These numbers are in the news

2

Despite the constant media focus on cancer, it remains the No. 2 killer in America, trailing heart disease by a large margin. Third is stroke, then lower respiratory disease, accidents and diabetes.

Obesity is a major cause of heart disease; one in four Americans is obese.

Smoking is another major contributor to cancer and heart disease. Twenty-five percent of American adults smoked a decade ago. That figure has dropped to 20 percent today.

280,000

A regional transportation agency serving six counties has been awarded a $280,000 state grant.

Area Transportation Authority of Northcentral Pa. services Cameron, Potter, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson and McKean counties.

Money can be used for wheelchair-accessible buses, computers, communications and garage equipment. Funds come from the state's Community Transportation Capital Equipment Program. Shared-ride services are available through ATA to senior citizens, persons with disabilities and the general public.

27

There was a time when female doctors were few and far between. Today, women comprise 27 percent of all physicians. The figure was about seven percent in 1970.

20

About 20 employees have been laid off at Pittsburgh Corning Corp. in Port Allegany.

A company spokesman cited a downturn in the housing industry. Pitt-Corning manufactures cellular glass insulation, glass block and other building materials.

The layoffs come on the heels of a 45-employee furlough last February, when the plant closed one of its two glass melters.

Pitt-Corning, in operation for 70 years, has a current workforce of about 160 operating in three shifts per day.

98

The state is working on a plan for a wireless communications network that, by law, must cover at least 98 percent of each county's acreage.

The 800 megahertz, statewide radio system will be used by the Pa. State Police, PennDOT and about 25 other state agencies, all of which will be able to inter-communicate in the event of an emergency.

700,000

More than $700,000 is coming to several agencies in Elk County through a federal program that helps rural counties affected by the decline in revenue from timber harvests in federal lands. Sixteen grants have been awarded under Title III of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self- Determination Act.

Among those funded: $212,000 for the Elk County Emergency Services mobile data network; $21,750 to Ridgway Heritage Council for a reforestation project; $50,000 to Headwaters RC&D for tree evaluation; $20,000 for the Johnsonburg Visitor/Education Center; $25,000 to Elk County Conservation District for Forest Connection to Watershed Health Program; $24,000 to Johnsonburg Elementary School for nature trail/forestry pavilion; $25,085 to the Community Education Council of Cameron and Elk Counties for geocaching; and $80,000 to Allegheny National Forest for the Clarion River Archaeological Study Program.

Also, $80,000 to St. Marys Middle School for its outdoor classroom; $80,000 for Ridgway Fire Department's rapid response unit; $42,750 for Elkland Search and Rescue utility search vehicles; and equipment grants to Crystal, Jay Township and Wilcox volunteer fire departments.

66

Sixty-six percent of people diagnosed with cancer will survive at least five years. The five-year survival rate was 50 percent in 1975.