The family of Greg Jacobs is claiming that his organs were harvested before he died. Jacobs had a snowboarding accident at Peek ‘N Peak on March 13 and had severe head trauma. It sounds like a clerical error, but the time of death was written down nearly a half hour after his organs were removed. If this sounds a bit familiar for some reason, you saw the Harvest episode (Season 8, Episode 4, 1997) of “Law and Order” the order day.

The Downs at Erie, the off track betting parlor, will be closing for good on Thursday July 26 and simulcast horse racing begins on Friday July 27 at Presque Isle Downs and Casino. This is happening a couple of weeks ahead of schedule as officials with the track hinted around that it would be around mid August before the switch over was made. Broadcast races will be shown on 170 flat plasma screens throughout the facility. Live horse racing begins September 1 with races Wednesday through Monday throughout the month of September.

Tom Maciulewicz Jr, the former McDowell principal, will be sentenced today. Maciulewicz took a truckload of things from the school. He was caught when a music store owner saw missing district synthesizers listed for sale on eBay. The synthesizers were sold on eBay for a total of $7,391. Other items that grew legs and walked away were two Apple Macintosh G4 laptop computers, an elliptical exercise machine, a LCD projector, a 17 inch computer monitor, and several used musical instruments.

Erie Blogs Week at the Community Blood Bank continues today. One random donor who goes to the Community Blood Bank this week and uses the Erie Blogs Week sign up sheet will be entered to win a prize basket full of awesome stuff, including wine, Campbell pottery, iTunes gift certificates, a family membership to the Erie Art Museum, a GoFish book and so much more. We need to thank all the companies and groups that have helped us assemble such an awesome prize pack(s). They include Metal Forming Lubricants, Paragon Media One, Gnosh, CambridgeSprings.net, The Opheila Project and the Erie Art Museum. If you have a company and would like to contribute items to the baskets, it’s not too late. Email Mike for more info.
When you sign up to donate, please note which blog you’d like your donation to count towards. The blog with the most referrals also gets a prize basket.

Railpower Technologies (TSX: P) announced that all 98 refurbished road switcher locomotives are expected to be shipped to Union Pacific on or before July 31, 2007. To date, 90 locomotives have been shipped. The customer indicated that all the units shipped before the end of July will be accepted. The contract, worth CA$94 million, was awarded in 2005. Railpower is headquartered in
Montreal, Quebec. It U S office is located in Erie, PA.

Lawrence Park Fire Department received a $100,000 donation from GE Transportation.

The Eerie Horror Film Festival will always call Erie, PA its home, but the organization now has a real “brick and mortar” address at 1301 French Street, according to Festival President and Director, Greg Ropp. Ropp announced today that the film festival, which is preparing for its fourth annual event, has opened a formal office within the spaces of local marketing communications firm Strategic Marketing Solutions International LLC, which is located in the Lovell Place complex at the corner of 13th and French Streets. “We greatly appreciate the generosity of SMSI, which will allow us to have a real office, very close to the site of the festival, at which we will be able to coordinate activities, meet with sponsors and participants and hold planning and organizational meetings,” Ropp said.

Skinny Moose Media and U S Hunting Today has donated $14,000 worth of Advertising Space throughout their entire online network to Hunt of a Lifetime (HOAL). HOAL ads will appear on all forums, blogs and on the e-magazine. Hunt Of A Lifetime is a nonprofit organization based in Erie, PA with a mission to grant hunting and fishing adventures and dreams for children age 21 and under, who have been diagnosed with life threatening illnesses.

Kennametal Inc announced that Gary W Weismann has been elected to the position of Vice President and President Advanced Materials Solutions Group. Weismann holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in finance from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr Jeffrey Olafsen, associate professor of physics at Baylor and a lead investigator on the project, in collaboration with Dr G William Baxter, associate professor of physics at Pennsylvania State Erie, have created the first experimental observation of molecular chaos.

