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Christmas Eve is time of gratitude

Too frequently, adults can be heard muttering the words “I’ll be happy when Christmas is over and life can return to normal,” amid their frustrations regarding gift-buying and all the other preparations leading up to the holiday. However, let the truth be told: Christmas melts the hearts of even the most “sour souls” among us who proclaim, as the holiday season is getting underway, that they do not have time for it. By the time Christmas Eve — today — arrives, most are caught up too in the preparations that have been consuming others around them for weeks. The last ...

The power of prayer should pervade this Christmas

Music is as much a part of the holiday season as gifts, reminiscing about Christmases past and, yes, even Santa Claus. For most people, it is uplifting that so much of the music heard at this time of the year does not ignore the fact that the reason for the holiday season is the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago — the birth that the world celebrates today. There would be no Christmas if Jesus had not sacrificed himself by coming to Earth to try to save mankind from the ravages of sin and the possibility of eternal damnation. Unfortunately, amid the hustle ...

COVID spread, unfortunately, not going away

Johns Hopkins University data reported by the Wall Street Journal last Monday indicated that 34 states had higher seven-day averages for new COVID-19 cases than they did before Thanksgiving. Public health officials across the country, understandably, are feeling uneasy during this lead-up to Christmas and New Year’s. “The U.S. seven-day average for new cases is about 119,000 a day, according to Johns Hopkins,” the Journal reported, “up from a recent low near 71,000 in late October, when surges triggered by the delta variant slowed in the South before starting to hit hard in ...

BG adds to its rich sports history

Shining rays of sun on some good news: Sports can build pride, in school and in the community, and Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School has enjoyed a strong sense of that pride for decades. The Marauders added their fourth Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association football championship last week to go with seven girls basketball championships and the two Pennsylvania Catholic Interscholastic Athletic Association titles won by BG’s boys basketball team in 1967 and 1970. The latest football title came via a 21-14 victory over Redbank Valley last Thursday at Hersheypark ...

McCrory’s ship, finally, will set sail

The saga of uncertainty that had enveloped the former McCrory’s building on 11th Avenue in Downtown Altoona for so long is poised to come to an honorable end, now that the city has taken over ownership of the deteriorated structure and is preparing to transfer it to the Altoona Redevelopment Authority. The authority will be tasked with finding a developer with the financial wherewithal, vision, skill and determination to rescue the building from a potential date with a wrecking ball or, worse yet, from unanticipated, massive structural failure that would scuttle any prospects for ...

Prison system performs vital role in society

Some criminals never feel remorse regarding their crimes. They continue to harbor as much anger, hate, resentment and disregard for others’ well-being and rights as they did when they committed the offenses that resulted in their being locked up in a county jail, state prison or federal penitentiary. However, hardened criminals do not represent the majority of individuals who are serving time for whatever the wrongdoings. The majority of habitants of incarceration facilities do feel regret virtually every day for having succumbed to irresponsible, stupid, rash impulses, some of ...