Free Republic

President Bush again has proposed closing Johnstown’s National Drug Intelligence Center, continuing a tug-of-war that for three years has jeopardized hundreds of local jobs.Bush’s budget for fiscal 2008 allocates $16 million to eliminate the center.U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, has for the past two years secured enough money to keep the facility open.Murtha, who could not be reached for comment Monday, presumably will take up the flag for NDIC again this year.The center coordinates the nation’s fight against illegal drugs and employs about 300 people at the former Penn Traffic building along Washington Street.But a long-standing debate has been aired...