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Veterans Day offers chance to reflect

As people of this country are well aware, loyalty to the best interests of the United States and the Constitution, which is the foundation of it, were virtually constant topics that permeated the just-completed presidential campaign. Even with the election now past, fears persist regarding the directions that America will pursue in the coming years, and whether the wounds that the election campaign inflicted will ever heal completely. Those are reasonable concerns and fears in these initial days after the national balloting. But today this nation celebrates Veterans Day, which ...

Resolutions for healthy life always in style

Although New Year’s still is more than seven weeks away, there are people who already are pondering resolutions for 2025 — for their own personal satisfaction, perhaps to impress a spouse or other significant other, or just for humor’s sake. A funny thing about New Year’s resolutions: No matter how far in advance they might be planned or whether they are just spur-of-the-moment, a good bet is that many, if not most, will be long forgotten by the time Groundhog Day — Feb. 2 — arrives. Human nature plays a big part in that and, for that reason, much humor is attached to ...

County has much budget work to do

This is the time of the year when county units of government have their taxpayers cringing about prospects for a significantly higher tax bill to help finance the next fiscal calendar — this time, 2025’s. It is reasonable to suggest that some Blair County taxpayers might have done a double-take when they read the Oct. 29 Mirror article reporting that their county commissioners had launched budget considerations for the coming fiscal year facing a projected $9 million shortfall. “Blair County’s budget requests for 2025 add up to $55.08 million, leaving commissioners to figure ...

Pa. voters have a big decision

Voters here in Pennsylvania have a significant decision to make today at the ballot box. Don’t let your voice go unheard as the Keystone State has become the center of the 2024 presidential election. Consider: both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were in Pittsburgh Monday evening for rallies, and Harris followed that up with a late Monday event in Philadelphia. Both campaigns have courted voters here for the past month. This much is clear: Pennsylvania will be the difference maker in this election. Most experts agree that whichever candidate wins the state, wins the election. That ...

Saving pets truly a cause worth ‘sharing’

Back in 2005, when the Mirror launched the first Season of Sharing campaign to aid a worthy cause within the local area, the fund-raising effort was but a positive experiment to determine how this area would react to such a well-intentioned undertaking amid the hustle and bustle of the end-of-year holidays. At the campaign’s close, the Mirror, contributors and everyone else associated with the campaign were optimistic that Season of Sharing could be a positive addition to all of the other good things that make the holidays here special — without damaging other charitable activities ...

HASD must be financially prepared

The main question hovering now over the Hollidaysburg Area School District is how district taxpayers are going to react to the proposed $130 million building consolidation plan that, once it gets underway, is to involve four steps covering a total of 12 years. Details of the project as currently envisioned were presented in a lengthy article beginning on the front page of the Mirror’s Oct. 26-27 edition. The article made clear that much decision-making lies ahead and, at this time, district officials are more focused on the plan’s major components and parameters than on any ...