The curfew in the City of Erie for children under 18 went into effect last night. Kids will have to be home 10 pm to 6 am Sunday through Thursday and midnight to 6 am Friday and Saturday. During school breaks kids will have to be home midnight to 6 am. Exceptions are made for kids that work, attend night classes, sporting or other community events. The first time, they get a warning. Then the fines begin. Businesses that let kids hang out can be fined $50 for a first offense and up to $300 and/or 90 days in jail for subsequent offenses.

Marc Blucas of Girard is starring in the movie “Thr3e.” The $2.4 million thriller earned an estimated $740,000 in it’s first weekend of release. It’s playing in 458 theaters but none in the Erie area.

Recently the 442nd Quartermaster Company, 541st Combat Service Support Battalion, attached to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), brought a laundry-equipped vehicle to Forward Operating Base Yusufiyah, Iraq to solve the problem of not being able to get socks and uniforms clean in a hurry. “We are definitely making it easier for these Soldiers here,” said Spc Jeremy Byers, a native of Erie, PA, who serves as shower and laundry technician with the company. “It cuts the time to get their laundry back down to less than a day.” The quartermaster company isn’t just cleaning laundry, either – they’re helping clean the Soldiers, too. In addition to the laundry facilities are providing the base with shower facilities.
Press release by Spc Chris McCann, 2nd BCT, 10th Mtn Div Public Affairs.

Erie Community College North Campus in Amherst NY recently hosted a power wheelchair soccer tournament. The tourney was organized by the Independence Foundation which provides recreational and social activities for physically disabled Western NY residents. The idea came from Ben Muller a senior at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania where he saw other disabled students play the game. Edinboro has done a great job making their campus handicapped accessible and making disabled student feel like college students.

The service project, “Stuff the Bus” will be held Saturday, Jan 13. The event is sponsored by the Northwest Pennsylvania Children and Youth AmeriCorps VISTA project and will be done in collaboration by students from Gannon University, Allegheny College, Mercyhurst College, and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. The event will benefit nonprofit organizations in Erie and Crawford counties serving children and youth. During the event, students will be stationed at the Wal-Mart at 1900 Keystone Drive on upper Peach St and at the Wal-Mart in Titusville, 11415 Hydetown Road. Students will pass out “wish lists” for the organizations to shoppers as they enter the stores. Shoppers will be asked to purchase an item(s) from the list as they enter the store and then donate them as they leave. Students will collect items at the stores from 8 am to 8 pm. The event will be repeated at the Wal-Mart in Edinboro, 108 Washington Town Blvd, and at the Wal-Mart in Meadville, 16086 Conneaut Lake Road, from 8 am to 8 pm on Friday, Jan 26.

Margo Ekstrom (Erie, Pa/ McDowell) finished second in the the 1M diving event with 219.67 points and second in the 3M with 222.97 points as the Pitt Panthers sank Big East rival West Virginia 169-131.

Penticton Valley First Vees forward and Mercyhurst College recruit Steve Cameron has made his third straight BC Hockey League all-star team.

Gem City Concert Band of Erie, PA, is seeking new members for the Spring 2007 season. The concert band, currently consisting of 40 members, is very versatile, playing music such as old overtures, show tunes, traditional concert band pieces, movie scores, and marches. The band presents a spring and fall concert at St. John’s Lutheran Church, as well as numerous other nursing home and community performances throughout the year. Rehearsals are held Tuesday evenings from 8 to 9:30 pm in the lower-level meeting room of St. John’s Lutheran Church at 23rd and Peach Streets. Spring 2007 rehearsals begin January 9th. Interested musicians should contact the director, Betty McKinney, at 814-602-9247 for more information. All instruments are welcomed. Membership is free.

