Everyone's Opinion Newsletter

(Not an opinion)

It's been over a year since Everyone's Opinion Newsletter spoke with Altoona City Councilman Erik Cagle in February 2008, and now he shares his thoughts on his term and which direction he sees Altoona heading. As of now, Cagle feels optimistic about the dire...

A recent comment on the terrible trend of shooting deaths in Blair County brings to mind an old 1970's saying, (I'd actually seen a T-shirt with it on it) "You Can Get Away With Murder In Blair County." To stop this "trend" as this official said, would take the effectiveness in the issuing of the maximum punishment in all murder cases.

In the seventies the Admitted Murderer Daugherty was sent back to Florida in an appropriate move where he was put to death for murders commi...

That would be great, however let's look at why we have this problem. Since you left, some forty years ago, we have lost our manufacturing, sent our good jobs to Mexico, imported drug dealers from Jersey, Philly and Baltimore, so we can feed them on our assistance programs. Run for office, fix it; no one will elect me because I know what the problems are. You have a shot. You've been away a while. You're right Sir, we do need to clean up the streets, then we can fix those blight problems you s...

Could someone tell me why I see the same drug dealers, that got arrested a week or so ago, back on the streets still selling poison to our kids? While a good friend of mine who didn't want to get a divorce from his wife of twenty some years, and resisted the process peacefully, spends six week in Blair County Prison. When did standing up for something become a crime and killing our kids is accepted? I know for a fact that our local law enforcement is doing a fine job, but our court system is ...

Has anyone been involved with the Blair County judicial system recently? It is no wonder that the county has a tight budget the way this system is run.

Those who have a hearing go to a courtroom and sit for hours for about five minutes of time in front of a judge. If you are a person who is incarcerated and you have a Public Defender or Court appointed attorney, you are lucky if he talks to you for five minutes before it's your turn in front of the judge.

This is to Joe, about the gangs in Altoona. I'm just curious as to how he was able to identify these Blood gang members. Did he ask them if they were in fact gang members? Were they all wearing some sort of red and thats how he knew? Is it because they were black? Or were they white and just all looking thuggish? I've heard so many people saying about these gangs, as I've known people that claimed to be in the gang: the "Crypts."

However simple logic told me t...

Something must be done about the outsiders who are coming into Altoona and leeching off of our resources. It wouldn't be right to talk badly about Section 8 housing people because I have had to use that before, but my problems is that people from our own town are being put at the back of the list.I've heard that in New Jersey and in some other places, there are flyers in their welfare offices advertising Altoona and how well we treat these people.There is seriously a problem when...