The Erie SeaWolves took the middle game of a three-game set against the Trenton Thunder with a 12-1 drubbing of the league’s best team on Tuesday night at Waterfront Park. The SeaWolves and Thunder are back at it in their final regular season meeting on Wednesday afternoon at Waterfront Park…12:05 First Pitch. RHP Dallas Trahern will be opposed by rightie Alan Horne (9-3, 2.45 ERA).

A new era will begin for Allegheny College swimming and diving has begun now that Danielle Lindner has assumed leadership of the program. In doing so, she becomes just the second coach of the women’s team in program history and the second men’s coach in 31 years. Lindner takes over for long-time coach Tom Erdos, the 2007 North Coast Athletic Conference Women’s Coach of the Year, who resigned to take a position in Allegheny’s Department of Dance.

University of Alaska Fairbanks Director of Athletics Forrest Karr announced Tuesday that former Mercyhurst College assistant men’s hockey coach John Rose has been selected to complete the Nanook hockey coaching staff. In three years with the Lakers, Rose served as a volunteer assistant for two seasons before making the move to assistant coach during the 2006-07 season.

Mark Seidel, a former assistant general manager with the OHL’s Erie Otters, has been named the new commissioner of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League

The Kahkwa Club has made a bid to host the 2013 U S Women’s Open Championship. The club hosted the 2004 U S Women’s Amateur Championship and the 1971 Women’s Open.

The comedy “Moonlight and Magnolias” about the making of Gone With The Wind is being performed at the Erie Playhouse tonight and July 26-29. Showtimes are 7:30 pm with a 2 pm Sunday matinee.

“Paths of Glory” staring Kirk Douglas will be shown on Thursday July 26 at 7:30 pm at The Roadhouse Theatre for Contemporary Art. This one night only special event will be followed by a question and answer session hosted by Floyd Lawrence and his co-host Peggy Brace with a wine and cheese reception. For more information or VIP reservations please call the Roadhouse Theatre box office between the hours of 2 pm and 6 pm Tuesday through Saturday at (814) 456-5656.

The summer heats up on Thursday, July 26 for the BBQ, Blues and Brews Block Party benefit event for the Erie Art Museum from 5 pm to midnight. This FREE event features a smokin’ BBQ prepared by Pufferbelly Restaurant, live music and a scavenger hunt throughout the Museum’s galleries. The Museum’s 5th Street parking lot transforms into an outdoor dining courtyard from 5-8 pm. The event moves to State Street from 8 pm to midnight where State Street grooves to the music of One World Tribe and a performance by Erie’s African Dance Troupe, Sylla Kunda. Ol’ Dogs grills up their gourmet hotdogs. Of course the brews will still be on tap. A portion of the proceeds from the BBQ and beverage sales will be donated to the Erie Art Museum.

Tin-Shi Tam, the Cownie Professor of Music and university carillonneur at Iowa State, will close the summer Smith Carillon Concert Series at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, with a concert on Thursday, July 26. Tam’s performance on the Floyd and Juanita Smith Carillon will begin at 7 pm and is free and open to the public. Audience seating will be on the lawn of the John M Lilley Library, so concertgoers are encouraged to bring a blanket or chair with them.

Scott and Kim McClelland take the stage together this summer for the first time since 1996. The McClelland’s met 20 years ago in the summer of 1987 at the Erie Playhouse. As a way of celebrating their life in the theatre, they have created “Lovers Haters and Others.” The Roadhouse Theatre show is homage to the great love affairs written for the stage. Classic and poetic love stories will be paired with epic vicious battles between famous characters from theatrical history. “Lovers Haters and Others” runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm through August 4. Admission: $8 (student), $10 (regular), $12 (riser) and $15 (VIP) Box Office Phone: (814) 456-5656.

The Wattsburg Erie County Battle of the Bands and Music Festival will be held Friday evening July 27 and Saturday July 28 at the Erie County Fairgrounds.

Discover Presque Isle will be held July 27-29, 2007 at Presque Isle State Park. No matter what your age or interests, there is something for everyone. Admission and parking are FREE.

The Native American Festival will be held at the Wooden Nickel Buffalo Farm 11 am – 6 pm daily July 28-29. Admission is $3 per person, 3 and under are FREE. Parking is by donation to the Edinboro Lions Club. Opening ceremonies at 12 Noon each day. Intertribal dancing all day with special dancers performing at 1pm, 2pm, and 5pm.

