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Conscience check past due for FAA

Until the midair collision that claimed 67 lives on Jan. 29 near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, followed soon thereafter by a number of other incidents involving planes, some of those incidents also resulting in fatalities, members of the flying public generally had exuded great confidence regarding their safety while using that mode of travel. Now, however, many of those same travelers do not feel quite as secure, due to what has been happening during recent weeks on the air travel front. It is clear that the level of confidence that had existed in the past will not be ...

Food should never be a political issue

This is an editorial that there should be no reason to write. Regardless, the editorial should not have to question why federal lawmakers who purport to fight for their district’s best interests are harboring so much silence — perhaps fear — about the issue that will be discussed here. The issue is food, and every lawmaker should be committed to food availability, regardless of political party and under whose presidential administration a good program was launched. Unfortunately, politics appears to have infiltrated a good, worthy food program covering 27 Central Pennsylvania ...

Measles being ‘eliminated’ at tipping point

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines “tipping point” as the critical point in a situation, process or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place. A tipping point was reached quickly in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fast-forward to today, when the question is whether a tipping point is about to be reached — or perhaps already has been reached — regarding measles, an acute contagious disease caused by a morbillivirus and marked especially by an eruption of distinct red circular spots. Using the 1950s as an example, ...

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 ...