MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2016

MORE INSIDE

Fewer deer,

more citationsThe TLPOA reviewed com-mittee reports at a recent worksession. Reports showed there are fewer deer and more traffic citations. Directors were divided on how to dis-cuss an item of business on the agenda. A2

Dancing for

dollarsHundreds of students taking part in Penn State’s annu-al dance marathon over the weekend raised more than $9.7 million for pediatric cancer research and care. A5

Gunman kills

six peopleA gunman opened fire outside an apartment complex, a car dealership and a restaurant in Michigan, killing at least six people during a rampage that lasted nearly seven hours. B6

ObituariesA7

•MicheleR.Fike,47

Tomorrow’s

Forecast

Partly sunny in the morn-ing then becoming mostly cloudy. Highs in the upper 30s.

Fullreport,A2

$1.00

Index14 pages

Classiied ..................B5

Comics ......................B4

Lifestyles ..................A4

Lottery ......................A7

Opinion ....................A6

Public Notices .........B5

Sports ........................B1

Vol. 136 – No. 036

Page B1

By Eric Hrin

ehrin@thecourierexpress.com

DuBOIS – DuFAST Transit is proposing some changes to its ser-vice.

At 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 29, a public hearing on the proposal will be held in DuBois City Council chambers.

A public comment period runs through March 22.

Kristen Vida, executive direc-tor of DuFAST, said the proposed changes represent the “optimal solution” and were put together with feedback from public surveys, as well as driver input and custom-er comments made at the ofice.

Summing up the nature of the

proposed changes, she stated, “we are eliminating service in low-de-mand areas to provide more fre-quent service to key destinations in densely-populated areas.”

Forty-seven percent of non-rid-ers responding to a survey had stated that “lack of frequency” was an issue with the current DuFAST service.

Here are the goals that DuFAST is attempting to accomplish with the proposed changes:

• More frequent and direct ser-vice to key destinations

• New service to Cottages at Christ the King

• Earlier service to Goodwill In-dustries in Falls Creek

• Increase in Saturday service

• Increased service to Garden Grove Townhouses

• Increased service to Beaver Drive

• Regular service to Save-A-Lot, DuBois Nursing Home, Eastside and PSU/CareerLink

Meanwhile, the Loop, service to Sabula, and service to McCracken Run Road will all be eliminated while service to Falls Creek will be reduced, from nine times a day to six times a day.

According to Vida, the “Loop” is a circular, continuous service that begins at the DuBois Mall and stops at all the stores and retail ou-lets between the mall and Walmart.

The reduction in service to Falls

DuFAST proposes some changes to its service

Photo by Eric Hrin

Kristen Vida, executive director of DuFAST Transit, looks over some proposed changes in service.

By Katie Weidenboerner

katiew@thecourierexpress.com

BROCKWAY — Between 2002 and 2013, the rate of heroin-related over-dose deaths nearly quadrupled, and more than 8,200 people died in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

At 2 p.m. March 13 at the Villagio in the Parkside Complex at 1200 Wood St., Brockway, Sage’s Army will give a presentation about drug addiction.

Carmen Capozzi and his fami-ly started Sage’s Army, a group that ights drug addiction, after his son, Sage Capozzi, 19, died in March 2012 of a drug overdose.

The non-proit organization’s goal is to bring awareness to drug problems among teens, which could help create better lines of communication between parents, their children, law enforce-ment and educators.

“With Sage, we hid the problem be-cause we were embarrassed, and all that did was hurt us,” Carmen Capozzi said. “But now, I’m a grieving father who is no longer embarrassed because I represent my son, who was a good kid and a hard worker, but had those de-mons around.”

Carmen’s son is described as “a nor-mal teenager” growing up. While he enjoyed playing golf, music and spend-ing time with his family and friends, he also had a secret – he was addicted to heroin.

During his time in high school, Sage battled heroin addiction, and went through two stays at rehab facilities.

He eventually got clean and moved to Indiana, Pa. with several family members. But when he returned to Irwin, Pa. he began using again and died of an overdose March 5, 2012.

The overarching message of Sage’s Army is that it is okay to get issues of addiction out in the open because only then can you support others who are

Sage’s Army is comingto Brockway

By Elaine Haskins

ehaskins@thecourierexpress.com

DuBOIS — Michael Zaffuto’s face lights up when he talks about the Sykesville Ag and Youth Fair, something he’s been volun-teering at for most of his 17 years.

“I’ve been involved with the fair my en-tire life, I love to help,” said Zaffuto, gleam-ing as he spoke about one of his most favor-ite things. “There is a lot more to it than just the week of the fair, it’s a whole year process — getting people to enter their livestock or helping people enter their tags for their baked goods or their crafts into the computer, sending out concessionaire contracts, making the grounds look nice, even preparing entertainment. You are in-volved before it even starts.”

With such enthusiasm, love and dedica-tion to his hometown fair, it’s no surprise that Zaffuto was recently named Pennsyl-vania’s Junior Fair Person of the Year.

Zaffuto, a DuBois Central Catholic se-nior, received the prestigious award on Jan. 23 during the annual convention of the PA State Association of County Fairs at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Cen-ter in Hershey.

The award recognizes and honors a youth fair volunteer, under the age of 18, for his or her outstanding efforts and con-tributions in making a difference at their fair.

Zaffuto was nominated by the Sykes-ville Fair Vice President, Lee Haag, of Troutville. Pennsylvania is divided into four zones. After each zone picks their representative, their resume is sent to the state competition to be judged.

Zaffuto said he was excited when he found out he had been chosen as the state Junior Fair Person of the Year.

“I wasn’t really expecting it when I was irst nominat-ed for the zone,” he said. “It was so exciting and when I gave my speech at the zone meeting, I had so much sup-port from all the executives there. I was then really inspired to go to the state to see how things would turn out there. When I won, all those people were so excited at the state conference and congratulat-ed me. It was an honor to repre-sent our zone and our little town of Sykesville.”

There are 109 fairs registered with the PA State Associ-ation of County Fairs, Zaffuto said. Out of 109 fairs, 30 fairs are in Zone 1.

Zaffuto, whose family is greatly involved with the fair as well, said there are many things he loves about the fair.

“It’s great to be part of such a great event that helps the community because it brings so many people to the town of

Zafuto named PA Junior Fair Person of the Year

Photo by Elaine Haskins

DuBois Central Catho-lic senior Michael Zaf-futo is shown with his Pennsylvania’s Junior Fair Person of the Year award.

After receiving his award for Pennsylvania’s Junior Fair Person of the Year, Michael Zafuto, center, posed for a picture with Zach Gihorski (left), the fair coordinator for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, and Sherman Allen, chairman of the Junior Fair Person Award Committee for the Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs.

Photo submitted

Michael Zafuto is shown constructing a scavenger hunt that he organized and implemented during last year’s Sykesville Ag and Youth Fair in order to get more traic into the agricultural parts of the fair such as the livestock barns. It was a huge suc-cess and several guests participated.

See Sage, A7See DuFAST, A7

See Fair, A7