Lance: To Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala. The DA told the Allegheny Valley Chamber of Commerce Thursday he'll gladly increase the number of prosecutions of nonprofit organizations for having "illegal" video poker and slots machines. Of course he will. The state, at the behest of its new masters -- the gambling industry -- is giving Mr. Zappala's office a $250,000 grant to do it. Poker machines are an extremely important source of revenue for dozens of service clubs in the Valley and have been for decades. Now, just because billion-dollar corporations and their casinos have arrived, suddenly the machines are a problem. When Zappala's detectives start hauling out volunteer firemen, veterans, Moose Club members, etc. in handcuffs, we hope he can sleep at night. Laurel: To fiscally conservative school boards. In this case, those in Highlands, New Kensington-Arnold and Plum. We sometimes find ourselves at odds with these three, but they sure deserve a pat on the back for watching out for their taxpayers. Highlands is not raising taxes for the fourth straight year and NK-A will introduce a no-increase budget next week -- also for the fourth consecutive year. Plum is thinking about cutting its tax rate due to a large budget surplus. On the "Watch List": Route 28 road rage. Pittsburgh motorists were ranked as the most friendly among 28 cities in a survey by AutoVantage auto club this week. But we bet they didn't survey Route 28, which has been undergoing major reconstruction for the past two years. The high price of gasoline is adding to motorists' frustrations, too, as they sit in backed-up traffic. Laurel: To Springdale High School's runners. Alexa Sarsfield set a new record for the 400 meters at the WPIAL Class AA championship this week, and then she anchored the four-member team to break a second record for the 1,600 relay, with Stephanie King, Laura Gojdosik and Brittany Loveland. Congrats, girls! R.I.P.: Jack Pidgeon. There are three words that any man would be proud to be called upon his passing. "Honorable." "Mentor." And "friend." And they are words that perfectly describe Mr. Pidgeon, the longtime headmaster at The Kiski School in Saltsburg who died this week at 83. He shaped the lives of thousands of young people in his four decades at Kiski. And he instilled in them something that is sorely lacking in too many of today's youth -- mental discipline. You'll be missed, Jack.

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