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City must put progress in high gear

With a newly adopted comprehensive plan joining the foundation of Altoona city government, and in the aftermath of an interesting — and potentially productive — discussion at a city council meeting on Sept. 9, this is a right time for asking a fundamental, but also very serious, question about the Mountain City’s future. Does Altoona want to idle in “sputter-sputter gear,” remaining content to do so, indefinitely, or does it want to shift progress into a high-gear action, “meeting-our-needs” mindset capable of defeating problems, and without overly burdening the city’s ...

Research stalls for pregnancy complication

Despite its wealth of resources, America lacks unlimited capacity in pursuing medical research. That acknowledged, it nevertheless is reasonable to conclude that this country is not utilizing all of its available research capacity, and that this nation — and the rest of the world — would benefit over the long run if most of that unused capacity would be put to work. That said, it would be encouraging if both 2024 U.S. presidential candidates would pledge significantly more money, if elected, for research into unlocking cures for diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s, lupus and ...

Chronic absenteeism concerning

Relevant questions for the Altoona Area School District at this time are questions that never should have to be asked. However, the number of students qualifying for “chronically absent” status make the asking of those questions important. It should not take top school officials very long to compile the answers, to enlighten residents about that with which their school leadership has been — and is — dealing on the attendance front on a daily basis. It is reasonable to suggest that many residents are shocked, puzzled and troubled already, based on attendance information in a ...

Late payments to ambulance firms troubling

It is hard to fathom any acceptable excuse for the state’s prolonged delay regarding Medicaid-related payments to eligible ambulance services operating in the commonwealth. Act 15 of 2023, which increased reimbursement for transporting Medicaid patients, took effect Jan. 1 of this year. This is September, and as of late last month, many ambulance services across the commonwealth still were waiting for release of the additional money authorized by the 2023 legislative measure. One of the ambulance units in question is Altoona’s AMED, which, as of late last month, was due $200,000 ...

IRS errors have impact on businesses

COVID-19 was a nightmare for the Internal Revenue Service, and the IRS still is experiencing plenty of “hauntings” from the pandemic. It will be interesting to follow how the federal agency finally exits the continuing “horror show” affecting businesses. One thing is certain: It is not going to be an easy pathway. According to an Aug. 5 Wall Street Journal article published under the byline of the writer Richard Rubin, the federal tax agency erred in rejecting numerous COVID-era claims, tax advisers allege. The tax advisers in question allege that in the IRS’ first big ...

Problem sites won’t simply disappear

Current and future City of Altoona elected and appointed officials should heed the lesson emanating from the longtime problem property on 21st Avenue at 14th Street. That lesson is to address that which is rundown before it becomes too expensive and difficult to repair, necessitating demolition. Had the city acted much sooner to try to address the house in question’s worsening condition, it might have ended up being cost-effective to bring the property back to life without demolition being a viable option. For a long time, it was no secret that the property had become a significant ...