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Airport’s success is gift to region

Count the Altoona-Blair County Airport as an early holiday gift-giver to this region, as well as to potentially many more places far beyond. The gift it has provided — this month, well before the placing of traditional holiday gifts under Christmas trees — is the great news about increased passenger numbers already recorded plus predictions that those upbeat numbers will be topped in coming months and, hopefully, beyond. Besides the numbers themselves, though, part of the gift to people who fly into and out of the airport is added confidence that the local air service upon which ...

Compromise to end shutdown acknowledges importance of focus

One complaint we have shared with readers about Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget process is that his proposals have been contingent on big, sweeping changes — legalization of marijuana among them — that we believe deserve nuanced, thorough debate on their own merits by our legislators. We were disheartened to see the Democratic caucus in the U.S. Senate approach the shutdown in a very similar way — and relieved Republicans and a handful of moderate Democrats are forging a path forward that excises the debate that might end in big, sweeping changes and thus required greater nuance and ...

For state, growth needs to be a priority

We agree with the warning state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township and state Sen. Tina Pickett, R-Towanda, shared in an op-ed column this past weekend about the effect Pennsylvania’s bureaucratic barriers have on expanding broadband in rural Lycoming County and we urge their fellow lawmakers to consider a bill they are sponsoring to address one such barrier. “If Pennsylvania fails to act swiftly, we risk falling even further behind in our mission to deliver reliable, high-speed internet to every rural household,” Yaw and Pickett noted. “States like Ohio, New York, New Jersey, ...

Let’s lead the way in giving this season

Charities here and elsewhere across the United States might have experienced a mild “mood boost” in June when the Associated Press reported that, after an adjustment for inflation, charitable giving in 2024 was found to have been up by 3.3% over 2023. But just as the busy “make-or-break” 2025 holiday shopping season is about to kick into high gear, perhaps that less-than-robust mood boost of five months ago might have to be replaced by a sense of caution more significant than any existing a year earlier. Much volatility has impacted the business-industrial climate this year ...

Education, safety are not worth compromising

Gov. Mike DeWine has legislation on his desk that should not be difficult to reject. State Senate Bill 50 would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. during the school year. According to a report by the Cincinnati Enquirer, the law would require permission from a parent or legal guardian and a work permit from a school, but it would allow students (some of whom could be in the eighth grade, based on their age) to work 18 hours a week or three hours a day during the school year, and 40 hours a week when school is not in session. The most surface-level reason to reject the ...

Home affordability crisis is not fake news

Homeowners vote red. Renters vote blue. Will President Donald Trump’s 50-year mortgage make a red voter out of you? That is what the president hoped on Saturday, when he posted the idea of stretching out the customary 30-year repayment terms for home mortgages to 50 years. Turns out, that idea is smoke and mirrors. But at least Trump is recognizing that home affordability is a real crisis, not fake news. “Affordability” is the campaign pledge that produced big wins on election day, and most of the winners were Democrats. Affording a home is increasingly out of reach. The ...