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All states should adopt anti-hazing laws

The memory of what happened to Penn State University main campus sophomore Timothy Piazza during a February 2017 fraternity-related hazing incident will continue to prey on the conscience of that and all other Penn State campuses for many years to come, perhaps as long as Penn State exists. To bring up to date anyone unfamiliar with the incident, Piazza, along with 14 other student pledges to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, were summoned to the fraternity house, where the pledges were made to participate in a bid acceptance event referred to as an “obstacle course.” Piazza was ...

Modern cities require rules all must follow

“SALDO” isn’t a reference that most Altoona residents are likely to recognize at this point in time. That is likely to change rather quickly, though, especially for people who plan property changes or new development of some kind. The reference is likely to become more recognizable in general to people, especially over the next few months. SALDO means subdivision and land development ordinances — recognizable to local-level planners, less recognizable to people until they are personally required to adhere to one or more of those community-oriented rules. SALDO is a ...

Why local journalism matters

I kick off every morning by checking the local and regional sports scores in a newsletter emailed to my smartphone by my hometown newspaper. I then scroll through a feed of breaking news. This information matters to my family and me. It is a compilation of Pittsburgh-area news I cannot get anywhere else. But it’s not just about my relationship with local journalism. It is about yours. While I’m filling up on the news of western Pennsylvania, Luzerne County residents are learning more about a home-rule charter and Philadelphians are reading about the death of a beloved Villanova ...

Speed issue not a quick decision

Pennsylvania Act 38 of 2023, which is keeping speed cameras in place in Philadelphia and which expanded their use there, also directed the state Local Government Commission to deliver a report within two years making recommendations about whether and how to allow other municipalities to install the cameras in question. Approval for the photographic devices for widespread use in the Keystone State is not a new issue. The state Legislature has tinkered with the idea for a number of years, but in a way that defied any sense of urgency. There are Pennsylvania residents who wonder whether ...

City budget plan well within reason

Many Altoona residents no doubt feel uneasy about tax implications that ultimately may be tied to the proposed $23 million budget plan unveiled last month by the city council. Particularly for homeowners living on a fixed income and already having difficulty making ends meet, that’s a logical reaction. However, others probably are feeling similar pangs of unease as well, considering the total amount of the proposal. However, the plan in question, whose components are spread out over a half-decade, seem to be within the municipality’s financial capabilities, if pursuit of the ...

Planning, not hope, should drive railroads

In the Altoona-Johnstown area and around other communities in the Norfolk Southern/Amtrak railroad corridor west and east, when something railroad-related is in the news, residents tend to pay attention. For example, in recent years, some major issues attracting considerable public attention were railroads’ efforts to implement one-person freight-train crews; employment reductions at Altoona’s railroad shops; and the derailment of toxic-chemical-carrying rail cars in East Palestine, Ohio, just over the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Then there was an activist investor campaign ...