The visiting Scientist Lecture Series brings current research and hot topics to the general public on the second Tuesday of each month. The next event will be held at the Tom Ridge Enviromental Center Room 112 on Tuesday Jan 9 at 7 pm. Tammy M Zimmerman, from US Geological Survey, will speak on “Modeling to predict Escherichia coli at Presque Isle Beach 2 in Erie, Pennsylvania.” For more information, contact the Regional Science Consortium at 814-835-6975.

The musical “Stand by Your Man” will be performed at the Erie Playhouse Jan 11-14, 18-21.For tickets or more info call (814) 454-2852 ext 0.

The Erie Broadway Series presents “Cirque Dreams-Jungle Fantasy.” A European circus act full of acrobatics and theatrics comes to the stage at Erie’s Warner Theatre on January 12 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $49.75, $39.75, $29.75. For more details call 814-452-4857 or 814-456-7070.

The Roadhouse Theatre production of “The Last of the Red Hot Lovers” will run Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm from January 12th – February 10. Admission: Regular seating $12, Riser seating $15, VIP table seating $20. Reservations can be made by phone at 814.456.5656. The Roadhouse Theatre 145 West 11th Street, Box Office hours: 2-6 pm Tuesday – Saturday. The Theater accepts cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard and Discover. It has been twenty years since Scott McClelland toured the country in Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues. After 625 performances of that Tony award winning play, Mr. Simon’s timing and comedic style had become part of McClelland’s acting arsenal. Now for the first time since Biloxi Blues the actor returns to a play by the greatest comic writer of the American Stage. The show is being directed by his wife Kim McClelland who acted in this same play on the stage at 1505 State Street several years before the McClelland’s met.

The 24th edition of the McDonald’s High School Basketball Classic will be held in Erie on Friday, January 12 and Saturday, January 13, 2007 at Gannon University’s Hammermill Center. This year’s event features nationally renowned programs from California and Ohio, featuring rosters replete with top-ranked players.
The field is highlighted by the appearance of two of the most renowned players in Classic history. Delvon Roe, a 6’7″ wing player for St. Edward of Lakewood, Ohio, is currently ranked as the Number 2 player in the junior class by PrepStars Recruiter’s Handbook, and is regarded as one of the best players in the nation regardless of class. Dallas Lauderdale of nearby Solon, Ohio, also is slated to perform, and the 6’10″ explosive athlete is on everyone’s list of top centers in the nation.
Also entering the field for Classic 2007 is vaunted Westchester High of Los Angeles, California. The Comets, competing in their third McDonald’s Classic, are annually one of the nation’s top interscholastic programs.
The Classic will tip-off on Friday, January 12, with a first round, 7:00 PM match-up between Westchester and St. Edward. The 8:30 PM nightcap will feature Solon High and the host team Cathedral Prep.
St Edward is making their second appearance in the Classic, having won the title back in 1997. Head Coach Eric Flannery has been guiding the Eagles for eleven seasons and boasts of a 177-60 record including seven District titles, four regional crowns, and one state championship. His top players include current professionals Sam Clancy (USC), Jawad Williams (North Carolina), Steve Logan (Cincinnati), and Steve LePore (Wake Forest).

Also coming from neighboring Ohio is Solon High, featuring 6’10″ All-American Dallas Lauderdale, who will play next season for Ohio State. The Comets are coached by highly-successful mentor Todd VanReeth, who in an 18-year career has compiled a 302-120 record, including a 92-29 record with Solon. His squads at Solon have won four league titles in the last six seasons, and have twice been a regional finalist.
The other visiting squad always brings impressive credentials and high aspirations for national championship recognition. Westchester High was California’s AAAA State Champions in 2005 and will feature 6’7 Dane Suttle, the reigning Los Angeles player of the year and junior Oscar Bellfield, who has been offered a scholarship by USC. The Comets are hoping their third trip to Erie ends with their second Classic crown.

