Endeavor's Neat Numbers

480

Metaldyne Corporation, which employs 480 people in Ridgway and St. Marys, has become a 100-percent subsidiary of Asahi Tech, a Japanese company specializing in heavy-truck and construction components.

Metaldyne will continue its manufacturing of light vehicle components. The acquisition, set to be completed Nov. 17, also includes a corporate restructuring within Asahi Tech, with some Metaldyne executives serving alongside Asahi Tech executives.

Metaldyne CEO Timothy Leuliette said the deal "creates a new business model that embraces globalization." The new company is a $2 billion supplier of metal-based products and assemblies in the power train and chassis segments, with 38 plants globally and more than 6,500 employees. Leuliette said an estimated half of all vehicle production in the world will be in the Asia-Pacific region by 2012.

Metaldyne will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary and will keep its name. Neither company speculated on the impact of the deal on either facility in Elk County.

365

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford welcomed the largest freshman class in its history: 365 students. About 78 percent are from Pennsylvania.

36

When the NFLseason moves into full swing on Sunday, some 36 million fans in the U.S. will be rooting for individual players as they chart their own fantasy football teams.

That pastime continues to grow. Statistics earned by the real NFLplayers are used to determine the winners and losers of thousands of fantasy football leagues across the country, including several here in Emporium.

There's usually an entry fee ($100 or less is the norm) with prizes paid out to the winners, so it could technically be considered gambling. One assumes the cops have better things to worry about but, then again, it wasn't that long ago when a number of taverns in the region got into trouble for distributing an area charity's popular NFLpick-em pool.

12.5

Plans for the Port Allegany Quasquicentennial Celebration on Sept. 30 are falling into place. The borough marks its 125th birthday with music, contests, a 3:00 p.m. parade, a dance at the Moose Club, and fireworks beginning at 10:00 p.m.

10

The tobacco industry was silent after last week's news reports detailing an average 10 percent increase in cigarettes' nicotine content over the last six years.

Big Tobacco admits that nicotine is a highly addictive drug. The industry's financial well-being is dependent on developing new addicts to compensate for smokers who are dying off.

One brand, R.J. Reynolds' Doral, went up in nicotine content by 36 percent. Also, in keeping with the strategy of developing addictions in teens/young adults and minorities, the nicotine content in their favored brands -- Marlboro, Camel and Newport -- saw nicotine content increases well above the 10 percent.

28.4B

State and federal governments pay $28.4 billion annually caring for Medicaid patients with tobacco-related illnesses.

At the same time, the federal government pays $34 billion a year on Medicare costs for tobacco-related illnesses in Veterans Administration patients.

154B

The tobacco industry spends $154 billion annually to market its products and underwrite the expenses of groups that protect "smokers' rights." Big Tobacco since 1990 has given about $56 million to candidates for federal office.

50

Individuals age 50 or older who are overweight stand about a 30 percent chance of dying in the next decade. Those are among the alarmimng results of a government study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. About two-thirds of Americans are now overweight, a trend that continues heading upward, and almost one-third are obese.

250

At dawn on Sept. 8, 1756, colonial Lieutenant Colonel John Armstrong led nearly 300 men of the Second Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment on a march to attack and destroy a large Delaware Indian settlement at Kittanning. The 250th anniversary of that conflict will be commemorated at dawn -- and again at 1:00 p.m. -- on Sunday with a reenactment of the Battle of Kittanning.