Blair County was thrust onto the national media stage with the December capture of Luigi Mangione, wanted in connection with the New York City murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. That story - and the resulting attention placed on Altoona, the Plank Road McDonald's, the Altoona Police Department and a local attorney - was voted the top news story of the year by the Mirror newsroom.
The news staff voted late in December on the top stories from a ballot that included the most prominent news items from throughout the year. Also making the Top 10 list is the ongoing "shakeup" in county government operations, issues with the Blair County Prison and the deaths of two Altoona Area High School students in separate vehicle accidents on the same weekend.
Mangione arrested in Altoona
Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in downtown Manhattan on Dec. 4, was arrested at the McDonald's on Plank Road in Altoona on Dec. 9 after he was spotted by a customer. That customer alerted an employee who called 911.
Altoona police officers, based on photos and videos circulated by the New York City police, identified Mangione as the suspect accused of killing Thompson and took him into custody. According to police reports, he was carrying a fake ID, a ghost gun, silencer and ammunition, along with a notebook allegedly containing a description of the CEO's killing.
In Altoona, police charged Mangione with felony counts of forgery and carrying a firearm without a license, along with three misdemeanors.
After being incarcerated for 11 days at the State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon as a county prison inmate, the Towson, Md., man was escorted back to New York City on Dec. 19 after two Blair County court hearings that drew national and international media attention, plus sidewalk demonstrators in support of Mangione's actions to bring awareness to health care issues.
Altoona defense attorney Thomas M. Dickey, who represented Mangione on the local charges as well as the extradition request, was also prominently featured, with media staging outside his Orchard Avenue office.
In New York, Mangione is facing first-degree murder as an act of terrorism and related charges in the killing of Thompson. Additional federal charges were filed against him, accusing him of traveling across state lines with the intent "to kill, injure, harass, intimidate" and surveil Thompson, based on a complaint prepared by the FBI.
Dickey will continue to represent Mangione on his Blair County charges, but they are to remain on hold while the New York charges move forward.
Mangione also attracted online support and financial donations from people critical of the health care industry, and drew supporters who traveled to the courthouse for his hearings.
Commissioners shake up county government
Blair County Commissioners made a number of changes in 2024, some of which drew complaints and debate.
In March, the commissioners decided to hire and assign the bulk of the county's legal work to the law firm Gabriel Fera PC of Pittsburgh, ending decades of relying on Hollidaysburg attorneys for legal advice.
Attorneys with the Pittsburgh firm took over tasks previously handled by Solicitor Nathan Karn and Assistant Solicitor Jeff Muriceak of Evey Black Attorneys LLC of Hollidaysburg.
Gabriel Fera PC also took over county labor and employment matters previously handled by the Harrisburg-based McNees Wallace and Nurick and prison matters assigned to Campbell Durant, a law firm with offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
David Kessling, who became the commissioners board chairman in January, said the change was expected to reduce the county's combined legal costs that were exceeding $500,000 annually.
Commissioners Laura Burke and Amy Webster, who had worked with Karn and Muriceak for the last four years, said the change was purely financial and reflected no dissatisfaction with their services.
In April, the commissioners fired longtime county Human Resources director Katherine W. Swigart without explanation.
Swigart, who was hired in 2012 by the commissioners board of Terry Tomassetti, Diane Meling and Ted Beam Jr., assisted county leaders with managing a variety of personnel-related employment issues, including the 2017 pursuit of an overdue salary study that drew criticism for failing to address pay issues and is now regarded as outdated.
Swigart had worked for four groups of commissioners - she retained her job after Bruce Erb joined Tomassetti and Beam as commissioners in 2016, and after Amy Webster and Laura Burke became commissioners with Erb in 2020.
In another personnel issue, the commissioners cast a 2-to-1 vote in July to fire Chief Clerk/County Administrator Nicole Hemminger, an action that ignited debate and warnings about the future of county government.
Kessling and Webster voted in favor while Burke voted against the firing.
