David McHenry entered a plea agreement in the murder of Joshua Dibello. Dibello was found dead in his car in the parking lot of Herman’s, 28th and Old French. He died from a gunshot to the head. McHenry was sentenced to 22-45 years in prison.

Walter Hendl passed away at age 90 in his home in Harborcreek. From 1976 to 1990, he was music director of the Erie Philharmonic, after which he taught conducting at Mercyhurst College. Hendl also spent years as director of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester and music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

The Greater Erie Board of Realtors released the Erie County property transfer report for March. For the month of March 2007, 459 properties were sold for $58,622,788. This compares to March 2006 when 444 properties changed hands worth $44,430,774. The comparison includes all properties in Erie County in which a property transfer tax was paid including residential and commercial properties as well as land. Click here to view the individual transfers for March 2007. 

Alien Technology Corporation, which is headquartered in Morgan Hill, CA, and is a sponsor of the RFID Center of Excellence at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will host a radio frequency identification (RFID) forum on Monday, April 16, at 5 pm in Reed Union Building’s McGarvey Commons. The event is free and open to the public. Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Boeing and the U S Department of Defense all require RFID-tagged pallets from their largest suppliers. “Alien Technology is one of the country’s leading RFID companies,” Frank DeWolf, director of the RFID Center of Excellence and lecturer in management and e-business in the Sam and Irene Black School of Business, said. “With the college’s RFID Center already in place, the creation and development of an RFID application center has the potential to establish a new industry cluster in information technology for northwest Pennsylvania.”

As you might have seen yesterday on Erie Media-Go-Round, Connoisseur Media Tuesday released Star-104 afternoon DJ Dylan. Dylan has his resume on MOREDYLAN.com.

Matthew Detisch of Erie PA, a journalism student at St Bonaventure University, will have his new short film aimed to increase awareness on crime victims’ rights shown on April 26 at the Ray Evans Seneca Theatre in Salamanca, NY. Detisch previously wrote and produced the feature “The Wolf at the Door.”

GMD Films has begun filming on “Virgin Pockets” Starring Marie Madison and Chexy Grace. The story revolves around a pair of Female Pool Hustlers who end up squaring off against each other in a big televised tournament.

Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space and first to circle the Earth 46 years ago today, April 12,1961.

The Erie SeaWolves scored five times in the first two innings en route to a 12-4 rout of the Binghamton Mets Wednesday at Jerry Uht Park.

The Gannon women’s lacrosse team scored the first 11 goals and rolled past Seton Hill 26-2 Wednesday at Gannon University Field. The 5th ranked Lady Knights out shot the Golden Griffins 50-6.

Mercyhurst hit three long balls and held Gannon to two runs in two games as the Lakers swept a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) softball doubleheader Wednesday afternoon. The Lakers took the twinbill by scores of 4-1 and 2-1.

Mercyhurst took game one 9-3 and game two 4-3 as the Lakers swept a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) softball doubleheader Wednesday afternoon over Gannon.

Erie Otters forwards Zack Torquato and Nick Palmieri were among the 105 draft eligible players invited by NHL Central Scouting to attend the National Hockey League Combine being held May 29-June 2nd.

The Gannon University Villa Maria School of Nursing will host its annual community/health fair on Thursday, April 12 at the John E Horan Community Center, 730 Tacoma Road. The fair, titled “Prevention Adventure,” will run from 4-7 pm. It is free and open to the public; attendees need not live in the Horan Garden Apartments. For more information call (814) 871-5512.

If you’ve just heard about the Young Erie Professionals (yep!) and want to learn more, please join them and bring a friend or two on April 12 to Wild Cards (next to the Erie Sport Store and Tinseltown on Peach) for a Happy Hour. Haven’t connected with fellow yep! members in a while? Happy Hours are perfect opportunities to catch up. All happy hours are cash bar only. Hors d’oevres will be served.

The Builders Association of Northwestern Pennsylvania 47th annual Home Show takes place April 12-15 at Family First Sports Park, 8155 Oliver Road.

Author and actor Peter Coyote will kick off the 2007 Literary Festival at Mercyhurst College with an appearance on Thursday, April 12, at 7:30 pm in the college’s Taylor Little Theatre. The festival, with a theme of “The Arts and the Counter-Culture: Then and Now,” continues April 19 with a visit by novelist Francine Prose and culminates April 25 with an event celebrating student creativity.

The Roadhouse Theater in Erie presents Wonder of the World. Directed by Jeff Rodland Wonder of the World opens Friday, April 13 for a limited-engagement, 4-weeks only , Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm. Featuring Kelly Rodland, Alex Bolla, Lizabeth Crandell, Janet Whelpley-Kohler, Dan Pruyn, Jason Fried, and Lara Snavely. 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 in Erie PA, Box Office hours: 2-6 pm Tuesday – Saturday. The Theater accepts cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard and Discover.

The Professional Bull Riders tour will be in Erie Friday Apr 13 and Saturday Apr 14.

The Misery Bay Region of the Sports Car Club of America will hold their Spring Fling Rally on Sunday April 15 at the Burger King at I-90 Exit 18, the Presque Isle State Park exit. Registration is at12:30 pm, first car off 1:20 pm.

