Making A Quantum Leap Forward

In the struggling former steel town of Apollo, population 2,300, most folks still rely on the post office to send messages to faraway friends.

Still, “e-mail” and “Internet” and “World Wide Web” are creeping into the local vocabulary, partly thanks to an unusual source - a bank promotion.

Apollo Trust Co. is offering free access to the Internet to customers around the town located about 35 miles east of Pittsburgh. Patrons can hook into the Internet from home free for an hour a day.

“The people in rural communities like ours are really being left off the information superhighway,” said bank Vice President Ray Muth. “The kids are the ones hurt the most.”