Kessling and Webster said they believed their votes were helping to create a new culture in county government, to the benefit of the county and to county employees.
Kessling also said that he and Webster realized that the decision they were making to terminate Hemminger's employment would not be easy, nor was it taken lightly.
Hemminger started working for the county in early 2017 when she was hired as the assistant to Chief Clerk/County Administrator Helen Schmitt, who retired at the end of 2019.
In August, the commissioners fired the county's Children, Youth & Families administrator, Tiffany Treese, an action that came within three months of the county and state negotiating conditions for restoring the agency's operating license.
Kessling said that Casework Supervisor Shannon Tucker would assume the role of interim CYF administrator, as approved by the state.
Treese became CYF administrator in August 2022, taking the post shortly after the state issued the first provisional license to the county agency. Prior to Treese, the CYF administrator position had been vacant or filled on a temporary basis for about two years.
In other planned changes, commissioners Kessling and Webster revealed their support in September for replacing Explore Altoona as the county's Tourist Promotion Agency, naming the Blair Alliance for Business and Economic Growth - the organization formed through the merger of Altoona Blair County Development Corp. and the Blair County Chamber of Commerce - as its choice. The duo said they wanted to make the change from Explore Altoona because the Blair Alliance had a track record of asset development and it was willing to pursue the development of rail trails.
That revelation, however, drew backlash from representatives and supporters of Explore Altoona, who pointed to the agency's expertise and marketing efforts to bring in visitors, who pay the bed tax that funds the marketing agency.
The move to unseat Explore Altoona prompted a clash at municipal meetings, where several governing bodies heard Kessling and Webster ask for a vote to decertify Explore Altoona and where representatives of Explore Altoona asked for a vote against decertification.
For the decertification to be approved, the law requires the county to have a supportive resolution from municipalities representing an aggregate of more than 65% of the county's total population.
In December, the commissioners directed local municipalities to put a hold on their votes to decertify Explore Altoona as the county's tourist promotion agency.
Kessling said that he is hopeful about developing efforts to resolve the matter without decertification and through the restructuring of an agreement governing the county's division of its bed tax revenue.
Kessling referenced a meeting that he attended with representatives of Explore Altoona, the Altoona Blair County Development Corp., the Blair County Convention Center Authority, the Altoona Curve and Altoona City Council members.
Also in September, Kessling shared his vision to change the culture within Blair County with members of the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce.
Kessling said he ran for office because he had questions about what the county commissioners were doing and why they were doing it.
When he got into office, Kessling said he faced an "us versus them" mentality inside the courthouse between the commissioners and other employees.
Fallout continues from B-A wrestling coach's conviction
Fallout from the 2020 sexual assault case against former Bellwood-Antis Middle School wrestling coach Ryan Blazier continued throughout 2024.
In January, the school district authorized a $1 million payment to resolve the civil court lawsuit filed by a student who was sexually abused by Blazier.
The district's insurance provider, on behalf of the district, will cover the $1 million settlement in two ways.
The insurer was authorized to make a $550,000 payment to the student and to Marcus & Mack, whose Indiana, Pa., attorneys represented the student in Blair County court.
The insurer was also authorized to issue a $450,000 payment to MetLife Assignment Co. for distribution in the form of monthly payments to the student through 2048.
The civil lawsuit developed in the months after a state police investigation led to criminal charges being filed in February 2020 against Blazier.
During an October 2021 criminal court jury trial, two students testified against Blazier and accused him of sexually assaulting them on school grounds in 2019 and 2020. The jury that heard the case handed down seven convictions, prompting Senior Judge Daniel J. Milliron to sentence the then-41-year-old Blazier to 21- to 42-years' incarceration.
Also in January, Attorney General Michelle Henry announced that two Bellwood-Antis School District officials have been charged for their role in failing to adequately protect students after being notified of an investigation into Blazier.
The Office of Attorney General filed felony charges against Charles Burch and Timothy Andrekovich, who were the school's athletic director and head varsity wrestling coach, respectively, at the time of the offenses.