The Counting Crows, Live and Collective Soul will play a concert at Jerry Uht Park in Erie, PA on July 31 as part of “The Rock ‘n’ Roll Triple Play Ballpark Tour.” Tickets can be purchased at the SeaWolves box office at Jerry Uht Park and on SeaWolves.com. Children under 12 get in FREE with each paid adult ticket holder.

The Motorcycle, Car, Boat and Truck show called the Lake Erie Classic will be held August 3-5 at Erie International Airport, Tom Ridge Field.

The 15th Annual Erie Art Museum’s Blues and Jazz Festival, the largest jazz and blues event in the Erie region, is a 2 day Festival held August 4 and 5 at Frontier Park in Erie, Pa. Bring a blanket or lawn chair. A variety of festival fare will be available from local vendors and restaurants. Admission to all Festival events is free.
Saturday August 4 – 12 pm One World Tribe with the UpRise African Drum and Dance Ensemble, 2 pm Familiar Spirit Band, 4 pm Geoff Achison, 6 pm Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials, 8 pm Junior Brown
Sunday August 5 – 12 pm Gem City Jazz Band, 2 pm Cats A Bear, 4 pm Babik, 6 pm Stew Cutler Trio, 8 pm Rashied Ali Quintet
Ongoing: WQLN Kids Tent, Festival Fare, LEAF Arboretum Tours/Green Tag

The Lake Erie Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association will host its 2007 steak fry on Saturday, August 4, at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. The annual event, which will be held at the Wilson Picnic Grove on the campus of Penn State Behrend, begins with a social hour at 5 pm, followed by the dinner’s signature “grill your own” steak fry at 6 pm. The fund-raiser is open to all Penn State alumni. Proceeds benefit the Lake Erie Chapter’s Robert W Sparks scholarship fund, which has awarded more than $55,000 to local students in the past 16 years. Tickets for the annual steak fry fund-raiser are $19 per person. For more information or to RSVP, contact Phil Mobilia, president of the Lake Erie Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association, at 814-725-1999 (home) or 716-483-7219 (office), or via e-mail at Phil.Mobilia@psualum.com. Please respond by July 30. Visit www.behrend.psu.edu/alumni for more information about the Lake Erie Chapter or to become a member.

The Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania 25th Anniversary Celebration will be held Saturday, August 4 at the Erie Bayfront Convention Center. Tickets are $35. RSVP by July 27.

Representatives of the waterfowl organizations, individual sportsmen and the public are invited to attend a briefing on Friday, Aug 10, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Northwest Pennsylvania Duck Hunters Association, on the status of Atlantic Flyway waterfowl populations and proposed preliminary federal frameworks for the 2007-08 hunting seasons. The briefing will begin at 1 pm, in Room 112 of the Tom Ridge Education Center at Presque Isle State Park in Erie.

The Erie Chamber Orchestra, in residency at Gannon University and under the direction of Bruce Morton Wright, will perform its 24th annual summer concerts entitled “Music in the Air” on the campus of Villa Maria Academy, 2403 West 8th Street Erie, PA. On Friday, August 10 they will perform a Classical Music Night and on Saturday, August 11 they will perform a Pop Music Night. Both concerts will be performed at 8 pm. The concerts are FREE of charge, with seating and are on a first come, first served basis. There will have a number of chairs at the site, but you are encouraged to bring your own chairs or blankets. In the case of rain, these concerts will be performed in the auditorium of Villa Maria Academy.

Titled “Local Government and the Erie Economy,” the 2007 Economic Research Institute of Erie (ERIE) conference will address topics relevant to Erie and its surrounding communities, including the debate about consolidating the area’s local governments and the smoking ban. The institute’s sixth annual conference will be held on August 14, in McGarvey Commons, located in the Reed Union Building at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. The cost to attend this year’s conference is $149 and includes printed materials, breakfast and lunch. A reduced rate of $75 is available for nonprofit, government and economic development officials. For more information or to register for the conference, call (814) 898-7149.