Altoona, Blair County | featured news

BELLWOOD - A final draft of plans that could lead to more than a million dollars of upgrades to area recreation sites, as well as an administrative overhaul, was on display this week at the Excelsior Volunteer Fire Departmen.

It's obvious July is no stranger to heat, but it may be less well known that high temperatures could lead to illness or even death.

Outside the garage where Cathy Copley's body was found, flowers, balloons and other mementos line the ground.

JOHNSTOWN - Cambria County officials eliminated nearly 150 vacant county jobs on Thursday, many of which hadn't been filled for several years.

HOLLIDAYSBURG - An Altoona man accused of raping a woman almost two years ago has pleaded guilty to sexual assault and will remain in the Blair County Prison to finish the incarceration associated with his sentence.

In addition to the ongoing construction of a parking garage, the Van Zandt VA Medical Center is undertaking several multi-million-dollar capital projects over the next few years, officials said at a media briefing this week.

The Logan Township supervisors agreed informally Thursday to re-examine a 20-year-old requirement that property owners hooking onto the township's "Innovative and Alternative" sewer system pay for a tank - even if they don't install one.

St. Patrick School's debt to the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese is mostly paid, and its enrollment has grown more than 20 percent from last year, school leaders said.

GALLITZIN - Borough Council has decided not to appeal a Cambria County judge's June ruling that struck down the borough's drug rental ordinance.

If the money can be raised, Hollidaysburg Area School District hopes to place the universe at its students' fingertip.