Burch, 52, was charged with intimidating a witness for allegedly threatening a student victim of Blazier's if the victim told anyone about the allegations. Andrekovich, 59, was charged with endangering the welfare of children for allegedly failing to adequately carry out a safety plan during the investigation into Blazier's sexual assaults, allowing Blazier to have continued unsupervised access to students.
In October, a Blair County judge declined to dismiss the witness/victim intimidation charge filed against Burch, even though Burch's defense attorney says the case comes down to nothing more than an unsupported claim.
In a ruling to consider challenges offered on behalf of Burch, President Judge Wade A. Kagarise denied a motion to dismiss the third-degree felony.
Also in October, the district resolved a second civil court lawsuit filed on behalf of a student sexual assault victim by authorizing an insurance provider to make $1.6 million in payments to the student and the law firm that represented him.
Under the latest agreement, the district's insurance company was instructed to make a $1.11 million payment to the student victim and to Marcus & Mack, whose Indiana County attorneys represented the student.
In addition, the agreement authorizes the insurance company to pay $490,000 to Prudential Assignment Settlement Services Corp., which will issue monthly and lump sum payments to the student victim through 2046.
In December, a former Bellwood-Antis High School student was arrested after allegedly setting a fire in the district's middle school early Dec. 17.
The fire and resulting damage subsequently closed the school for the week.
Elias Izaha Lynn Alley, 19, was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Carmine W. Prestia Jr. on felony charges of arson, burglary, institutional vandalism and criminal mischief.
He was remanded to Blair County Prison after being unable to post $1 million bail.
Blair County Prison
How to resolve issues with the 156-year-old Blair County Prison was a hot topic during the year.
In May, the county started transferring prison inmates to Centre County because of crowded conditions.
While Blair and neighboring counties regularly exchange a few inmates for security-related reasons, Commissioner Dave Kessling said that for lack of housing inside the prison, 10 of the county's inmates were being housed in Centre County.
"We're bursting at the seams down there," he said as the county's inmate population continued to climb.
In July, Warden Abbie Tate told the Blair County Prison board the prison was dealing with an unprecedented amount of rodents this summer, along with air conditioning and plumbing malfunctions.
It was also in the middle of a security improvement project that has had problems, leading to installation of a temporary chain-link gate where there used to be a garage door on the Union Street side of the prison's stone wall.
While the county commissioners awaited information about potential sites for a new prison, reports about the prison's maintenance issues had become commonplace.
Inmates, their family members and prison society members had been contacting the media to speak of the prison's lack of air conditioning, malfunctioning toilets, crowded conditions and rodents.
Meanwhile, the county commissioners remain interested in finding a site where the county can build a new prison.
In August, Commissioner Amy Webster said that a property, which was under consideration, was no longer being considered because of environmental issues.
But since that development, Webster said local real estate agent Richard Johnston has offered to keep looking on behalf of the county.
Blair County's 2025 budget includes a capital reserve fund with money that could be used to buy land for a new county prison.
While potential sites for a new prison have been under review and are reportedly still under review, commissioners have not yet identified a specific site nor have they taken any action publicly toward acquiring a site.
Children, Youth & Families
In May, the state Department of Human Services revoked the operating license for Blair County's Children, Youth & Families office following the expiration of Blair County CYF's fourth provisional operating license. State law doesn't allow a fifth provisional license.
In a news release, state DHS Secretary Val Arkoosh recognized that the county would be appealing the revocation to its Bureau of Hearings and Appeals. In light of that action, the state and county were to be initiating efforts to negotiate a settlement with a long-term plan to improve the county's operations.
In the meantime, the county and the state - which, in December 2023, assigned an operations manager to the county - maintained day-to-day operations, including investigating child welfare reports and intervening when necessary.
Later in May, the commissioners and the state Department of Human Services signed an agreement to guide the county's Children, Youth & Families office over the next two years.
Commissioners voted to sign the negotiated agreement that restored the county CYF office's operating license for six months, but said they weren't sure what the county's cost will be.
