wfrank@altoonamirror.com
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Keystone Barber School owner/instructor Ali Steele (left) watches student Grace DiDomenico of Altoona give Orren Gates, 6, of Hollidaysburg at haircut at the Lakemont school.
LAKEMONT A new school is looking to make the cut.
Ali Steele recently opened Keystone Barber School LLC at 110 S. Logan Blvd. in Lakemont.
“I have been in the industry for
10 years and felt like this was a good thing for the community to give other opportunities for students. There weren’t any other barber schools in the area since Martin’s Barber School closed,” Steele said.
amollenauer@altoonamirror.com
The Altoona Area School Board voted 7-2 to approve compensation plans for nonunion employees at a special meeting Thursday.
Employees affected are those in bill management, central office administration, support staff and noninstructional administrators.
The plan includes adjustments to health care as well as a four-year timeline for employee raises.
From 2021 through the 2025 fiscal year, the district will not make health insurance coverage available to employee spouses who work for the state, a public school district or a State System of Higher Education or state-related university.
Workers will get a 3% raise for next academic year followed by 2.5 percent increases each of the following three years.
May 5, 2021
T.J. Jefferson has been working on the Rich Eisen Show since 2018, including being on camera since August. / Courtesy photo
Altoona native T.J. Jefferson appeared as a contestant on “The Price is Right,” that aired Tuesday.
Jefferson, who currently resides in Los Angeles where he works as a commentator on the Rich Eisen show, advanced to the program’s Showcase Showdown before he overestimated his guess on a picnic basket.
“Here’s where I messed up,” Jefferson said on the Eisen set after the “The Price is Right” aired. “I listened to the people (in the audience).”
Still, it was a thrill for the 1990 Altoona Area High School graduate.
kstephens@altoonamirror.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG Blair County started mailing ballots Monday to 5,558 county residents who sought to vote by mail in the May 18 primary.
The option, embraced last year by about 16,000 county voters interested in avoiding COVID-19 risks and in casting ballots in the hotly contested presidential race, is attracting some interest this year for the upcoming primary. That’s when Republican and Democratic voters will select candidates for state judicial, county, municipal and school board posts, and when all registered voters can weigh in on four statewide ballot questions.
Blair County mailed letters in February to about 15,000 registered voters who last year indicated an interest in receiving future applications to vote by mail, Director of Elections Sarah Seymour told the elections board at its recent meeting.
pkeith@altoonamirror.com
Thomas Michael Brunner performs as Elvis Chicken. The Altoona Area High School graduate bills himself as an entertainer and musician and is a recording artist for Canadian American Records.
When Thomas Michael Brunner returned to his family’s home after 30 years away as a nationally-touring musician, he fulfilled a promise to his late father and continued making music.
His most recent Hot Dog Boy’s “Saucey Sausage” is a heavy metal, five-song CD with a ukulele-backed commentary about his musical career and tribute to his late aunt.
Brunner has played bass and done standup on tours largely through the south, mostly in various bands. He’s lived in Ocean City, New Jersey, and Honolulu, Hawaii, and places in between.