NEAT NUMERALS
Those numbers are in the news.

100

Gov. Ed Rendell has signed House Bill 377, which will provide active volunteer firefighters and emergency medical services personnel with a $100 state income tax credit when they file their returns for the 2008 tax year.

Eligibility will be determined by a point system based on factors such as the number of calls responded to by the volunteer, training, and time spent on administrative and other tasks.

This pilot program, funded for the first year in the amount of $4.5 million in the state budget, had bipartisan support.

3 Military recruiters are having a hard time finding eligible men and women to enlist. Just three out of every 10 residents ages 17 to 24 qualify for the U.S. Army.

Top three disqualifiers are a police record, failure to meet physical fitness requirements and lack of a high school diploma or GED.

1.63

Rising gas prices also mean more expensive milk. The dairy farmer doesn't see a penny of the increase, even as he pays higher prices for feed and other expenses.

Federal and state governments regulate milk prices based on supply and demand. A dairy farmer gets an average of $1.63 per gallon of raw milk. From there, the pasteurization, packaging and delivery costs an average of 81 cents; federal fees and the overhead adds a half-dollar or more. At the retail level, the average markup is about 90 cents.

55 Congress is considering a bill imposing a nationwide 55-mph speed limit.

If Americans slowed down, less oil would be consumed and gas prices would likely fall. However, polls show that drivers oppose the 55-mph speed limit by a two-to-one margin.

The gas shortages of 1974 prompted a similar law, which was stripped away state by state in subsequent years.

20

Twenty percent of Americans believe extraterrestrials have contacted earth. Forty-nine percent believe there is intelligent life beyond earth.

A new wave of satellites may shed some light on the issue. They'll be looking for faraway planets that may have the fundamental conditions for life, primarily evidence of water.

75 The Civilian Conservation Corps observes its 75th anniversary this year.

CCC was a work relief program for young men from unemployed families, established on March 21, 1933, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was designed to combat unemployment Depression and was operated in every state. World War II brought an end to the program.

Pennsylvania had the second highest number of camps (113) to California, many in Potter and Cameron counties.

17

Pennsylvanians are gambling more than ever. With slot machines now legal at some sites in the state, some 17 percent of adults in the state say that have played the slots over the past year.

About 60 percent of Pennsylvania slot machine players are women.