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Casino workers set to lose big in spending bill

Editorials

Thousands of casino workers across the United States thought they would be winners when Donald Trump was victorious for a second term. Candidate Trump, while on the campaign trail, told workers who rely on tips as part of their income that, if he were elected to a second term, after his four-year absence from the Oval Office, workers would no longer have that tip income taxed. Initially, many workers were skeptical about that ever happening, but then came the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that, thanks to Congress, seemed to make good on Trump’s campaign promise. But what a terrible ...

Are we lost?

Letters to the Editor

The Christian ethos, “love your neighbor as yourself,” has taken quite a beating in this MAGA moment. How have we gotten here? What transformation in American values leads us to betray and exploit our democratic Ukrainian allies in their existential struggle against a ruthless, godless KGB dictator? How do we countenance barbaric medieval starvation and genocidal massacre of the defenseless civilian population in Gaza by an indicted war criminal and his political cabal? When did we condone brutal racist concentration camps, here and abroad, for harmless students, laborers, women ...

A reminder to honor those who served

Letters to the Editor

The article “1775: Good year for a little revolution” on the Opinion page (July 10) is a reminder to honor the men on the central Pennsylvania frontier who in the summer of 1775 answered the call of the 2nd Continental Congress to form rifle companies and march directly to Boston to support New England’s Army of Observation in the Siege of Boston. Men living in what are today, Bedford, Huntingdon and Blair counties answered that call. John Holliday was commissioned Second Lieutenant in Captain Robert Cluggage’s Company of Riflemen, one of the original six rifle companies under ...

Garfield Park shows partnership works

Letters to the Editor

Four years ago, our Blair County Pickleball Club was given by the City of Altoona and the Blair Rec Commission two abandoned tennis courts in the back of Garfield Park to be used for the conversion to six new pickleball courts. All we had to do was privately raise the funds to pursue this new court construction. Over the course of four months, over $90,000 was raised and in June 2022, we dedicated our new courts. As a follow-up gesture, the City and Rec Commission subsequently procured DCNR funds to build walking trails surrounding these courts, renovate the existing pavilion, install ...

GOP party loyalty needs re-evaluated

Letters to the Editor

I know our district is deep Trump country, but hear me out, because many of us are tired of the chaos. The drama between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has me convinced we need a new way forward. Musk (an American citizen) isn’t perfect. You don’t have to like the A.I. nonsense, his ego or his salutes, but he’s an innovator. Trump (with all his flaws) had some good instincts, but his “Big Beautiful Bill” was the last straw. Republican politicians know better, but they keep nodding along, terrified of MAGA rage. We deserve a party that stands for something, not just whatever ...

Railroad merger may aid Altoona

Editorials

If Norfolk Southern Railroad’s proposed merger with the much larger Union Pacific Railroad comes to pass, the combining of the two carriers might be bad for Altoona’s Juniata Locomotive Shop, but it actually might be good instead. Look at the possible merger from two perspectives, first the negative one that seems to be dominant at this point. The negative perspective envisions at least a cutback in employment, if not total closure of the local operation. Union Pacific no doubt would control major decisions, if regulatory approvals are forthcoming, because it is the much bigger of ...