Letters: Grateful for dedicated TSA agents in State College; Say no to ICE actions

Grateful for dedicated TSA agents in State College

We, the members of the Centre County Airport Authority, want to publicly thank the TSA agents at the State College Regional Airport for their exceptional service to our community. Their professionalism is always evident, but it was especially clear during the recent federal funding lapse, when they continued reporting to work without pay.

Despite the uncertainty and personal strain that situation created, the TSA team at SCE maintained the same calm, courteous and efficient presence that travelers rely on. They managed early‑morning flights, Penn State travel surges, and busy weekends with steady dedication. Many passengers never realized the circumstances these officers were working under — and that is a testament to their commitment.

Air service is vital to Centre County’s residents, businesses and visitors. The reliability of our airport depends not only on airlines and infrastructure, but also on the people who show up every day to ensure that travelers get to their destinations safely and efficiently. Our TSA officers did exactly that, even when the circumstances were far from ideal.

The entire Airport Authority wants to express its gratitude to our dedicated TSA agents. The next time travelers pass through the checkpoint at SCE, we hope they’ll take a moment to offer a simple “thank you.” It means more than most people realize.

Hugh A. Mose, State College. The author is a Centre County Airport Authority board member.

Say no to ICE actions

In Clearfield County, just a few miles north of Philipsburg, and a quarter mile up an unmarked narrow rural road, sits a former private prison surrounded by a tall fence, topped with concertina wire. It sits in a large area exposed to the elements. This is the ICE Moshannon Valley Processing Center. Large warehouse buildings are visible, by a gate that keeps the public away. “You have to leave. You cannot take a picture. You have to leave NOW.” This is where ICE “agents” bring people, many hard workers and some citizens. They may be white, Black, Hispanic and Asian. Detained for what legal reason?

Who are these masked ICE agents? Homeland Security, FBI, or just heartless men and women paid with our dollars?

People are housed secretly in unknown conditions. People are disappearing into this monstrous system.

Are any responsible agencies overseeing the conditions, care, and rights of the people?

This is so wrong — so very wrong.

I was disappointed to read that members of the COG and State College Borough Council responded to requests to come out against ICE actions by stating that it isn’t an issue for them. It is definitely an issue for you. This isn’t about road signs, but an issue of humanity. Our president is quickly eroding our rights. One day we will awaken with none left. Who will be detained next?

Please contact local, state and national government representatives to say “no” to ICE actions.

Valerie Barnes, State College

Lessons from history

The other day while reading a book by the non-fiction author Timothy Egan I came to these sentences:

“Democracy was a fragile thing, stable and steady until it was broken and trampled. A man who didn’t care about shattering every convention and then found new ways to vandalize the contract that allowed free people to govern themselves, could do unthinkable damage.”

Egan was writing about the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana during the mid-1920s, when the KKK attracted many white Protestants outside the South who hated Blacks, Jews and Catholics.

In his 2023 history “A Fever in the Heartland — The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them,” Egan writes that the Grand Dragon was an especially persuasive, charismatic con man. So many voters (both men and women) elected Klansmen or supporters that in effect the KKK controlled Indiana government from the state house to the city hall in Indianapolis, and the Grand Dragon stated, “I am the law.”

Reading American history has always helped me to understand the similarities in current events, such as the struggle over survival of our Constitutional checks and balances in 2026.

John N. Rippey, Bellefonte

Avoiding the casino

The casino will be the last place I will ever go into. How can it be happy when you walk out with several hundred dollars gone out of your pockets?

Robert J. Bauer, Julian