One cost that immediately fell to the county required payment of salary and expenses for the state operations manager, who was assigned to Blair County CYF office in December 2023.
Commissioner Laura Burke, liaison commissioner to the CYF office, said the operations manager has been helpful in the pursuit of improvements that the state recognized in its last review.
The agreement also indicated that Blair County must continue to cooperate with the operational manager as long as the manager stays assigned to Blair County, which could be less than two years. The state indicated that it will monitor the county's need for an operational manager and determine when the assignment ends.
The agreement also required commissioners, within 30 days after the agreement was executed, to review the county's CYF leadership team with input from the state.
In August, the commissioners fired the county's CYF administrator, Tiffany Treese, an action that came within three months of the county and state negotiating conditions for restoring the agency's operating license.
Casework Supervisor Shannon Tucker then assumed the role of interim CYF administrator, as approved by the state.
In September, the Blair County Salary Board unanimously approved retention bonus payments to nonunion employees in the county's CYF office - three months after rejecting the requests in a 2-2 vote.
Commissioners Dave Kessling and Amy Webster, who previously voted against the payments, cast favorable votes.
Commissioner Laura Burke and Controller A.C. Stickel also agreed with the recommendation to provide one-time payments of $3,000 to supervisors and $1,500 to the fiscal operations officer.
All payments - as proposed in June - were covered by a portion of the county's $150,000 allocation from the federal Family First Transition Act.
Kessling said he supported the requests in light of changes in the CYF office.
Today, the office is again operating under a provisional license, six months after state and county personnel came up with a settlement plan restoring the office's regular license with conditions.
Burke, who has been working with the CYF office and state supervisory personnel, said she wasn't surprised by the state's decision to issue the latest provisional license.
Hollidaysburg School District in the red, looks at buildings
The Hollidaysburg Area School Board dealt with several issues in 2024.
In January, school board members approved Curtis A. Whitesel as the district's new superintendent. Whitesel, who was serving as superintendent of Bald Eagle Area School District, was to begin at Hollidaysburg in April and serve through March 2029.
Then in February, acting superintendent Darren McLaurin announced he would resign from the position, less than five months after assuming the role.
Interim special education director Rodney Green was named to fill the post until Whitesel arrived in April.
In May, board members voted unanimously to approve a preliminary budget for the 2024-25 school year with no tax increase despite a projected deficit of nearly $3 million.
Prior to final budget adoption in June, parents and students piled into the Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School library to voice their support for the music department and arts programs, after an email circulated through the district claiming the board was looking to make cuts, specifically within the music department to activities such as trips to Penn State and away football games.
Before public comment began, however, Whitesel told those gathered that there had been no formal discussions among the board members concerning cuts in the department.
In June, the board voted to not raise taxes for the 2024-25 school year.
Whitesel said no tax increase means the almost $2.6 million deficit would be covered by the district's unassigned fund balance, which currently sits at roughly $6.8 million.
In October, board members heard the findings of a feasibility study on ways to stem increasing financial challenges across the district.
Several of the options in the study included closing a number of the district's elementary schools and condensing their student populations into a single, new building on the district campus, as well as renovations to move ninth graders into the high school building.
The updated study of the version conducted in 2022 was requested due to the district's current financial situation.
Hollidaysburg currently has a $2,574,974 budget deficit and several expensive building maintenance projects anticipated in the next few years, including a senior high roof repair and new junior high boiler.
The master plan recommended in the CRA study listed four main steps to stabilize the district's long-term financial health - moving sixth grade into the junior high building, ninth grade into the senior high, consolidating one or more of the three elementary schools and renovations on current buildings.
Moving ninth graders into the high school would require a two-story addition to the current building in order to rehome all students, while sixth graders would be able to move into the junior high building without any major renovations.
The consolidation process outlined in the study could take three routes - consolidating all three elementary schools into one, newly constructed building where C.W. Longer stands; consolidating Foot of Ten and Frankstown Elementaries into a new building and a renovated C.W. Longer; or consolidating all three elementaries into the junior high building and constructing a new junior high.
