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Shea case among others still unsolved

Even after the passing of 60 years, Tyrone’s Kathy Shea abduction mystery continues to baffle virtually all who hear details of it. How, they ask, can a child, in a populated and well-traveled area just across the street from her school, simply vanish without anyone noticing that something was amiss, and why there was no scream or cry from Kathy loud enough to attract attention. “There’s no such thing as a perfect crime” — so the theory goes. But March 18, 1965, debunked that belief, and it’s not the only time that theory has been proven incorrect in Pennsylvania’s ...

Americans getting worse at grieving

In her “Turning Points” column in the Feb. 19 edition of the Wall Street Journal, Clare Ansberry attempted to answer the question of why Americans are “getting worse at grieving.” For many residents of Blair County, it is a topic that seems beyond settling on a widely verifiable conclusion. However, the points made by Ansberry in her column provide generous food for thought and, beyond that, food for discussion and lively debate. On that issue, “picking each other’s brains” has the potential to foster interesting outcomes, but it need not sour relationships, if the ...

Consequences of late payments haunt borrowers

Many student loan borrowers are receiving unwelcome messages about their higher education indebtedness, and most of the blame, if not all of it, is attributable to them — their shoulders alone. Lack of attention or mere irresponsibility is coming back to haunt them, in a way that, for many, will take years to resolve, if not more than a decade. Information about these borrowers’ current predicament needs to filter down to the new “class” of borrowers — members of high schools’ Class of 2025 — who will be starting their studies at colleges and universities in the ...

Everyone must work together

The biggest immediate challenge that will confront the new “All Together Altoona Fund Development Committee” will be to construct an operational format that will allow it to remain focused, productive and forward-looking for at least a decade as it works toward objectives outlined in the city’s new comprehensive plan. New people come aboard, new issues and challenges evolve and addressing new needs becomes imperative, so even the best planning implemented at this time can be eroded by distractions along the way. That must not happen regarding the newly introduced venture, which ...

Ligonier Beach sadly flooded with red tape

There is no beach in Ligonier. That isn’t surprising. Westmoreland County is more than 100 miles from Lake Erie and hundreds more from the Atlantic Ocean. There is water in abundance from the variety of creeks and springs and more peppering Pennsylvania. There is no stretch of sandy shore perfect for bikinis and beach towels on a sunny day. Once there was. Well, there was something close. Ligonier Beach was built in 1925. It wasn’t the kind of faux tropical water park you might see in a touristy area today. It had no rapids, no man-made surfing wave pool and no river for ...

Train service expansion plan should continue

Voters of the six-county Southern Alleghenies region, as part of the national electorate who opted to return Donald Trump to the White House, were supportive of his promise to cut the size of the federal government. Trump has found many “candidates” for the proverbial chopping block — some right, some questionable, some that many Americans believe are blatantly incorrect. Courts already are busy with the task of making rulings, in response to legal challenges to certain administration actions. Yes, the new administration is engaged in an aggressive process that it seems is ...