Making a return to the Classic for the 24th consecutive year will be the Cathedral Prep Ramblers who are under the direction of head coach Brian Flanagan, who has gone 48-11 in his two seasons on the bench.
In his first season in 2004-’05, he led the Ramblers to the Final Four in Pennsylvania with a banner record of 26-5, the fourth highest win total in school history. The Ramblers return just one starter from a year ago in junior Mark Blazek, but also have three seniors who saw regular minutes in guards Josh Licata and Ryan Heidt, along with center Jeff Wisinski.

General admission tickets cost $7 per night in advance for adults and $5 in advance for students, and went on sale to the general public on November 29th, 2006. Any remaining reserved tickets will also be on sale beginning on Wednesday, November 29th at the Cathedral Prep athletic office. General Admission tickets will be available on the same date at the Erie Sport Store, the Avalon Hotel, Dee’s News, and select McDonald’s Restaurants while they last. No phone orders will be accepted, and no tickets can be held. Another sell-out crowd is expected, so fans are encouraged to buy their tickets early.

A comprehensive, hands-on, 2 day RFID training will be offered in Erie, PA on January 17-18, 2007 from 8 am – 5 pm. This course is designed to prepare attendees for the CompTIA RFID+ examination, at a fraction of the cost of other national trainings. CompTIA certification is the industry standard for foundation-level information technology skills. Individuals interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of RFID technology, hardware and software capabilities, RFID system implementation and system maintenance should attend this course. The course is presented by the RFID Center of Excellence at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, and the Center for eBusiness and Advanced IT (eBizITPA).

Martin Luther King III, oldest son of Martin Luther King, Jr and Coretta Scott King, will speak at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, as part of the college’s 2007 King holiday celebration. King’s address, “My Father’s Dream, My Mission,” is part of Penn State Behrend’s annual Speaker Series and will be held at 7:30 pm on Thursday, January 18, in the Reed Union Building’s McGarvey Commons. Admission is free and open to the public, and King will take questions from the audience following his talk.

There will be a fundraiser for the proposed skate park in Erie on January 20 at Forward Hall. Admission for the all age show is $10. The bands that will be playing include Common Enemy, Whiplash, Cardboard Box, Piranha Deathmatch and Last of a Dying Breed.

The Cleveland Indians have announced the line up for this year’s Winter Caravan that will be visiting Erie on Thursday, Jan 25. The event will be held at the Dr Gertrude A Barber National Institute, 136 East Avenue. A ball park dinner will be served in the gym starting at 5 pm, with the program beginning at 6:30. Players scheduled for the Caravan include star first baseman Ryan Garko, left fielder Jason Michaels, and second baseman Josh Barfield. Hitting Coach Derek Shelton is also on the roster, along with team announcer Matt Underwood. The players and coach will present a brief program and answer questions from the audience, and will sign autographs for youngsters in attendance. A charity auction will be held featuring team memorabilia and apparel and prime game ticket packages. All proceeds from the auction and the event will benefit services to children and adults at the Barber National Institute. Dinner includes hot dogs, chips and beverages. Tickets are just $7, and are available in advance at the Barber National Institute and Hector’s Restaurant. For more information, please call 453-7661.

The Erie Chamber Orchestra in residence at Gannon University presents “The Annual Tribute Concert to Dr Martin Luther King, Jr” on January 19 at St Patrick’s Church, 130 East 4th St. The Shiloh Baptist Church Choir, under the direction of Evangelist DM Jamerson, will honor Dr King’s memory at 7:30 pm. The performance is free and open to everyone.

The 9th Annual MECA United Cerebral Palsy Barstool Open is set to take place on Saturday, February 24, 2007. Last years event had 1200 participants and raised $30000. Yes, 1200 people out drinking in downtown Erie on a cold February afternoon. Teams of 4 will compete in golf at 9 bars in downtown Erie PA. The putting exhibition contest takes place on holes with wacky designs. This year there are 14 bars participating.  Mail the registration form and enclose your check for $100, $25 per person, made payable to: MECA United Cerebral Palsy, 3745 West 12th St, Erie, PA 16505.