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Editorials

Proposed Amtrak service needed

The old phrase “light at the end of the tunnel” can aptly be applied at this time to the issue of additional passenger train service in the Harrisburg-to-Pittsburgh railroad corridor, which includes Altoona and Johnstown. After so long “playing second fiddle” to passenger service eastward from Harrisburg and the long East Coast corridor, Blair and Cambria counties and counties to the west and east of these two can now feel hopeful and more optimistic than ever that more meaningful and more user-friendly passenger-train-travel opportunities might in fact be in the ...

Oil, gas remain critical

U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, R-12th District, is once again right: The U.S. can’t afford to become energy dependent on other nations. We, as we have editorialized in the past, support Keller’s efforts to increase domestic drilling and the construction of pipelines to move oil and gas where it needs to go more quickly and efficiently. Keller called for renewed pushes for domestic drilling and pipelines during a visit to Pennsylvania College of Technology. Penn College has long been at the forefront of educating Pennsylvanians for careers in the energy sector and in related ...

Federal gas tax holiday a mistake

America’s motorists and commercial drivers do not need the three-month federal gasoline and diesel taxes “holiday” proposed by President Joe Biden. The short tax reprieve could do more harm than good. It is not difficult to understand why. The price of fuel is built on supply and demand. Generally, if there is a decline in supply, the price increases, encouraging motorists to conserve. If demand decreases significantly, the price, under normal economic circumstances, drops. With gasoline prices hovering at just below, at or slightly above $5 a gallon, the 18-cent-a-gallon ...

Don’t take libraries for granted

More than a month has passed since the Altoona Area Public Library celebrated its 95th anniversary and launched its full reopening after two years of challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and, amid that medical crisis, having suffered extensive damage from a construction accident that resulted in interior flooding. However, May 11, the day of the celebration, did not end “Anniversary Observance 95,” since that number will continue to be a source of jubilation and triumph for this great community resource until next May, when “95” gives way to “96.” Whatever the ...

Our view: Public dollars should always be in full view

What follows has nothing to do with any current Altoona Area School District administrator or school board member. However, what happened with the Altoona board and district administrators of about 50 years ago remains as relevant and instructive today for any governmental entity, agency, group, contractor or individual spending public dollars as it was back then. Let us take a brief trek back into history to grasp some understanding of what should exist today on one front, but on that front apparently is somewhat lacking. We will reveal up front that this editorial ultimately ...

Digesting Altoona’s crime report

There is much to like regarding the 2021 crime report issued by Altoona Police Chief Joe Merrill at a City Council meeting Monday. Unfortunately, there are some things not to like, although not nearly as many as some communities of Altoona’s size, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, are encountering. Merrill was right in not trying to portray the report as a panacea, but at the same time there are bragging rights of which our city residents can be abundantly proud. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that there is room for improvement in the city’s crime picture, and the city as a ...