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Study missing community consideration

Logan Township was correct in not jumping hastily to put into practice recommendations stemming from a study two years ago dealing with the township’s fire service. The study, conducted under the auspices of the Governor’s Center for Local Government Services, while a product of good intentions, failed to take into account an important factor in most, if not all, municipalities. That factor is that communities want to control their own destiny, not be directed by someone from outside of their borders who does not necessarily possess a full understanding of all aspects of the ...

Drones near airports should concern us all

At first glance, the topic of this editorial might seem like someone else’s problem, since the numbers serving as the foundation for this writing are not locally based. But it should not take long for most readers to realize that the topic is very much relevant to the six counties of the Southern Alleghenies region and to other places of this size that usually harbor a sense of security that people of large metropolitan areas oftentimes do not. In fact, any place that is home to an airport — no matter the size — needs to pay as much attention as anyone who lives near big ones ...

Appvion mill site a luxury for county

“Luxury” is a word apropos for the situation within which Roaring Spring Borough and its neighboring municipalities find themselves regarding the former Appvion paper mill site. The latest news is that the 350-acre tract is being envisioned for “high valued development sites that can support several types of future industrial uses.” That description was included within an article in the Mirror’s April 23 edition under the headline “Former paper mill site under new ownership.” Formerly, the mill site seemed headed for a recreation future in the form of a “complex ...

Reaction to loss of school funds is surprising

It was somewhat of a surprise that school officials from Blair and Cambria counties, from whom comment was sought regarding the Trump administration’s decision to cancel the final round of federal pandemic aid for school systems here and across America, did not express frustration or dismay about the funds pullback. If those school officials were, in fact, significantly troubled about the prospect of not receiving the money in question, they likely chose not to speak on the record, perhaps in fear of retribution from the president or maybe other top aides. Such reluctance is ...

Be ready for financial crisis of 2025

If there’s one thing investors have learned in recent days, it’s that there’s no way to guess what America will do next. With its on-again, off-again tariffs, the administration has demonstrated a willingness to shock markets. Amid such radical uncertainty, a financial crisis isn’t out of the question. Policymakers need to be prepared for the worst. Such crises follow a familiar pattern, whether the cause is a housing bust, a pandemic or, in the current case, the premeditated actions of the world’s biggest economy. The catalyst is debt, which investors use to buy many ...

McCrory’s story one of success

The former McCrory’s 5 & 10 building in downtown Altoona has proven all of its naysayers wrong. By “naysayers” we mean those people who could envision no chance of saving the formerly deteriorated 11th Avenue structure. Even if the building itself were rehabilitated, the naysayers believed, it would be next to impossible to find anyone confident enough in its future to want to try operating a business in it. Wrong! A building that had seemed destined for the wrecking ball — if it were able to avoid collapse before the wrecking ball arrived to demolish it — is once again ...