Forum to address substance abuse

Gateway Rehabilitation Center and U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, a Bradford Woods Republican, will present a community drug and alcohol informational forum from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday at North Way Christian Community, Route 19, Pine Township.

Parents, guardians, school personnel and community leaders are invited to the discussion to learn about how to prevent drug abuse and where to get help if a loved one is struggling with addiction.

Gateway Rehabilitation Center's medical director, Dr. Neil Capretto, and various professional drug and alcohol counselors will be in attendance. John P. Walters, director of the National Drug Policy and Control Office in Washington, D.C., will speak via satellite.

Region

Former employees of Dixmont State Hospital in Kilbuck Township are being called to participate in the 2002 semi-annual Dixmont Reunion.

Dixmont State Hospital was closed in 1984. Many of its employees and patients were transferred to Woodville and Mayview state hospitals.

The reunion will start at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Sewickley Country Inn, along Ohio River Boulevard in Sewickley.

Reservations must be made by Sept. 23, and the cost is $25, which includes dinner and all other associated costs. To make a reservation or for more information, call Helen Wolf at (724) 869-0564.

Emsworth

Holy Family Institute, a residential care facility for children who have been removed from their homes, often because of abuse or neglect, is looking for adult mentor volunteers to work with children.

Volunteers provide friendship and guidance to the children. Male volunteers are especially needed.

People who are interested in volunteering can attend a volunteer orientation at 6:30 p.m. July 31 at the facility, 8235 Ohio River Blvd. For more information, call (412) 766-4030.

Mars

St. John Specialty Care Center of Mars is sponsoring an American Red Cross blood drive Tuesday.

Donors of all types are needed, according to the Butler County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Donors must be at least 17 years old and weigh at least 105 pounds. They also must be in generally good health. St. John Specialty Care Center is at 500 Wittenberg St.

For more information, call (724) 283-2810.

Pittsburgh

UPMC St. Margaret is offering two new radiology services.

The hospital now offers dual-energy absorptiometry tests for osteoporosis. The test measures bone mineral density and helps doctors determine a patient's risk of bone fractures and osteoporosis and develop a treatment plan.

Also, the hospital now has a toll-free line that patients can use to schedule any type of radiology testing, such as X-rays, mammograms, ultrasound and sonograms and other procedures. The toll-free number is (866) 331-9800.

Sewickley Hills

Internationally recognized artist Cindy Snodgrass, who lives in Sewickley Hills, will be exhibiting "Bird in the Balance: Treading on Thin Ice" at the Pittsburgh Center For the Arts Resident Artists Exhibition.

The exhibition, which opens from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, includes 11 regional artists from the center's Artist Residency program. The exhibition will run through Aug. 18.

Snodgrass, who is best known for her large-scale fabric sculptures, recently displayed "Turtle Vision," a 120-foot fabric sculpture that was suspended from an Allegheny Center building for the Pittsburgh International Children's Festival in May.

West Deer Township

A sobriety checkpoint in West Deer Township led to four arrests — two for driving under the influence, one for possession of drugs and one for possession of a prohibited offensive weapon.

Also, 11 warnings were issued for motor vehicle code violations, and 41 were issued for failure to wear a seat belt.

The checkpoint was conducted from 10 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday along Route 910 by West Deer Township police and the Allegheny County DUI Task Force.

Butler Township

Camp STAT will take place July 20 at Butler County Community College in Butler Township.

The free event includes continuing education classes for public safety personnel, interactive demonstrations and games for children.

From 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. there will be continuing education classes for public safety personnel on topics such as aviation safety, electrical fires and structural collapse.

After the classes, there will be child safety and prevention games, tours of STAT MedEvac helicopters, a climbing wall and an obstacle course until 5 p.m.

Emergency services can form a five-person team and take the Camp STAT Challenge.

For more information, e-mail melissa.yeckle@bc3.org or call 1-888-826-2829, ext. 418.

Butler

Butler Health System recently was awarded the 2002 Pennsylvania Chairman's Award from the Voluntary Hospitals of America Inc.'s Pennsylvania office.

This follows Butler Health System's selection last year for the 2001 national Voluntary Hospital of America Inc. Leadership Award for its initiatives in improving community health. VHA awards are given annually to both individual hospitals and multihospital systems.

The 2002 Pennsylvania Chairman's Award recognizes the hospital's effort to improve community health, its participation in a national project on redesigning intensive care units and its activity with Voluntary Hospitals of America Inc.

Voluntary Hospital of America Inc. was founded in 1977 to help preserve the nonprofit health care philosophy. With more than 2,200 members, VHA is the largest nationwide network of community-owned health care systems and their physicians.