Everyone's Opinion Newsletter

We always have difficulty finding things to do when visitors come over the holidays in fall and winter. Most of the museums are closed, and there are no shows or plays around the holidays. After summer is over, it is difficult to find things to do.

I know it is expensive, but if asked about ideal conditions; it would be nice to have museums open for the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and other holidays where many visitors come into town.

Sumyunguy

Blair County, PA

What do you think?

When will Altoona care for its citizens as much as they do for its pets? Altoona's ever growing community of elderly have been confined by the unresponsive community officials on the subject of passing a muzzle law for fighting breed dogs.

To allow pit bulls to run unmuzzled and/or unleashed is a disservice to the community. The officer that had to put down the roaming pit bull was entirely right in his quick and precise actions. I, myself have noticed these dogs walking unleashed with their owner's children. Most of the time there were two pit bulls.

These dogs were specifically bred to bring down bulls in an arena, as well as for the cruel act of dog fighting. The British had actually banned the breed. What does that tell you? They are truly fantastic defensive animals, but when mistreated and improperly trained for offensive use they are ticking time bombs. It is impossible to have people checked close enough to see if they are mistreating their animals. A muzzle law would make the care of these animals a mute topic.

Please protect our elderly, children and law enforcement personnel with the issue of a pit bull muzzle law question on the ballot!

Gary

Altoona, PA

What do you think?

I wonder why townships surrounding the City of Altoona are always looking for ways to reduce costs and retain manpower with their fire department and ambulance services and are willing to spend money on studies etc. Yet, they never look into the possibility of the cost savings, the efficiency, and the value of contracting with the city fire department. Not to mention the insurance savings that businesses and property owners would share.

Joe

Altoona, PA

What do you think?

I think that Altoona's youth could really benefit from more entertainment and attractions in the area. I think that there is a decent demand for things such as a skate park where they can go for free and stay out of trouble while doing one of the things they love. I am not personally a skateboarder but I hate to see them being kicked out of everywhere and looked down on for just trying to have some clean fun, when all they need is a place to go. We could also stand to use places like museums, zoos, or other such fun and educational attractions. I say less fast food and shopping centers, and more places to hang out without being forced out.

Meghan

Altoona, PA

What do you think?

In response to Commissioner Gority's inquiry for the Board of the Allegheny Mountains Convention and Visitors Bureau, the limitations of the choices of the presented poll leads me to open my response. Our area needs four things to improve it for the residents and visitors. Jobs, jobs, jobs, and transportation.

We live in a depressed area with industry flight and industrial base blight. We have plenty of restaurants, lodges, and malls (stores). Far more than is needed for an area with this population. In fact, any additions to these categories would only cause another entity within to fail. The idea of a convention center to bring more commerce to the Altoona Area has resulted in the Center taking business from other traditional venues. The Center managers managed to take the Keystone Festival from Lakemont and failed to sustain it. We need growth in manufacturing industries to improve or sustain the current capacity of the tourist support industry. With the exception of Rail-Fest (which has become less attractive under NorFolk) and an occasional convention (like the PA Women's Federation Convention) all that is available for tourists is the picture of depression and department store savings.

In these times of gas price gouging, it would be good to offer an extension of AmTran to the rural reaches of the county or some parallel entity to offer mass transit options. However, without the aforementioned jobs our politicians are only putting a band-aid on our problems.

Oh, and balancing the county budget would be nice.

Peace, Progress, and Fiscal Responsibility,

Poeman

Pennswoods

(Official Response Requested)

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I think attending the Commissioner's meetings would be great, however, 10am seems to be a time set to prevent working people (or the public in general) to attend. Why not have a time set to attract the public? Say 5pm? For a $60,000 salary the commissioners could do something after hours (like balancing the budget).

Peace, Progress, and Doing The Job.

Poeman Pennswoods

What do you think?

To "The Freeman,"

I'll start off by saying I, too, share the appreciation of EON along with many others. As for your Vietnam experience, I'll have to say it is in fact a real one piloted by you based on your perspective. I understand this would be a tough experience to forget, but it should not be a nagging memory hanging over your head.

You say there were three stretchers of wounded and a child trying to tag along. I myself would not have allowed the child to board the ship. The camp you were taking these wounded is not the kind of place a young child should witness. You also mentioned that there were bystanders that could have been friends or family to take care of the child. To be honest with you, I think the way this girl acted was indeed very stubborn, but also selfish. I don't know what type of aircraft this was, but there are strict crew capacities to adhere to. Many choppers during the Vietnam War crashed due to overmanning.

Standing in front of your aircraft no matter what state of mind was foolish. I will stop there by saying that these were very tough times in a hopeless war. Did this young girl ever see her mother again?

But as in relation to the article's title, what I got from this was that you never got the child's name. The thirteen year old's name was irrelevant to the importance of the story. No story, opinion, or blog needs a title or name tagged with it. It's what is in the article; not behind it. So write on "FreeMan" as I will too.

Ron

Riggles Gap, PA

What do you think?