Air failures must promptly be addressed

January 21, 2023

Anyone who follows news emanating from the federal government can rightly speculate that not enough is being done to address some of this country’s major problems and past omissions. One Webster’s Dictionary definition for the word “omission” is “apathy toward or neglect of duty,” and that definition probably accurately describes the current situation embedded in the Nation’s Capital — and which, really, has existed for more than a couple of years on some fronts. Both major political parties must share the blame, and it is past due for both political parties to face ...

Regional vets court makes sense

January 20, 2023

Blair County is destined to be an important component of a proposed regional veterans court, despite what actually might be a lesser need for the regional participation than that of some other anticipated or already announced member counties. As Blair President Judge Elizabeth Doyle has pointed out, vets who run afoul of the law continue to be “very ably served” by the local DUI and drug courts that hear most of the cases in which they are defendants. Still, as Judge Wade Kagarise, an Army veteran, has noted, some “specific treatment options would be available” to honorably ...

‘Shrinking’ retail market concerning

January 14, 2023

One of the dictionary definitions of the word “shrink” refers to clinical psychiatrists or psychologists. However, in the retail sector the word has a vastly different meaning. It is an industry term for loss of inventory, one of the big reasons being rampant theft. In its Dec. 24-25 edition, just as the holiday shopping season was coming to a close, the Wall Street Journal delved into the scope of the shrink problem with which merchants currently are dealing, compared with what the retail sector had to deal and adjust to just several years earlier. The bottom line is that the ...

Optimism on Gable’s building

January 11, 2023

Front-page news in the Mirror earlier this month provided more cause for optimism about Downtown Altoona’s future. That news was a great way to welcome the start of this new year. The focus of the article was the once-proud Gable’s building that was a centerpiece of the era preceding the exodus of stores and other businesses to suburban venues. However, unlike the former McCrory’s building, which fell into great disrepair caused much municipal trepidation, the Gable’s structure has continued to be a player — albeit a diminished one — in this city’s economic ...

Small-business hiring reveals evolving change

January 7, 2023

Proposals for raising the minimum wage always have triggered vigorous discussion, with proponents as well as opponents providing reasonable arguments to bolster their respective positions. But the hiring situation at this time in the U.S. economy’s small-business sector is revealing an evolving change in the minimum wage’s perceived importance — a change perhaps destined to remain embedded in smaller workplaces, and numerous larger ones, around the nation for the long term rather than being but a short-term deviation from usual rate-of-pay statuses quo. “I don’t want to say ...

It’s important to make 2023 a better year

December 31, 2022

Many Americans still can recite word-for-word a famous — and meaningful — message delivered by President John F. Kennedy during his inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1961. That message: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” During this weekend of forgettable 2022 giving way to what many people hope will be a greatly more upbeat 2023, perhaps a message with a tone similar to Kennedy’s is apropos, such as: “Ask not what 2023 can do for you; ask what you can do to help make 2023 a better year for yourself, your country and your fellow ...