Many years ago, I was introduced to key Republican policies of fiscal discipline (balancing the federal budget) and smaller, less invasive government (modest spending programs and individual initiative and responsibility). Individuals, families, and businesses live within their means, ...

One thing we’ve all learned in 2020 is that good health is everything. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that it’s more important than ever to have access to the insurance you need to live a healthy life. That’s why we’re happy to introduce Pennie, Pennsylvania’s new health ...

Trump is winning economy By Cal Thomas Some people can’t handle success. The latest jobs report shows that despite the pandemic President Trump’s policies of lower taxes and reducing regulations continue to work. Raising taxes and imposing regulations, as Joe Biden has pledged to do, ...

By Gene Barr In a year that’s already been plagued with financial hardships, small businesses, nonprofits, day cares and the education and medical communities recently received more troubling news when Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed critical liability protections on the last day of the 2019-20 ...

For centuries, America has been the land of promise, and we have led the way in lifesaving advancement. In the span of my own medical career alone, I have witnessed remarkable innovation — from groundbreaking discoveries to new therapeutics and even cures for deadly diseases. In 2020, ...

It is Judy Garland versus Vera Lynn. It is The 1939 song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” versus the 1942 hit “White Cliffs of Dover.” It is America in its prewar reverie versus Great Britain in its wartime trial. This is, for America’s two political parties, a Bluebird ...

The 2020 presidential election is not over yet. There are multiple legal challenges and recounts pending in key states, and, under a long-standing legal process, those events must play out before a winner is officially declared. I know roughly half the nation does not want to hear that, ...

Recent controversy over the recent Supreme Court nomination and its impact on the balance of the court suggests an historical analysis might provide some insight into the matter. I use the political party (D or R) of the president making the nomination as proxy. Judicial temperament ...

Most of us remember the popular children’s song, “The Wheels on the Bus.” When we were kids, we sang it with our friends as we rode a yellow bus to school; as parents, we taught it to our own children. But in every school district across the state, the future of the yellow bus is at ...

This week, Sept. 13-19, is observed nationally as Direct Support Professional Recognition Week, and for good reason. Direct Support Professionals, or “DSPs” as they’re often called, are the frontline workers at human services agencies that support people living with intellectual or ...

Local Voices By Rebecca Aungst This week, Sept. 13-19, is observed nationally as Direct Support Professional Recognition Week, and for good reason. Direct Support Professionals, or “DSPs” as they’re often called, are the frontline workers at human services agencies that support ...

As executive director of The Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association and as a former member of the Pennsylvania Department of Health Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, I would like to express my concerns, and those of many of our membership, about the legalization of marijuana and the ...

The city of Altoona’s finances have made the news lately. Like many local governments, we’re facing the challenge of building a budget for 2021 without knowing where the economy is headed. Since January, the federal government has printed over $3 trillion and may print a few trillion ...

It is well known that the Chinese Communist Party steals intellectual property of American businesses and forces the transfer of technology as a condition of doing business in China. These practices eliminate American competitive advantage and enable CCP companies to produce cheap knockoff ...

With just weeks to the start of a new school year, Pennsylvania’s public school districts find themselves under siege, facing extreme public pressure and scrutiny, as they furiously plan for how to safely reopen schools. It’s a fight they shouldn’t have to wage alone. They’re ...

By Ron Evans Reportedly, when Andrew Jackson disagreed with a decision of the Supreme Court’s chief justice, he said, “John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it.” All three branches of commonwealth government are saying the equivalent regarding a ruling the ...

As Blair County navigates the pandemic, we are facing a time when many businesses and social clubs are determining if they can stay alive. I know this because I hear everyone from restaurants, bars, social clubs, convenience stores, tobacco shops and many other small business owners worry as ...

In recent weeks, I have been reflecting on the unprecedented challenges that our community and our team at Conemaugh Nason Medical Center in Roaring Spring have faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, I’ve been intentionally looking for every possible silver lining in ...

Editor’s note: This commentary was written by Blair County commissioners Laura Burke, Bruce Erb and Amy Webster. As the Blair County Board of Elections, we always knew that the first election after the passage of Act 77, allowing no excuse mail-in voting, would be much different than the ...

My heroes have died. How fortunate am I. Though sad that I have had three life mentors die in the past two years, I feel fortunate to have had them bless my life in a time when many young men have none. What lessons have I learned from my heroes? My heroes were from the Greatest Generation. ...