Avonworth High School teacher Breanna Maisner (pictured here at left) and juniors Sean Harpst and Alexa Valenta were among more than 1,000 Pittsburghers who took part in the “Polar Plunge” last Sunday morning to raise funds for Special Olympics.With temperatures just above 30 degrees, the participants jumped into the Ohio River on the North Shore. The two students raised more than $700 in pledges for Special Olympics.

“Heart Healthy Diets” will be presented Jan. 11, 1-2 p.m., at the Ohio Township Nature Center.

This class is designed for individuals who want to increase their knowledge of manageable ways to protect their heart with helpful and practical foods and menus. Clinical staff and a registered dietician will be on hand to discuss concerns.

On Jan. 19, at 1 p.m., a physician will discuss “Four Simple Truths of Good Health.”

Sacred Heart Church in Emsworth will sponsor a “giant” flea market on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 6 and 7.

The flea market will be held in the church auditorium on Ohio River Boulevard in Emsworth from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday, and from 9 a.m. until noon on Sunday.

Refreshments will be sold, and parking is available.

For more information, call Dorothy Codori at (412)761-3322.

Local police departments will participate in a special program conducted by the Drug Enforcement Adminis-tration (DEA).

Allegheny General Hospital-Suburban campus will hold a Healthy Living Guest Lecture Series program entitled "Metabolic Syndrome - Me?"

The lecture will be conducted at Ohio Townships Community Park Nature Center, 325 Nicholson Rd., on Aug. 25, 1-2 p.m.

A doctor will discuss metabolic syndrome's implication in heart disease and diabetes and how people can protect themselves from the syndrome.

The program is offered at no cost to any interested adult. Registration is required by calling Physician Access at 1-877-284-2000.

Many of you have had the opportunity to meet my new BFF, Arthur. Arthur is a 140 lb. Great Dane who comes to work at The Citizen offices every day, and goes pretty much anywhere else I can get away with taking him.

Arthur came to me through the Pennsylvania Great Dane Rescue organization, which saves Danes who end up in kill shelters and those who have been neglected, abandoned, abused or surrendered by people whose circumstances have taken a turn for the worse, or those who just didn't realize that cute little puppy was going to get "that big."

Whether it was an attempted robbery or a drug deal gone wrong, one man at least faces weapons charges following an incident in Avalon on Jan. 25.

Police were called to Orchard and Cleveland avenues for a fight between two males that involved a gun. They arrived to find one man running down Alley C, while the other claimed to have been the victim of an attempted armed robbery.

The use of a stolen gift card led area police to a Bellevue man, and the discovery of a lot more stolen goods.

The case began on Dec. 27, when two Ben Avon residents reported thefts from their vehicles. One owner reported that a gun had been stolen, along with several gift cards. Ohio Township Police were able to obtain video of the man who used the card at Giant Eagle, and worked with Avalon and Bellevue police to identify that man as Keith Dengler, 23, of Bellevue.

Ohio Township Police have identified the man who robbed an Emsworth resident on Jan. 10 as the same man arrested Thursday morning for the rapes of two women in Ross Township.

Ohio Township Police Chief Beaver Micklos said that his officers planned to file charges Thursday against Arthur Henderson, 38, of Ross, for the Jan. 10 robbery of Paul Leung in the parking lot of the House of Lee restaurant in Emsworth. Leung was seriously injured and robbed of $4,000 - $5,000 after returning to his residence above the restaurant after gambling at the North Side casino.

Kenneth Todoverto Sr. Kenneth M. Todoverto Sr., 81, of Bellevue died Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. He is survived by his wife, Loretta Todoverto; four children, Kenneth Todoverto Jr. and his wife Sandy, Janice Barry and her husband Mike, Carla Pritchard and her husband Glenn and Donna Boyer; his sister, Louise Killian; and five grandchildren, Brian Verlihay and his wife Steph, Steven Verlihay, Glenn Pritchard Jr., Becky Pritchard and Ally Boyer.

Police are investigating whether the apparent suicide of an Avalon man on Nov. 24 is connected to an earlier shooting in Robinson Township.

The man shot in a motel on Steubenville Pike may have been related to Charles Richard, 32, of Delp Street in Avalon, who was found in a garage in Harris Alley. Police say he died of a gunshot that appeared to have been self-inflicted.

In other news from Avalon Police, a laptop computer was reported stolen during the burglary of a Hemlock Street residence, reported Nov. 23.

Recent DUI arrests by Ohio Township Police include:

On Oct. 29, Angelina Bairhalter, 34, of West View, on New Brighton Road in Ben Avon Heights. On Oct. 30, David Wise, 54, of Emsworth on Route 65 in Emsworth. On Oct. 30, Steven Ressler, 45, of Pittsburgh on Mt. Nebo Road in Ohio Township.