Local 'Fear Factor'

Local 'Fear Factor'
YOUNGSTOWN -- Hospice of the Valley will reap the financial rewards of a local, toned-down version of the NBC reality TV series "Fear Factor." Games will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Buffalo Wild Wings on Federal Plaza. Teams will be led by Mike Case of WFMJ Channel 21; Jim Loboy of Hot 101 radio; Mr. Sports of Y-103; and K-Man, from country radio station K-105. Teams will compete in four events, and points will be awarded.
Friday is also Party on the Plaza night, featuring music by December Son and Brownie Mary.
Free admission
PITTSBURGH -- Admission will be free Friday at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, 1 Schenley Park. Exhibits include DinoQuest, which puts dinosaurs in a tropical setting; Butterfly Forest, where visitors may witness the hatching process; and the sensory-stimulating Discovery Garden. Call (412) 622-6914 or see the Web site www.phipps.conservatory.org.
Appearing in plays
JACKSON, Mich. -- Youngstown native Neil Necastro Jr. is appearing in two productions this summer at Michigan Shakespeare Festival. Necastro, who attended Cardinal Mooney High School and Youngstown State University, is portraying Tybalt in "Romeo & amp; Julie" and Montano in "Othello." The season ends Aug. 4.
Docent class planned
YOUNGSTOWN -- The next docent education class at Butler Institute of American Art begins Sept. 3. Docents are volunteers who share their understanding of the Butler's collection with visitors. Classes will meet from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and Thursdays through March at the museum, 524 Wick Ave. Call (330) 743-1711, Ext. 114, for details.
Thanks, mom and dad
It turns out that those age ratings on video and computer games actually work.
A March 2002 survey by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, the group that decides the age ratings for games, found that 64 percent of all parents are aware of the ESRB (www.esrb.org) rating system, up from 45 percent in 1999.
Furthermore, 53 percent of parents say they use the rating system most or all of the time when buying a game for their kids, up from 43 percent in 1999.
And 74 percent of parents think the rating system is very or somewhat effective at making sure their kids don't play inappropriate games, up from 62 percent in the last survey.