I talked to someone at Presque Isle Downs and Casino that said 8-9 out of town buses have scheduled trips to Erie but out local bus company, the EMTA (Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority) still hasn’t made a decision on providing service. Has anyone told them the place is open and employs 700 people that might like the option of taking public transportation to work? For the week of March 5-11, Presque Isle Downs and Casino had wagers totaling $50,018,186.17 with $45,401,071.92 paid out. The guestimate was that over 80 of their handle is coming from outside Erie County.

Cambridge Springs, PA now has an excellent online resource with the launch of CambridgeSprings.net. It has business listings, community resources and even a blog.

Deandre Carr was arrested for the stabbing death of Davonne Jones (Bealeo) at Llamas Tavern, 1102 East Avenue.

Erie Blogger CJ Toledano is in the home stretch with one day
left for the American Eagle Campus Comedy Challenege. He is neck and neck with another contestant. It’s close enough that your vote can literally decide whether he wins or not. Go to AE Comedy
right now and vote for him until the contest is over to assure CJ a
victory.

Former WSEE and Channel 4 Pittsburgh WTAE news anchor Scott Baker will soon be doing a daily show on Breitbart.tv, a spinoff of Breitbart.com.

Gannon University has been chosen for two separate grants from area charitable foundations, both of which will enhance programs in the health sciences. The Orris C and Beatrice Dewey Hirtzel Memorial Foundation of North East, PA has made a $44,494 grant to Gannon. The grant will allow the university to purchase a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems) server for use by students in its radiologic sciences program. The PACS server, which is dedicated to the storage, retrieval, distribution, and presentation of radiologic images, significantly will enhance the education and training of students in the university’s health sciences programs. Gannon also has been chosen for a $50,000 grant from the Dr and Mrs Arthur William Phillips Charitable Trust of Oil City, PA. The grant will allow Gannon to establish the Dr and Mrs Arthur William Phillips Nursing Scholarship. The scholarship will benefit students in Gannon’s Villa Maria School of Nursing, with a preference given to academically qualified students from Venango, Clarion, Crawford, Butler, and Mercer counties.

The Erie Otters (15-49-1-2) lost to the London Knights 9-3. The Otters close out the 2006-2007 Season at the Tullio Arena tonight at 7:30 pm.

The Gannon women’s water polo team beat Mercyhurst 7-4 at the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor, MI.

Mike Keller, an OL with the Erie Strong Vincent football team, keeps moving up the list for the 2008 recruiting class.

TigsTown.com is looking for an interested journalist or sports enthusiast to cover the Erie SeaWolves as they make their run at the 2007 Eastern League title. Job requirements include writing a brief recap for each game, occasionally attending home games (3 or 4 per month), interviewing Erie players and coaches and writing feature articles on the team/players. The job requires approximately 10 hours of work per week, and runs from the beginning of April through the end of the season in September. All interested applicants should contact Senior Editor Paul Wezner via email expressing interest by Wednesday, March 28. All applicants will be required to generate one original, baseball related piece to be considered for the position. If you’re a student looking for internship credit – TigsTown.com is happy to work with you and your school. TigsTown.com is owned and operated by Motown Sports Media, LLC, and is a part of the Scout.com MLB Network. Scout.com is a FOX Sports Interactive Media Company.

The Erie Runners Club St Patrick’s Day 10k will still take place today in spite of a few snowflakes. “We don’t cancel races around here. It’s just snow. This is Erie.”

The annual St Patrick’s Day parade will be held today at 2 pm. The parade route begins at 10th and State and goes north on Sate to 3rd Street and then east to St Patrick Church.

The Northwest PA Maple Association 2007 Northwest PA Maple Taste and Tour Weekend will be held March 17-18, 10 am to 4 pm daily. Ten sugar houses in Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Warren and Venango counties open their doors during the height of maple sugaring time.

Meadowmount Trio, a frequent contributor to National Public Radio hailed as “an ensemble of seamless rapport” by The Strad magazine, will perform at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, on Wednesday, March 21. Meadowmount Trio appears as part of Music at Noon: The Logan Series. Its performance, which is free and open to the public, will be held at noon in the Reed Union Building’s McGarvey Commons.

The Classic Rock Dance, a fund raiser for the family of Erie soldier Katie Beckwith, with the Bryan Burton Band will be held on March 24 at the Millcreek American Legion, 4109 West 12th Street in Erie (next to the Airport) starting at 8 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door for a donation of $5 per person. Katie was injured when a roadside bomb detonated beside her Humvee in Iraq. She is presently being hospitalized at Fort Knox. The benefit is to raise money for travel expenses for her family to visit her.

Think you have what it takes to sing the National Anthem at a Double-A baseball game? Well here is your chance. The Erie SeaWolves announced their National Anthem tryouts to be held Sunday, March 25 at the Millcreek Mall. Tryouts will be held on the main stage located at the center of the mall. Registration begins at 1:30 pm and tryouts begin at 2 pm. Those interested in auditioning will perform the National Anthem for a panel of judges. Auditions must be performed a capella. For more information about the National Anthem tryouts, please contact Carol Trumbo at (814) 456-1300 or via email at ctrumbo(at)seawolves.com. SeaWolves Opening Day for the 2007 season is April 5 against the Altoona Curve. First pitch is set for 6:35 pm.

The St Martins Center 9th annual Homeownership Expo will be held March 29 from 11:30 am – 6:30 pm at the Blasco Memorial Library. There will be information on homes, mortgage products, refinancing options, homes inspections, lead paint issues and more. Admission is free and open to everyone.

Mercyhurst College welcomes noted historian Dr. Ralph Ketcham, Emeritus Professor of History, Political Science and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, who will address “Lincoln’s Union: Where it came from, and what it Meant,” on Thursday, March 29, at 8 pm in Walker Recital Hall.

The Erie Micro Brew Festival presented by WQLN will be held April 21 at Union Station at 14th and French Streets. There will be 2 sampling sessions 1-4 pm and 5-8 pm. All proceeds support public broadcasting and all PLCB laws apply. Attendees must be 21. Tickets will be available soon at many Erie area locations. Scheduled to attend are: The BrewErie at Union Station, The Erie Brewing Company, Southern Tier Brewing, Pennsylvania Brewery, Voodoo Brewery, The Flying Bison, Ellicottville Brewing Company, North Country Brewing Company, Hereford and Hops, Sprague Farm and Brew Works, The Buffalo Brew Pub, Magic Hat Brewing and the East End Brewing Company.