This year’s Smith Music Series at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will close with a harpsichord recital by Allan Slovenkay, organist-choirmaster emeritus of Trinity Memorial Church in Warren. Slovenkay’s performance will be held at 3 pm Sunday, April 15, in the college’s Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel. Compositions by Handel, Bach, Balbastre, Rameau and Couperin will be played on a William Dowd Franco-Flemish harpsichord, a keyboard instrument that looks similar to a piano, but generates sound by plucking strings rather than striking them. Smith Music Series performances are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel at (814) 898-6609.

Alien Technology Corporation, which is headquartered in Morgan Hill, Calif., and is a sponsor of the RFID Center of Excellence at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will host a radio frequency identification (RFID) forum on Monday, April 16, at 5 pm in Reed Union Building’s McGarvey Commons. The event is free and open to the public.

Ecologist, author, and cancer survivor, Sandra Steingraber, PhD, an internationally recognized expert on the environmental links to cancer and reproductive health, headlines the Mercyhurst College observance of Earth Week 2007, which runs April 16-23 under the theme “World-Water-Women.” Steingraber will be welcomed to campus by President Dr Tom Gamble on Monday, April 23, at 8 pm in Walker Recital Hall, where she will deliver the Sister Maura Smith Earth Day Lecture, which is free and open to the public.

A NASA planetary scientist involved in the planning for human settlements on Mars will speak at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, on Tuesday, April 17. Christopher McKay’s discussion, “The Search for Life on Mars and Europa,” is a joint presentation of the college’s annual Speaker Series and the Open House Nights in Astronomy outreach program sponsored by the School of Science. His talk is free and open the public, and will take place at 7:30 pm in the McGarvey Commons of the Reed Union Building. Astronomical viewing from the college’s Mehalso Observatory will follow, weather permitting.

Careers in law enforcement, firefighting, criminal justice and other public safety professions are on the rise, and the Mercyhurst College Center for Public Safety (CPS) is quickly becoming a regional force in preparing individuals to serve in this field. Learn more about all that the Center for Public Safety has to offer at an Open House on Wednesday, April 18, from 6-7:30 pm, at the Michele and Tom Ridge Health and Safety Building on the campus of Mercyhurst – North East, 16 W Division St, North East, PA.

Alto saxophone sensation Dave Pietro will be joined by four Brazilian musicians to present a special evening of Latin jazz at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, on Thursday, April 19. Music at Night tickets can be purchased at the door on April 19, in advance at the Reed Union Building main desk, or online. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $8.50 for adults over 60, $5 for Penn State Behrend students, and $4 for kids under 16. In addition to the Music at Night performance, Dave Pietro’s Banda Brazil will perform at noon on Wednesday, April 18, also in McGarvey Commons. This one-hour concert, part of the Music at Noon series, is free and open to the public.

Literary nonfiction writer Marilyn Abildskov will close the 2006-07 Creative Writer’s Speaker Series at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, with a reading on Thursday, April 19. Abildskov will read from her works beginning at 6 pm in the Smith Chapel worship space. A 4:30 pm reception for her in the Smith Chapel living room will precede the reading; both are free and open to the public.

The D’Angelo Department of Music at Mercyhurst College brings one of Shakespeare’s most famous comic characters to life April 19 and 21 when it presents Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Falstaff.” Both Thursday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 pm in the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center on the Mercyhurst campus. Tickets are $12.50 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and $5 for youths. Call the box office at (814) 824-3000.

“Dead Man Walking” will be performed at the Gannon University Schuster Theatre April 19-22, 26-28. For more information or tickets call (814) 871-7494.

The Penn State Behrend Lion Entertainment Board 5th annual Battle of the Bands is going to be hitting Erie Hall on April 20. This year legendary ska band Less Than Jake along with fellow Fueld By Ramen artist The A.K.A.’s will join the ranks of bands who have taken the stage for this massive event. The battle from 1:30 – 6:30 will be FREE ADMISSION. Admission to LTJ and AKA’s will be $5 for General Admission and FREE with PSU ID.

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.

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will host an Admissions Open House for prospective undergraduate students on Saturday, April 21. The Open House begins at 10 am and continues through 1 pm. High school students and their families are invited to tour the campus and meet with representatives from the Sam and Irene Black School of Business, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Science, and School of Engineering. Faculty will be available to lead laboratory tours and demonstrations and answer questions about the college’s 32 baccalaureate majors. All events are free, but advance registration is requested and can be made online here.

The first Misery Bay Region SCCA autocross is Sunday, April 22 at Penn State Behrend in Erie PA. Registration is at 8 am with first car on course about 10:30 am.

The State of Pennsylvania’s Authorized Trade Representatives from Australia, Canada, and South Africa will be in Erie on April 24 to meet with regional companies to discuss their export opportunities in respective markets. Breakfast/ Registration begins at 8:30 am. To schedule one on one business meetings with the trade representatives, please contact Lori Moore or call (814) 677-4800 Ext 104. 30 min individual meeting appointments will run from 11 am -12 pm and 1 pm – 2:30 pm, lunch provided. The Northwest PA Regional Planning and Development Commission is sponsoring the event.

John Kanzius and Dr Steven Curley will be holding an informational symposium on the Kanzius cancer treatment on April 28 at 7pm at the Mercyhurst College Mary D`Angelo Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $10. For more information call Mercyhurst at (814) 824-3000.

The Tragically Hip play the Warner Theatre in Erie, Pa on May 18. Reserved seat tickets are $31.50.