A fundraising event for the Lindsay Graygo Empowerment Scholarship Fund will be held tonight, August 13, from 5-8 p.m. at Molly Brannigans. Celebrity bartenders will serve up your favorite drinks and a Chinese auction will be held. Bartender tips and auction proceeds will go to directly to the fund. If you would like to make a donation, please visit the Scholarship’s donation page.

Gas prices are down to an average of $3.78 for the last week but are still well above last years average of $2.75 around this same time. For you non-math majors out there that is a 37% increase, well above the average inflation rate of 3%. Gas prices in Ohio are generally much less then in Erie.

If you live on the east side of Erie, hopefully you got up and made it to work today. Penelec cut power to 1,900 homes to complete emergency repair projects.

Thanks to Joe Natalie who blogged about the most recent radio ratings that have been released. Star 104 and Classy 100 tied for first, with Rocket showing a good gain in third place. The surprise was Bob-FM losing 5 points since last year’s spring ratings.

Erie Zoo officials are scratching their heads over one of the new Amur tigers currently in residence. Since the new tiger exhibit opened a few months ago, the male tiger named Nikki has yet to come out of its den into the zoo’s new $500k tiger exbibit. Amur tigers are an endangered species and zoo officials are hoping Nikki will mate with another Amur female tiger also in residence.

Remember the volunteer firefighters charged with pulling false alarms in Millcreek? It was announced that two of those volunteers, Brian Salvatore, chief of the Lake Shore Volunteer Fire Department, and Robert Burt, will face criminal charges and have lost their jobs as 911 dispatchers.

Original drummer the Beatles Pete Best will play at the Theater 145 on September 19. Ringo = stunned.

The SeaWolves handily defeated the New Britain Rock Cats with a score of 9-3 last night. The Rock Cats was the only team to score a home run all night. Kudos to the SeaWolves for winning seven games straight. The ‘Wolves play the Rock Cats again this evening beginning at 7 p.m.

CelebrateErie begins tomorrow (formerly “We Love Erie Days”). From August 14-17 catch a number of rock bands, activities, and family orientated entertainment in downtown Erie. Highlights include Taste of Erie featuring a number of local restaurants and a grand finale fireworks Sunday night at 9:30.

The Erie Bayhawks will kick off their first season in the NBA D-League on November 28 on the road against Fort Wayne. They will have their home opener on December 11 against Iowa. Very cool news that you can catch all the Bayhawks games online. Here’s a printable schedule.

The Erie BayHawks also announced a long term agreement with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) to be the exclusive, presenting partner for the team. As part of the agreement, the College will become the official medical provider for the BayHawks and a team of LECOM physicians will work with the team’s players.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park (LEAF) has a number of events and movies planned for the summer running now to August 15. Thursdays, starting at 7 p.m., music will be played at the Amphitheater located at 6th Street and Frontier Drive. Friday nights at dusk, a family friendly movie will be played. LEAF’s mission is to expand the Arboretum at Frontier Park, as well as provided related recreational and educational programs for the community.

Every Friday at 8 p.m., now until September 26 (exception: September 5th) the Erie County Historical Society will hold a Ghosts and Legends Tour. Discover the mysteries of downtown Erie through a 1 1/2 hour walking tour. Since size of group tour is limited, reservations required; call (814) 454-1813, ext 0. Cost: $8 Adult, $4 Child.

Asbury Woods along with photographer Jim Kubaney will introduce students to digital photography and learning how to photograph nature (bring your own digital camera). Classes will be held August 12 & 19. For more information call (814) 835-5356.

Friends of Allegheny Wilderness (FAW), a non-profit organization based in Warren, is hosting a “wild” picnic Aug. 13 at Oil Creek State Park. The old-fashioned community-style picnic is open to anyone interested in learning more about the campaign to forever protect the most natural areas of the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) through Congressional wilderness designation under the Wilderness Act of 1964. FAW is providing hot dogs, drinks and condiments and those attending are asked to bring a dish to share and their own tableware.

The 2008 City of Erie Recreation Tennis Tournaments will be held once again at
Frontier Park. Adults: August 13-17 (session for juniors has passed). Applications are available at: PennBriar Health and Tennis Club, Westwood Racquet Club, Lake Shore Country Club, Kahkwa Club and Erie Sport Store’s downtown location. For more information contact Richard Beck at 835-5452.

The Erie Art Museum opens Art from the Dr. Gertrude A. Barber National Institute in the Erie Art Museum’s Annex Gallery, 423 State Street, now through October 4. A public opening reception is scheduled for Gallery Night on Friday, Aug. 22, 2008 from 6-10 p.m.

The Erie Block Party, held most Thursday evenings during the summer, will not be held next Thursday, August 14 due to CelebrateErie. The next upcoming block party will be August 21 at Matthew’s Trattoria & Martini Lounge with performers Duke Sherman Band & Sam Hyman.

Only two more 8 Great Tuesdays concert series performances are left for the summer. Next Tuesday, August 19th, will feature Erie’s own Dave Stevens Big Band from 6:30 – 9:30 at the Liberty Park, Pepsi Amphitheater. The event is free and shuttles to the park will be provided.

The 20-piece Gem City Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Scott Tomlison, will be offering two outdoor performances. The first will be held on Friday evening, August 22, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Shops at the Colony (formerly the Colony Plaza) on West 8th Street. The second performance will be the City of Erie’s final “Sounds of Summer” Concert on Monday, August 25th from 7 to 8 p.m. at Schmidt Towers – 153 E. 6th Street. Both concerts are open to the public and free of charge. Bring a blanket or lawn chair to enjoy the shows.

The North East National Rib Festival, sponsored by Fuller Hose Company, will be held August 24-26. For more information contact Fuller Hose at (814) 725-3308.

The nineteenth annual Silberman Recital Series at Allegheny College will feature performances by one of the country’s newest chamber music groups as well as musicians who have earned critical acclaim over decades of work on the concert stage and in the recording studio. The series will open with Manhattan Piano Trio on Monday, Sept. 8.

Erie to host young professionals from across the state at Pennsylvania Young Professionals 2008 ImPAct Conference ERIE, PA — Young professionals, business executives and civic leaders from across the state are invited to take part the Pennsylvania Young Professionals 2008 ImPAct Conference, being held Sept. 12-14 at Erie’s Bayfront Convention Center, 1 Sassafras Pier. This marks the first year the ImPAct Conference (Innovative Minds Creating Pennsylvania’s Tomorrow) will be held in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Eerie Horror Film Festival is partnering with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to sponsor the “Monster Wish” charity walk & fun run at Presque Isle on September 13th. The walk/run sign in will be at beach one at 10:00 a.m., and the Mayor will be present to impart a few words of inspiration to the participants before the walk starts. 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the Foundation. Please contact Melissa Bostaph at (814) 899-0407 for more information.

The State Library of Pennsylvania will celebrate its second annual Genealogy Day on Saturday,
Sept. 20. This free event will have exhibits and information sessions on various subject areas. For additional information, please contact Marc Bender at (717) 705-6272.

The Wine Country Harvest Festival, hosted by the North East Chamber of Commerce, will be held September 28-30. Expect a variety of music, food, arts & crafts, champagne breakfast, Cruise In, Children’s Area, winery tours, wagon rides, wine and food seminars, wine by the glass, and souvenirs. There will be 5 wineries in the wine tent this year, serving more than 40 varieties of wine, along with free shuttle service to the wineries and to other attractions in town.