NAACP says county has 'culture of hate'
The Blair County NAACP and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission held the county's first No Hate in Our State town hall at the Railroad City Cultural Center in October.
The event, which drew a large crowd, came after several racially insensitive incidents occurred in the county during 2024.
In January, it was disclosed that two Altoona Area High School teachers were being investigated after a racially insensitive incident occurred in a classroom.
According to Blair County NAACP President Andrae Holsey, the two teachers were being investigated along with other school administrators, including a school police officer.
The teachers reportedly admitted to using school resources to print out and hang up images of a student's school ID photo and an asparagus-looking cartoon character.
In May, the removal of a song from the Spring Cove Middle School chorus concert upset several parents and community members, and had the NAACP looking into the matter.
The concert was originally meant to include the hymn "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a song written in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson. It was first performed that same year by 500 children at a segregated school in Florida to celebrate the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birthday, according to NPR.
District Superintendent Betsy Baker and middle school Principal Amy Miller made the decision to cut the song from the program after students began expressing concern over the song and the "divisiveness and controversy in the nation." Students were worried that the song would cause a controversy in the community, Baker said.
The song has also been the anthem of the NAACP for more than a century and has been nicknamed the Black national anthem, Holsey said.
After its investigation, the NAACP concluded the removal of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" from the Spring Cove Middle School chorus concert has illuminated significant gaps in cultural sensitivity and inclusivity in the community. While the decision was made with the intention of maintaining order and comfort for all students, it had the effect of marginalizing minorities. Official responses after the incident failed to address the broader community's concerns.
"To fully rectify these oversights, we call for the implementation of inclusive policies, educational initiatives, and state agency oversight. Together, we can foster an environment where every student feels safe, fulfilled, represented, and empowered to succeed - in Spring Cove and beyond," according to an NAACP press release.
The Blair County NAACP's ongoing complaints against Operation Our Town, local police departments and the two school districts were the focus of a presentation by Holsey to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission during the group's May meeting.
Holsey and other members of the local branch of the NAACP were in Harrisburg to talk about the county's race relations, with Holsey stating, "We have this deeply embedded culture of hate in the area."
Holsey urged the commission to investigate his claims of discrimination.
"We're more than happy to coordinate to make that happen, that this commonwealth agency may be able to come to us and make a public spectacle out of these violations," Holsey told the commission.
The state Human Relations Commission enforces state laws that prohibit discrimination.
During the October No Hate in Our State town hall, panelists answered questions while members of the public shared concerns and stories of discrimination.
Gender discrimination, economic inequity, racial profiling, lack of representation and discrepancies within the Blair County's criminal justice system were all topics brought to the table during the public comment portion of the town hall.
2024 election
The nation's eyes turned to the swing state of Pennsylvania and Blair County received its share of campaign stops during the year.
In the Nov. 5 election, Republican and former President Donald Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris to recapture the White House, which he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020.
While Trump easily won Blair County and the state, three-term incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey was defeated by Republican Dave McCormick by a small margin.
The Pennsylvania Department of State called off a recount for the U.S. Senate race after Casey conceded to McCormick on Nov. 21.
Locally, voters elected former pastor and radio station operator Scott Barger to serve as state representative for the 80th District.
Barger had defeated three-term incumbent Jim Gregory in the May Republican primary and ran unopposed in the Nov. 5 election.
Election Day wasn't without drama in the area.
State and local officials were dealing with bomb threats, ballot errors and fire alarms, among more than a dozen other incidents that threatened to wreak havoc on Election Day activities across the state.
In Blair County, a bomb threat at the Blair County Elections and Voter Registration Office forced precinct workers to deliver ballots to the Blair County Convention Center, delaying the official count.
Throughout the election season, a variety of prominent people visited Blair County supporting their candidates.
