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Opinion

Flight counts excellent despite snow

Editorials

The Altoona-Blair County Airport and the facility’s airport authority need offer no excuses or apologies for the facility’s “down” numbers for the month of January. In fact, the numbers recorded were excellent, considering the deplorable weather conditions during virtually the entire month — in a winter-weather time during which well-below-normal, icy-cold temperatures didn’t just visit, but were so persistent that they caused some pessimistic people to fear that they might become permanent. “Cabin Fever” was rampant in some households. The bad weather was ...

Support for HELPER Act urged

Opinion

Every day in Blair County and across Pennsylvania, our first responders and educators show up for their communities. Police officers, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, and teachers serve on the front lines — often quietly, always faithfully. They respond to emergencies, protect our neighborhoods, and shape the next generation. Yet too many of these dedicated public servants cannot afford to live in the very communities they serve. That is why I strongly support the bipartisan HELPER Act (H.R. 2094 / S. 978) — the Homes for Every Local Protector, Educator, and Responder Act. This ...

Agencies to blame for wetland degradation

Letters to the Editor

Persistent pollution has been degrading Old Crow Wetlands in Huntingdon since construction began at an adjacent site last summer. The DEP improperly issued the permit for this development without thoroughly assessing the site, as demonstrated by sedimentation events occurring repeatedly since construction began. No corrective or punitive action has been taken. Furthermore, PennDOT ignored the threat that the development posed to Old Crow Wetland, which is a PennDOT mitigation site established to compensate for the destruction and degradation of wetlands due to road construction. In ...

Let’s finish the job on term limits

Opinion

On Feb. 27, National Term Limits Day, Americans commemorated the 75th anniversary of the 22nd Amendment — the constitutional provision that limits U.S. Presidents to two terms in office. This landmark reform, born out of broad public demand for rotation in office and accountability in our highest office, was a critical step toward restraining the accumulation of power in Washington. And Pennsylvania played a meaningful role in that history. In the aftermath of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s unprecedented third and fourth presidential terms, momentum built across the country for clear ...

Ag challenges are problems for all of us

Editorials

There seldom is much in-depth publicity about the state of farming across Pennsylvania, including the six-county Southern Alleghenies region, but perhaps now is the right time to delve into that important topic, considering what is happening across this country on the agricultural front. It is a “something” that merits much more than cursory notice and concern. At some point not many decades from now, there might be a need for generous special incentives beyond the current farm subsidies, just to keep large segments of farming alive, staffed and vibrant. The nine words of a Feb. ...

A deeper look at a father’s role

Letters to the Editor

A national opinion piece recently published in the Mirror opines that birth rates collapse without dads. The piece describes a crisis of fathers not providing moral or financial guidance for their progeny, and takes cultural conservatives to task for giving philandering politicians a pass on their bad example. The writer points out that both parents are important and the burden is borne most heavily on single mothers. Decades of government initiatives have created a social safety net that has emasculated men, creating a circumstance where often the nascent family is punished for a ...