McKeesport

City traffic lights will be taking on a new hue, or two-thirds of them will, anyway.

The red and green traffic lights will be changed from operating with a bulb behind colored glass to light-emitting diodes that will use a fraction of the electricity.

The project will cost about $117,000 to replace red and green lights on 233 signals and 196 pedestrian signs. Six new traffic lights and six pedestrian walk signs also will be added in the city.

City Controller Raymond Malinchak said the project should pay for itself in fewer than four years because of electricity savings.

Yellow lights, called "amber" by traffic engineers, will remain untouched. Malinchak said the red and green lights are on 57 percent of the time, with red edging out green by a small margin. But the amber light is on 3 percent of the time, so it doesn't make sense to replace that light with the more expensive version.

"It would probably take 50 years to have a payback on the amber," Malinchak said.

Monroeville

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Pain Medicine Program has opened a new clinic on the third floor at 1000 Infinity Drive.

UPMC Pain Medicine at Monroeville will treat virtually the entire spectrum of pain conditions, including persistent post-surgical pain, chronic back pain, complex regional pain syndrome (reflex sympathetic dystrophy), cancer pain, musculoskeletal injuries and forms of neuralgia.

The clinic's staff is led by Dr. ZongFu Chen. Office hours are by appointment only, and a physician referral is required. The phone number is 724-325-6332.

For more information on UPMC Pain Medicine, visit the Web site at www.pain.pitt.edu.

Plum schools

The school board approved Tuesday spending $60 each for drug tests on secondary students, continuing a program the district started last year.

The program, in which parents sign their children up for random, in-school drug testing, had a lot of community support last year, said Assistant Superintendent Lillian Naccarati.

In the program, students whose parents have approved random testing may be selected once during the school year, several times or not at all. The testing is a urinalysis that will identify at least six drugs, including heroin.

Results are sent directly to parents, and school officials are not involved.

The board hired Penn Services Group to conduct the testing. The cost is $50 per screening plus a $10 surcharge for each screening.

Last year, the program was free thanks to a state grant and about 100 junior and senior high students were tested.

Officials are seeking a similar grant this year.

The board denied a request from the Plum YMCA to use school facilities for two new programs.

Property and supplies committee Chairwoman Rena Lynn Koteski said concerns about damage to facilities for an indoor hockey program prompted them to recommend denial.

Another program, an all-day day care, was denied because facilities would be needed during times school wasn't in session. District officials said that would mean school custodial personnel would have to be on the premises during nonschool days.