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Keller deserving recipient

Shining rays of sun on some good news: The Blair County Chamber of Commerce’s Lifetime Achievement award is the most prestigious individual award a local business person can attain. Over the 20-year history of the award, many of the community’s giants in business have been honored. Which is why we feel good for the 20th recipient, Joe Keller, founder of Keller Engineers of Hollidaysburg. Keller, 68, will be recognized Oct. 17 at the Blair County Convention Center. He was a Pennsylvania Small Business Person of the Year in 2008 and a Penn State University Alumni Fellow ...

Authority’s efforts worthwhile

An article tucked in last Thursday’s Mirror reported on the Altoona Redevelopment Authority’s effort to find its footing, in hopes of re-establishing itself as an engine of progress, after decades of languishing as a relatively minor city agency. Likely, most of the Mountain City’s current population is too young to know firsthand the authority’s proud history as a guiding force in Altoona’s major redevelopment initiatives beginning in the latter years of the 1960s. Those large-scale projects set the stage for the modern city Altoona is today — and even the current ...

Pandemic aftermath still critical

Parents, grandparents and America as a whole understood early on that this nation’s children — especially teenagers — would not emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic without potentially long-term negative impacts. But many parents, grandparents and America as a whole did not comprehend how much other forces were wreaking havoc in the lives of young people, both before and during the pandemic — and, unfortunately, damage still is being done. A lengthy special report in the September AARP Bulletin painted a deeply troubling picture of what already is here and what might even be ...

County assistance valuable

Blair County planners have helped Altoona’s municipal leaders make the right decisions and choices on numerous projects and issues over the past half-century. It is logical for that partnership to continue in every way possible — of course, within the planning office’s manpower and financial capabilities. Another opportunity has arisen for the county planning office and the Blair County Planning Commission, which oversees it, to provide the city with valuable advice and guidance capable of heading off problems that might otherwise surface, if not immediately then, possibly, in ...

East must stay prepared for drought

The eastern United States is fortunate in not having to deal with the extreme drought conditions portions of the West — including the state of California — are experiencing. However, those dry conditions are not merely a U.S. problem. Rather, drought is afflicting many parts of this planet beyond U.S. borders. The scope of the dry conditions is prompting much use of the term “worldwide drought” — a term seemingly acquiring increased relevance with each passing month. Record drought across the globe this year dried up rivers and reservoirs and sapped the world’s largest ...

Trades are most viable alternative

Plumbers. Welders. Electricians. Carpenters. Machine operators. HVAC technicians. These are among just a few of what used to be called vocational-technical trades learned in high school. Schools are calling them CTE, or Career and Technical Education programs. Regardless, they are critical to us all. Our communities and our nation need more plumbers, welders, carpenters, etc. Ask any employer or small businessperson or homeowners and they’ll tell you that. These traditional skills careers form the basis of our economy — our modern lives. And today, they pay a living ...