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Altoona taking lead on blight

Altoona has the opportunity to become a great teacher for other Pennsylvania cities — and perhaps even boroughs — if it can implement a successful program for injecting new life into narrow, vacant lots brought about by blighted-structures removal. City council members have mentioned some interesting options on how Blair County’s largest municipality might proceed if such a program were allowed to take shape. For that to evolve, though, the topic must remain a regular item on council meeting agendas. One way for that to happen might be through appointment of one council ...

Drug usage during pregnancy most alarming

Virtually every day, readers, listeners and viewers of the latest news accounts are updated about arrests, court cases and prison sentences tied to the use or sale of illegal substances — plus, on some days, provided reports about overdose deaths associated with those substances. Too infrequently, however, are there reports about the tiny victims of illegal drug use, despite there being many. Last Monday, the Wall Street Journal became the latest media outlet to tackle that horrific circumstance, and the picture that the Journal painted was not pretty. The article, on the ...

Important to hold youth accountable

It is said often that America’s young people are key to this nation’s future. That is true; that cannot be disputed. But in the proverbial big picture, America’s young people are not immune to fair and honest evaluation — and criticism, where necessary. Over the long run, America will benefit from such evaluation and criticism. With those thoughts in mind, it is apropos to reflect on Callum Borchers’ “On the Clock” column that was published in the April 6 edition of the Wall Street Journal, under the headline “Older workers are in demand when bosses want work ...

Altoona keeping close watch on East Palestine

As “neighbors” within the confines of the railroad industry, people of Blair County, especially those residing in and around Altoona, will continue to be sympathetic toward residents of East Palestine, Ohio, where a fiery Norfolk Southern train derailment on Feb. 3 caused serious upheaval in their lives. An Associated Press article published in the Mirror’s April 26 edition told how some families, displaced from their homes either as the result of the derailment itself or the still-continuing cleanup, still are experiencing uncertainty and trauma over what their new-normal lives ...

Crackdown on xylazine important

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s decision to classify xylazine as a “Schedule III” drug to tighten regulations on the veterinary tranquilizer is the right decision. The move will allow police and prosecutors to pursue charges against those nefariously trafficking the dangerous drug in our communities. We remain concerned that the federal government has been too slow to recognize the emerging threat posed by this drug. As the Associated Press reported last week, in 2020, there were 800 overdose deaths in which xylazine was detected. In 2021, the number rose to more than 3,000. And yet ...

IRS growing ‘tax gap’ is troubling

In his final message as Internal Revenue Service commissioner, which he delivered on Nov. 10, 2022, Charles P. Rettig predicted “an exciting new era for the IRS, one that is desperately needed to transform the agency to improve taxpayer service and ensure fairness in tax compliance.” However, about a week earlier, Rettig provided what only can be described as a pessimistic assessment of the United States’ overall tax picture. The tax agency reported that when all the “numbers-crunching” for the years 2017 to 2019 has been completed, that information will confirm the ...