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Focusing on homeless important

Homelessness is a problem in the Altoona area, although the vibrancy of the city and its surrounding area amid everyday comings and goings might seem to indicate otherwise. The Mirror has touched on the issue in the past, but the real scope of the problem has not gotten under the proverbial microscope in a way that could help area residents understand vividly that homelessness also is a serious affliction here, not only in other places. An article in the May 3 Mirror, “Group looks to help homeless,” ramped up the needed understanding, but there is much more to tell, at least some ...

Addressing postal service’s deliberate ways

A leaked U.S. Supreme Court decision, not yet final, that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling recognizing abortion rights for women, will continue to dominate the nation’s attention for months, if not years. Within hours after the decision was leaked, certainty already was cemented in the eyes of millions of Americans, men as well as women, that the ruling could have a seismic impact on this year’s mid-term elections and the 2024 praesidential balloting — as well as politics in general perhaps for generations. What is very important at this time, though, and which has ...

Work release important for prison

Blair County’s prisoner work-release program was not the only one in Pennsylvania and other states victimized by the COVID-19 pandemic. Prisons across this country had to implement major changes on behalf of inmates’ safety and the safety of those who might have had to make contact with them during the health crisis. Inmates, already restricted prior to the start of the pandemic, had to live with even more stringent limitations, prohibitions and realities — and the realization that no one knew how long the disruptions to normal, albeit uncomfortable, prison life might ...

Bipartisanship necessary on gun violence

If a person is intent on killing someone and doesn’t have a gun, he or she will find some other means for committing the crime. That must be kept in mind as the Pennsylvania General Assembly, amid its 2022-23 budget-preparation work currently underway, considers how to allocate funds most effectively to try to reduce gun violence in the commonwealth. It is important that whenever the available funds are directed, those dollars reach the programs with the best track record for “cooling off” potentially deadly circumstances before they reach the point of someone pulling a trigger ...

Respect can’t elude pet owners

The April 21 Mirror front-page article “Dog waste fight leads to threats, jail time” was of interest to many people in this newspaper’s coverage area for an obvious reason — because the article focused on a problem that is too common here and beyond. Day in and day out, news media are consumed by coverage of major state, national and international events, but there are times when local issues are too relevant to ignore, even if they are far from being the most important news of the day. Today is one of those days, stemming from reporter Kay Stephens’ April 21 coverage that, ...

Student loan relief: Proceed with caution

Many people successful in their life’s pursuits are where they are today because of educational opportunities afforded by federal student loans or grants. Those former students should be forever grateful for having had the opportunity to grow up in a free nation with abundant financial resources — abundant financial resources that enabled them to get a college degree without first having to provide much, if any, upfront tuition money. Now, rather than dwelling on the hope that their loans someday might be forgiven, for whatever reason, former loan recipients now earning a ...