The man and woman found in the east side home have been identified as Mary and Dennis Chmielewski. Officials posit that Dennis shot Mary before turning the gun on himself.

Despite several fines, state officials say that Erie Coke has not stopped polluting. The DEP says they are negotiating a settlement with the company. Erie Coke has been fined more then $6.1 million. If this continues to be an issue, why hasn’t the DEP stepped in and shut the plant down?

The renovations at the Millcreek Mall have been completed. We applaud the new food court, lighting and other new additions. The old smoking pits were unavailable for comment. The Cafaro family, which owns the mall, gave $5,000 to the Erie Regional Chamber and $5,000 to the John Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation.

A new polar bear has arrived at the Erie Zoo. Norton, the 1,100 pound bear came from the Detroit Zoo and is now in the display if you’d like to stop by and say hello.

People who work in Millcreek will pay more next year. The old “occupational privilege tax,” now called the Local Services Tax, is expected to be raised from $10 to $52. It’s expected the increase will net the township $600,000, which will go to things like volunteer fire companies. Many other areas have increased that tax to $52 over the last few years.

Also, don’t be surprised to find Erie County raising property taxes to clean up their budget mess. A property tax increase of 0.25 to 0.5 mills will help balance the budget.

Five Mercyhurst College intelligence studies students, charged with identifying best practices for reducing or eliminating the amount of graffiti in a city with the approximate size, composition and resources of Erie, delivered their key findings Thursday, Nov. 13, at 3 p.m. in City Council Chambers.
The students, who gave their presentation before Erie Mayor Joseph E. Sinnott and members of his Graffiti Task Force, include Tom Dennstedt, Kyle Horvath, Mark Omniewski, Beth O’Neil and Ashley Pastor. Their support was enlisted by Mercyhurst intelligence studies faculty and task force member David Grabelski.

Have you checked out the new weather video over there underneath the “Recently Updated” blogs area? We suggest checking it out to find out when the snow is coming and yes, it’s coming.

Sports

 
In high school playoff football, Strong Vincent beat Prep 28-0. Linesville beat Mercer 35-0.

Steven Shipley, Andrew Wilkins and Mike Lomas scored in the opening eight minutes of the game to lead the Owen Sound Attack to a 3-1 win over the Erie Otters in an Ontario Hockey League game played tonight in front of 3,054 at the Tullio Arena. The Otters complete a five-game home stand tonight at the Tullio Arena against the Owen Sound Attack at 7 p.m. It’s Ronald McDonald House Charities Night with the first 1,000 fans receiving a McDonald’s chicken biscuit breakfast sandwich coupon.

The Bentley hockey team scored three goals just 1:07 apart in the first period and the Falcons earned a rare win at Mercyhurst Friday night, 4-2.

The Mercyhurst College volleyball team saw its run in the 2008 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference postseason tournament come to an end as Lock Haven handed the Lakers a 3-0 setback Friday evening in California, Pa.

Edinboro University quarterback Trevor Harris (Waldo, OH/Marion Pleasant) (left) has repeated as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Athlete of the Year after previously winning the award in 2007.

The Allegheny men’s swimming and diving team claimed its first dual meet win of the season as it defeated Edinboro, 53-42, during Friday night’s tri-meet at Mellon Pool. The Gators lost their meet against Gannon, 66-47.

Events

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.