County dropped ball on Act 165

February 10, 2023

The Feb. 3 Mirror article “Blair targeting hazmat scofflaws” seems to depict a situation reminiscent of the municipal governments decades ago that made pronouncements about their intent to crack down on those violating the municipalities’ junk-vehicle ordinances. The important point that most of those municipalities failed to address while revealing their intentions to crack down was why they hadn’t enforced their ordinances all along, rather than having allowed junk vehicles to accumulate in yards, vacant lots, alleys and along streets — and who knows where else. If a ...

Troubling statistics on gonorrhea

February 4, 2023

The coronavirus pandemic and, before that, AIDS captured much of the public’s health-concerns attention beyond illnesses and conditions including cancer, heart disease and strokes. However, another serious medical problem has been lurking in the proverbial shadows — a culprit people generally are reluctant to talk about publicly, but which produced almost 700,000 confirmed cases in the United States in 2021. That total was a 130% increase since 2009, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, quoted in the Jan. 30 edition of the Wall Street Journal. Also ...

Interaction with police is important

February 3, 2023

Horrific incidents like the Jan. 10 death of Tyre Nichols resulting from an encounter with Memphis, Tenn., police put pressure on law enforcement departments across America not to fall victim to similar tragic circumstances and outcomes. It remains the opinion of millions of Americans that despite the Memphis department’s correct moves in the aftermath of Nichols’ death, department leaders and the elected officials who oversee it erred seriously by not monitoring the work and attitudes closely enough of officers assigned to the department unit in question. Now, unfortunately, ...

Simply put: Quit smoking, and don’t start

January 31, 2023

Did you know that Pennsylvania is listed as among the states with the worst policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use, according to the American Lung Association’s (ALA) recent 21st annual “State of Tobacco Control” report? In fact, Pennsylvania earned mostly failing grades on the report, but did show an improvement in access to cessation services, moving from an ‘F’ to a ‘D’ grade. Big whoop. The report evaluates state and federal policies on actions taken to eliminate tobacco use and recommends proven-effective tobacco control laws and policies to save ...

Breakthrough in Philly case brings hope

January 28, 2023

Philadelphia’s “Boy in the Box Mystery” shows why police in every jurisdiction across this country should examine their cold-case-deaths files to determine whether evidence still exists that, with the help of the emerging field of genetic genealogy, could prove productive in helping to unlock the most important long-elusive facts, evidence and secrets of those cases. The naked, badly bruised body of the boy in question, which had been wrapped in a blanket and placed inside a large JCPenney bassinet box, was found on Feb. 25, 1957, in a wooded area of the City of Brotherly Love. ...

Good news surrounding Altoona

January 26, 2023

The Mirror’s Jan. 11 editorial, which centered on the optimism that exists regarding the Gable’s building in downtown Altoona, also included the observation that many city residents were awaiting positive news dealing with the renovation of the former McCrory’s building, which also is in the city’s downtown core area. On Jan. 20, that wish was answered by way of a report presented to the Altoona Redevelopment Authority by developer Christopher Cook, the structure’s new owner. It probably is safe to conclude that Cook’s report was much more upbeat than even the most ...