We take some things for granted. Turn a faucet, and water will pour out. Flip a switch, and lights will come on. Those can be interrupted by circumstances. Don’t pay a bill, and the water or electricity can be cut off. But there are some services we rely on so much that we really can’t imagine them not being there when we need them. Perhaps the service we depend upon the most is 911. On Friday, Pennsylvania’s 911 system began experiencing what was termed “intermittent outages.” They were reported to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency around 2 p.m. Around 3:25 ...

Williamson case destined to be a mystery

It’s an almost universal reality that when a news report deals with a crime or criminal court case, that account either explicitly reports, if it’s been confirmed, or at least hints about, what efforts there might have been — or probably were — to conceal the crime and/or protect its secrecy for evermore. A major mystery or puzzle in Gallitzin’s nearly 45-year-old Stella Williamson case, in addition to the current mystery about where some of the remains of the five infants found in her attic might be today, is that there apparently were no efforts to forever guarantee that the ...

Superloads frustrating for drivers

The moving of windmill “superloads” on area roadways to their destination near Patton in Cambria County in coming weeks will necessitate much more than a modicum of patience and understanding by motorists who encounter them during their travels — to work, for medical and dental appointments, for recreational intentions, for household reasons, whatever. Perhaps too much is being asked of those motorists who encounter them, and we’ll explain why later in this editorial. For now, suffice to say that the size and length of superload caravans will not be conducive to traditional ...