[naviga:h3]Cheer

Warm cheers to the organizers of Bundle Up Butler. The annual coat drive resulted in the distribution of more than 600 children’s winter coats on Tuesday at the Farmers Market on South Chestnut Street.

This was the third year the clothing drive has been a one-day event, said Jean Bowen with Center for Community Resources, which conducts the drive along with Butler Health Services and Butler Collaborative for Families.

A number of other service agencies were in attendance to offer information on resources available in the county, while other businesses made financial contributions to the event.

If you missed the event and need a coat for a child, there’s help still available. Linda Thoma with CCR said parents can contact CCR to get a coat when it becomes available.

“They can call or stop by,” she said. “But it’s better to call to make sure there’s a coat available.”

CCR’s phone number is 724-431-3748.

[naviga:h3]Jeer [/naviga:h3]

Shame must be a foreign concept for Martin Shkreli.

Three weeks ago, when news reports erupted about a 5,000 percent price hike for a 62-year-old drug, Shkreli — who had bought the rights to the drug — retorted in a Twitter post quoting the rap artist Eminem: “And it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me, so I point one back at em, but not the index or pinkie.”

Apparently Shkreli meant it. The 32-year-old former hedge-fund manager has figuratively flipped off patients.

The drug, called Daraprim, which fights parasitic infections, had gone up in price from $13.50 per pill to $750. A month’s supply that had sold for $405 jumped to $22,500.

Later, under growing pressure from the public and Congress, Shkreli told ABC News, “We’ve agreed to lower the price of Daraprim to a point that is more affordable and is able to allow the company to make a profit, but a very small profit.”

But two weeks later, Shkreli’s company has not lowered the price. Instead, it has hired four Washington lobbyists ahead of a congressional firestorm his actions have ignited.

Shkreli has no shame.

[naviga:h3]Cheer [/naviga:h3]

Cheers to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. The zoo announced Friday it has received a $9 million grant, the largest gift in its history, from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

Dr. Barbara Baker, the zoo’s president and CEO, says some of the money will be used to expand animal conservation programs at its International Conservation Center, a sanctuary and breeding facility for African elephants in Somerset County.

It’s noteworthy that two months ago the Association of Zoos and Aquariums dropped its accreditation for the Pittsburgh Zoo over a disagreement on how elephants should be handled. Pittsburgh Zoo officials said they could not abide by a new AZA safety policy that restricts zookeepers’ contact with elephants. They called it had a “philosophical difference of opinion” and said the zoo would instead follow policies set by a rival organization, the Zoological Association of America.

The $9 million gift assures zoo officials that they made the right move when they parted company with the AZA. It also ensures the public that their beloved zoo will remain vibrant and current as a respected institution of animal preservation and research.