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JESSICA FINCH Associate Editor

+ FIND AN ASHTRAY - must be really hard for the Village of Williamsville to stay clean - especially when its own employees are throwing trash from Department of Public Works trucks. As I sat recently at the traffic light at the intersection of Main Street and Cayuga Road, I watched a DPW truck, with a driver and passenger, roll by. Then I saw the passenger throw something that appeared to be a cigarette from the truck. There are very few things more unsightly - and smelly - than a pile of cigarette butts on a street.

Well, there is one - the dead animal decaying on Rock Street for about a week or so. Reporter Jill Schmelzer and I believe it was a woodchuck, and we found ourselves on many occasions just inches from stepping on it as flies swarmed around. The animal is gone, and I'm not sure about the whereabouts of the employee's trash, but the village's sanitary efforts need a slight boost.

While we are on the topic, why are employees allowed to smoke in village vehicles?

 POOL HOURS EXTENDED - The Town of Amherst Recreation Department has extended the North Forest Pool season until Friday, Aug. 25. The hours of operation will be from noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 19-20 and from 1 to 6 p.m. Aug. 21-25. The pool was originally scheduled to close on Aug. 18, but the hours were extended because of the hot weather and public request. The facility is located at 85 North Forest Road.

 HONOREES SOUGHT - Soldiers who have been awarded the Purple Heart are being sought for induction into the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor. The hall is slated to open in November in Vails Gate in Orange County, the center of New York's historic Hudson Valley region. The medal has been awarded to nearly 2 million brave Americans who have been wounded or killed in combat in service to their country. The Purple Heart Hall of Honor aims to preserve the extraordinary stories of all medal recipients, deceased or alive, through videotaped interviews, photos, letters and other mementos, as well as an Internet connection to classrooms and libraries. Those with information on Purple Heart recipients can contact Sen. Mary Lou Rath's office at 633-0331, e-mail rath@senate.state.ny.us (subject line: Purple Heart) or visit www.senator rath.com.

 ALL NOCO PUMPS NOW PREPAY - NOCO Energy Corp. has put into effect a prepay policy on gas purchases at all of its Express Stores. The policy is in direct response to the increasing number of incidents in which customers are filling their gas tanks and driving off without paying. The company said this has become a major issue at NOCO because of decreasing profit margins on gas sales due to record-high oil prices. In addition to curtailing the loss of a significant amount of money, the new policy is designed to protect the customers that use NOCO Express Stores. Drive-off perpetrators have been known to have caused serious accidents in their attempts to flee gas stations without paying. Continuing to make Express Shops as convenient as possible, prepay technology at the pumps, either using a major credit or debit card, is available. The company owns and operates approximately 40 NOCO Express Stores throughout Western New York.