In May, Gwen Walz, wife of Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz made an appearance at Blair County's Harris-Walz campaign headquarters in the Gable's building,
In October, former California lieutenant governor Abel Maldonado appeared at a rally for Trump in Duncansville. U.S. Rep. John Joyce, R-Blair, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and former Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, among others accompanied Maldonado.
On Nov. 2, Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, visited the Athenian Cafe in Altoona as part of the Democrats' final push in Pennsylvania.
Changes made at UPMC Altoona
Plans to drop UPMC Altoona's trauma center from its Level II designation to Level III were announced in July.
Among the reasons that UPMC Altoona was downgraded from Level II status as a trauma center to Level III was to help lure back local surgical groups that have shunned the hospital, due to on-call obligations connected with the current trauma designation, and because of efficiency issues for surgeons caused by a shortage of hospital staff, according to a registered nurse who spoke to the Mirror.
A few surgery groups had been doing all their elective surgeries like joint replacements at other hospitals, while others had reduced their use of UPMC Altoona, all to avoid the need to take on-call trauma cases at all hours, which can be "burdensome," especially when it compromises their sleep and they're scheduled for operations soon afterward, when they may not be at their best, said Cindy Schuma, who's been a nurse for 47 years - 35 at UPMC Altoona and its predecessors, and who currently works in the recovery room. Daily surgical cases in the last few years have fallen from nearly 50 to about 25, Schuma said.
Some surgeons were also reluctant to use UPMC Altoona because of the hospital's inability, due to lack of staff, to provide them sometimes with two operating rooms instead of one, which means they can't alternate between the rooms and handle a maximum caseload - but instead must wait an extra 15 minutes between cases - an issue rooted in the hospital's unwillingness to pay enough to attract a sufficient number of staffers, according to Schuma.
When the hospital dropped to Level III, the on-call obligation disappeared, and the hospital had a better chance of luring those surgeons back.
The hospital's initial explanation for its plan to drop from Level II to Level III was that the demand for high-level trauma services has declined, and that "pretty much summed up the reasoning," said hospital President Mike Corso, when asked about what Schuma said.
Still, Schuma's contention about the on-call issue "is factually accurate," Corso said.
And the new designation as a Level III center was to reduce or limit some on-call requirements, he said.
Moreover, a reluctance to commit to on-call duties that cut into home life isn't unique to Altoona, according to Corso.
The main problem with UPMC Altoona dropping from Level II to Level III is that victims of traumas like compound fractures caused by vehicle accidents will need to be flown out of town, probably to UPMC Pittsburgh, which means an expensive medical helicopter flight and the expenses and upheaval connected with lodging and travel for the families of those patients, Schuma said.
It also means that the nearest higher level trauma center will be farther away.
Instead of going to Altoona, the destination for trauma patients in Centre County will likely be Geisinger Medical Center in Danville or Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey.
Shortly after the trauma center announcement, UPMC officials named Michael Corso president of UPMC Altoona and UPMC Bedford, elevating him from the interim presidency he had held since March, when Jan Fisher retired.
Before that, Corso was vice president of operations for the local hospitals, starting in 2017.
Corso had led many successful programs and services at both hospitals, said UPMC Altoona/Bedford board Chairman Robert Montler.
Corso, an Altoona native, graduated from Penn State with a bachelor's degree in health policy and administration and from Saint Francis University with a master's degree in business administration and management.
He began working for UPMC Altoona's predecessor Mercy Hospital as a college intern in 1994.
Local teens die in crashes
The Altoona Area School District was rocked by tragedy when it was announced two students were killed in separate crashes on Oct. 27.
Lundyn Treese, 17, was ejected and killed in a crash that occurred about 4:09 a.m. on the 900 block of the 10th Avenue expressway.
Keagahn Smith-Price, 16, was ejected and killed in a Bedford County crash near Breezewood about 10:36 p.m.
City police charged Jared Paul Detwiler, 19, of Altoona with homicide by vehicle while DUI in connection with the crash in which Treese was killed.
The 19-year-old Altoona driver involved in the Bedford County crash has not been charged, according to online court documents.
The school district provided counseling and grief support at the high school for students and staff.