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Rowe right on effectiveness of cyber charter schools To the Editor: As recently as a couple years ago, I’d have laughed off Rep. David Rowe’s feelings toward HB1500, the bill that would gut the state’s cyber charter school system. Today, I know he’s right on this one. Don’t get me wrong — I believe, for the most part, public education serves our communities well. I also agree there’s room for reform for all forms of education, and the unfortunate problem preventing that is one political party seemingly beholden to union educators and another that wants more public ...

Protecting our children and ourselves at pools and beaches

Editorials

Children line up at the edge of the pool, shrieking, feet pounding the concrete as they race toward the cool blue water. Parents relax on folding chairs, scanning their phones, voices drifting above the hum of a summer afternoon. At the lake, teenagers kick off shoes and sprint for the shallows. Downstream, anglers call out warnings as boats drift by. Every summer, water draws us back—reminding us of the freedom, the risk, and the responsibility it brings. That draw is as old as the Juniata River itself. In the Juniata River Valley and across Pennsylvania, families fill community ...

Higher ed may price itself out of reach

Editorials

Picture this: An eager 18-year-old heads to a car lot in search of his first set of wheels. He sees a moderately priced used car that has low mileage and is in good condition. It’s a steal at $10,000. Heading into the dealership’s business office, he’s practically giddy. With nothing to put down, he sits down in a chair and asks to finance the entire cost. Much to his chagrin, he’s laughed out of the office. Now picture a different scenario involving the same eager 18-year-old: After hours of research, he settles on the college he’d like to attend. As with the car, he ...

Readers' opinions

Letters to the Editor

Cyber charter students deserve fair funding To the Editor: The June 25 article, “Watchdog finds charters spend public dollars on sports sponsorships,” highlights a real concern, but misplaces the blame. The bigger issue is Pennsylvania’s outdated school funding system, where per-student allocations vary wildly from $15,200 to more than $41,000. Despite these disparities, some lawmakers, school districts, and advocacy groups are pushing to cut public cyber charter funding dramatically — to just $8,000 per student — based on false and misleading narratives. That would ...

Optimism over airport rewarding

Editorials

Optimism already is paying off for the Altoona-Blair County Airport. It is important that there be no interruption in it, going forward. Last July, officials in charge of the local air facility — specifically, the Altoona-Blair County Airport Authority — were knee-deep in planning for redirecting the airport’s 30-passenger jet service away from Philadelphia International Airport, which increasingly had been judged an inconvenience to most Blair-based air travelers, from a directional standpoint. Now, the optimism that was the foundation for that successful move, effective last ...

Readers' opinions

Letters to the Editor

United States founded as republic To the Editor: I am, once again, confused by a number of democrat politicians. I thought this nation was founded as a Republic, not a democracy. In fact Jefferson, Madison and so many of our founders thought democracy was a close cousin to mob rule and they abhorred the term. In a recent Lewistown article, it was mentioned that Gov. Shapiro praised the founding of our ‘democracy’ 250 years ago, “Our democracy was born here in Pennsylvania...”. That was the founding of our army, not our Republic. In fact not once was democracy mentioned in ...