Pittsburgh Business Emphasizes Passion

By Alexandra Smith

Caleb Provance, Zottola Fab employee, works on a handmade metal railing. (Photo by Alexandra Smith)

CUDDY, Pa.— Hard work, passion, companionship, and positivity are some of the qualities needed when opening your own business, according to the owners and operators of Zottola Fab, a successful small business in the Pittsburgh area.

Zottola Fab, a family-owned and operated steel fabrication shop has been in business fabricating and erecting metal products in the Pittsburgh area for over 20 years. Zottola Fab was created in 1986 by Eugene Zottola and two of his sons, Fred and Gene. The family started out working from their detached garage in Oakdale, Pa., and seven years later purchased a building in Cuddy, Pa. that included three acres of property.

Eventually, Eugene retired from the business, as he suffered from retinitis pigmentosa, an eye disease which eventually caused him to lose his sight. Fred and Gene now co-own the business, and various family members work for them including Gene’s wife as the secretary, Fred’s son as a welder, and Gene’s son-in-law as a welder.

Olympic Speed Skater Sets Sights on 2014 Games

By Alexandra Smith

Olympic Speed Skater Alyson Dudek in action. (Photo courtesy news.spreadit.org)

PLUM, Pa. — Alyson Dudek, a 22-year-old Olympic bronze medalist and member of the U.S. Short Track Speedskating National and World Teams, is aiming to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Dudek, who lives and trains in Salt Lake City, competed in the National Championships the weekend before Christmas and finished first in the four-lap time trial. Her next competition is the speedskating World Championship in Hungary, which is to be held in early March.

At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, Dudek competed for the United States in the women’s 500-meter event and the women’s 3,000-meter relay. The U.S. women’s 3,000-meter relay team won the bronze medal.

Plum Police Discuss DUI Arrests

By Alexandra Smith

PLUM, Pa. –The number of driving under the influence arrests being reported in the Plum area is a significant problem, according to Plum Borough Police officer Eric Zdobinski.

Plum Police officer Eric Granata said that approximately one third of all court cases heard in Allegheny County concern DUI charges.

The Plum Borough Police Department is the coordinating agency for the East Hills DUI Task Force, which conducts DUI checkpoints on roadways that have been identified by Penn-DOT as having a high probability of encountering impaired drivers. These roadways are identified by use of alcohol related crash statistics and DUI arrest statistics.

Conservative Nonprofit Offers Information on Congress

By: Alexandra Smith

PLUM, Pa. – Recently receiving the Weyrich Award for Outstanding New Organization of the Year, Heritage Action for America is a policy advocacy organization that works with citizen activists to generate support for legislation in the U.S. Congress.

According to its website, heritageaction.com, “Heritage Action for America was created in 2010 after its sister organization, the Heritage Foundation, recognized that it was winning the battle of ideas on Capitol Hill, but losing the fight for good policy.” Heritage Action for America is a 501-c4 nonprofit organization that is funded entirely through gifts and donations from citizens.

One of Heritage Action for America’s most prominent services to the public is its Heritage Action Scorecard, which ranks all 535 members of Congress based on how well they adhere to the principles of conservatism espoused by Heritage Action for America and the Heritage Foundation.

Local School Increases Security Measures

By Alexandra Smith

Trinity Christian School, located in Forest Hills, Pennsylvania has recently increased its security measures. (Photo by Alexandra Smith)

FOREST HILLS, Pa. – Trinity Christian School, a local private school in the Pittsburgh area that includes kindergarten through twelfth grade, has recently increased its security measures and procedures due to parental concerns.

Previously, the school did not lock the front entrance door, and visitors were not required to wear a visitor’s badge while inside the building.

Though the school has never had any security issues in the past, the staff and students are now adjusting to several new security updates and procedures.

The Truth about the Doggy in the Window

By Jennifer Phillips

Stacks of Puppy Cages at Mill (Photo courtesy flickr.com)

We’ve probably all walked past a pet store and had to stop for a moment to enjoy the silly antics of a playful puppy. They are so adorable and innocent as they look back out at you, hoping you’ll take them home. It may be really difficult for some people to resist the urge to want to buy one of these precious puppies. But the sad truth is that they are likely part of the appalling puppy mill industry.

Keeping Pet Oscars

by Jennifer Phillips and Michael Daly

A Red Oscar (Photo courtesy flickr.com)

Oscars, or Astronotus ocellatus, are an interesting fish that have become fairly common to the household aquarium. They are omnivorous Cichlids that are native to the Amazon River Basin region of South America. They are readily available as pets and are more commonly known by the names Oscar Fish, Common Oscar, Tiger Oscar, Red Oscar, Red Tiger Oscar, Marbled Cichlid, Velvet Oscar, and Albino Oscar.