Erie Insurance disclosed that it has lost about $9.5 million in its Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac holdings. Erie stock closed yesterday at 43.22, down 3.40. Fannie and Freddie were recently bailed out by the Federal government and are the largest source of funding for home mortgages in the U.S. It was another bad day on Wall Street yesterday, with the Dow losing 449.36 closing at 10,609.66.

Hamot Hospital laid off 9 employees yesterday. There’s no word from Hamot that this the extent of the layoffs and they say they continue to review their operations and departments for efficiencies.

The City of Erie and the Erie Police Department have begun contract negotiations. The union wants more officers and the city would like the officers to contribute towards health care and other benefits. The current contract expires at the end of this year.

The Greystone Group, of which Scott Enterprises of Erie is a member, is purchasing the historic building Statler Towers in Buffalo, N.Y. The building will be mixed use with restaurants, offices and apartments, while Scott Enterprises will bring in a Residence Inn by Marriott. The group signed a $3.8 million contract buying the building from British developer Bashar Issa. More from the Buffalo News.

Two Ohio men were selling stereo equipment in the Giant Eagle parking lot in Summit Township. After getting into an altercation with an unknown person, police were called and upon searching the fan, shockingly, found drug paraphernalia. Who sells stereo equipment out of a van? Seriously.

The bread ban at the Pymatuning Spillway in Linesville has been postponed for a year. Previously, all bread products were to be banned starting January 1, forcing visitors to only feed the large carp and ducks special fish food, which you guessed it, would be sold by the welcome center at the spillway. The PA Department of Conservation will spend the year rethinking the ban. Crisis averted.

If you are one of the two teenagers who robbed a man in a wheelchair of $210 on the city’s east side, there’s a special section in hell reserved for you. Luckily, the wheelchair-bound man was not injured.

The Business-Industry Political Action Committee has endorsed Phil English in the 3rd PA Congressional race. This year, BIPAC has endorsed 10 Republicans and 1 Democrat for the Senate and 21 Republicans and 8 Democrats for the House.

Some neighborhoods continue to be without power, several days after the remnants of Hurricane Ike blew through town. Penelec says everyone should have power by the end of the week.

Democratic Presidental nominee Barack Obama has announced his Great Lakes plan, which includes support for the Great Lakes Compact, which has been ratified by several states, and calls for a $5 billion trust fund for Great Lakes cleanup and restoration. Specifically, the plan calls for jump starting restoration, stopping invasive species like zebra mussels and Asian carp, getting rid of toxic sediments, making sure no other states or nations divert Great Lakes water, and installing a central manager to coordinate all the federal and state activity.

While not the 30 cent rise we were expecting, gas prices in our area have increased an average of 8 cents – in some areas raising from $3.55 to $3.65. The rise was limited due to the drastic drop of crude oil’s price, notably below $100 and down to about $91 in the last few days. Yesterday the price of light sweet crude climbed back up to about $97.

From the annals of comedy comes this news story from Mount Carmel, Pa. A woman who thought she was petting a neighbor’s cat was actually petting the friendly neighborhood skunk. The skunk then sprayed the woman, and adding insult to injury, it ran into her home. No word yet if whether the skunk is paying rent.

Sports

If you had plans to watch this Sunday’s Steelers-Eagles 4:15 p.m. game, think again. WSEE will be showing the Cleveland-Baltimore game. You can catch the game on the big screen at The Movies at Meadville. The Steelers will next be on WSEE on November 9. The debate continues over whether Erie should be a Bills or Steelers market.

Indianapolis Colts safety Bob Sanders has a high ankle sprain and could be out as long as six weeks. Sanders was the 2007 defensive player of the year in the NFL.

Jim Moats has been named girl’s softball coach at Mercyhurst Prep. He was previously an assistant coach at Corry for a team that won the District 10 and PIAA regional championships.

MLB Baseball: Cleveland beat the Minnesota Twins 6-4. The Pirates spanked the Dodgers 15-4. Detroit beat Texas 17-4.

Events

The Rice Avenue Community Public Library will hold a used book sale beginning today and ending this Saturday. Hours are today 1 – 4 p.m.; tomorrow 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.; and Saturday, September 20 from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. The library is located at 705 Rice Avenue in Girard.

The eMarketing Learning Center @ eBizITPA’s course, Fundamentals of Successful Search Engine Optimization, will take place today. The half-day course will be held at the Center for eBusiness and Advanced IT (eBizITPA) Conference Room.

View this past Sunday’s comprehensive events list to see a list of events for the week and months ahead. If you would like your event posted here, please contact us via our online form.