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Fentanyl epidemic can’t be dismissed

Pick up a newspaper these days, turn on a TV newscast, or catch reports on the internet or from wherever other source, and you are destined to get the latest updates on the Florida hurricane recovery efforts, the ups and downs of the stock market, the goings-on involving the Jan. 6 investigation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the abortion issue, as well as developments on the NFL front, Major League Baseball and the start of the NHL season. Meanwhile, Wednesday evening brought the news of the decision by the OPEC+ oil-exporting countries to cut production sharply to support sagging ...

Prospect deserves deeper dive

Altoona residents who value the existence of Prospect Pool have cause for cautious optimism about the pool’s future. On Sept. 26, the city council provided a tentative endorsement to keeping the pool in operation next summer if costs are not prohibitive. However, the pool was not without many problems during the summer, and council members — commendably — were not reluctant to let their feelings be known about what transpired. The only way to resolve and move beyond the pool’s problems is to continue to discuss them openly, regardless of who would prefer less visible ...

Holidays loom: Stay ahead of staff shortage

As the year-end holidays creep ever closer — along with the beefed-up consumer spending that generally goes along with them — businesses already are knee-deep in the annual task of trying to improve their appeal to everyone who will be spending money. As the weeks ahead approach and pass, some businesses will be relying on successful strategies of the past that allowed them to capitalize on customers’ buying preferences and loyalties. However, for many others, the current uncertain national economy poses challenges that will test merchants’ best instincts, as well as their ...

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 ...