One week ago Judge Cunningham heard from Teri Rhodes’ attorney who asked for a reduction in Rhodes sentence. Judge Cunningham asked that District Attorney Brad Foulk provide his thoughts on the matter. Foulk — having much to say in a press conference after the sentencing and taking umbrage to statements made by Judge Cunningham — took no position on the motion brought by Rhodes attorney to reduce the 9-18 year sentence. Cunningham did oppose Rhodes attorney’s request to release Rhodes on bond pending appeal and for Judge Cunningham to recuse himself.

The City of Pittsburgh’s Controller, Michael Lamb, will be posting all city contracts and campaign contributions received by city candidates to the city’s website. Erie County and the City of Erie should also do this. Transparency is a good thing. Learn more.

Susan Yeager, her brother Cory Altman, and Robert Pessia are all charged with the murder of Yeager’s husband Shawn Yeager. Altman killed Shawn Yeager at his home on Friday in Warren County, with Shawn’s two teenage sons finding him dead later that same day.  The motive?  Susan Yeager didn’t like her husband anymore (apparently divorce is unavailable to the residents of Warren County).  We couldn’t say it better than the Warren County District Attorney Ross McKeirnan: “What we have here is an incredible cold-hearted murder scheme, planned by three very stupid people.”

USA Today has been running a series on air quality in schools across the country. They have a tool where you can input your school and see the quality (Here’s a list from Erie). According to USA TODAY, they didn’t test the air at each school, they kind of fudged it a bit.

USA TODAY did not place monitors on school grounds. Rather, reporters, editors and others — including local volunteers and journalists from Denver television station KUSA and local newspapers owned by Gannett, USA TODAY’s parent company — found locations that generally were within 100 yards of schools.

Legitimate study or sensational journalism? You decide.

Police are still searching for the bank robber who has robbed a few branches in Erie before moving on to Cleveland. A commenter on our news post yesterday suggested police track the cell phone the robber was using when his photo was taken. That’s a solid idea.

The new public library branch in Edinboro is set to open on December 19. The new location is bigger and will presumably have more…um…books.

The Catholic Diocese of Erie will be merging Immaculate Conception and St. Mary churches on E. 16th and E. 9th Streets. They are just a few blocks apart and have both seen declining membership. Immaculate Conception is scheduled to close sometime next year.  Yesterday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

On December 18, J.S. Dill Auctions will put up for sale a large collection of vintage postcards featuring scenes Erie, Pittsburgh, and other Western Pennsylvania locations. You can view some of the post cards here. Previews for both sales start at 5 p.m., with bidding beginning at 6 p.m.

Sports

The Erie Otters will be helping in an effort to raise money for the Salvation Army Red Kettle Drive. Various members of the Otters along with team representatives will be located at Macy’s at the Millcreek Mall as well as the Peach Street Wal-Mart from 5-8 p.m. Those who donate will receive one free ticket coupon for one Otters game from December 19th to January 7th.

In addition to the kettle drive, there will also be two Otter player appearances: today at McDonald’s on lower Peach at 6:30 p.m., and tomorrow at Wendy’s on French Street at 6:30 p.m.

Two members of the Mercyhurst College men’s hockey team earned weekly honors from the Atlantic Hockey Association Monday afternoon, as senior forward Matt Pierce was named AHA Player of the Week while freshman forward Phil Ginand picked up his second AHA Rookie of the Week title.

Two Allegheny women’s basketball players — Lauren Donahoe (Export, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) and Stephanie Wolf (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) — recorded double-doubles as the Gators defeated Penn State Behrend, 75-65, in non-conference action on Monday night.

Gannon’s Caitlyn Lowe (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) has been named Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division Freshman of the Week.

Events

Tonight Erie Bloggers will be getting together at 7 PM at Panera’s Yorktown, 2501 W 12th St, Erie PA. In addition to socializing, there will also be a collection for the Second Harvest Food Bank of NW PA.   Erie Bloggers received a Bread Box award for last year’s collection.

Dittman posted this weekend that LaTrobe Barnitz is looking for a drummer with a jazz/blues background.for his Oil City First Night gig at the Howling Dog. $50 for the night. Contact him at lbarnitz@clarion.edu.

Gannon University President Antoine M. Garibaldi, Ph.D., will confer some 327 degrees at the University’s Winter Commencement Ceremony, to be held Sunday, December 14.

The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. in Gannon’s Hammermill Center, located at the corner of Peach Street and South Park Row. The graduates include one student receiving a doctor of physical therapy degree, five receiving doctoral degrees, 256 receiving master’s degrees, 59 receiving bachelor’s degrees, and six receiving associate’s degrees.

Frank Warren is the sole founder and curator of the PostSecret Project: a collection of more than 200,000 highly personal and artfully decorated postcards mailed anonymously from around the world, displaying the secrets of people’s souls. Selected postcards are featured in his books, in a traveling art exhibit and on his Web site – http://postsecret.blogspot.com – which gets more than 3 million visitors a month. Warren will address the PostSecret rage, its beginnings and the purpose it serves when he appears at Mercyhurst College’s Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Tuesday, Dec. 16. His 8:15 p.m. talk is an offering of the Mercyhurst Student Government Distinguished Lecture Series. The event is free, although tickets are required and will be available to the Mercyhurst community Dec. 3-16 and to the general public Dec. 10-16 at the PAC Box Office.

If you’re interested in learning more or joining the local Erie Storm Chasers group, check out their web page.

Larry Kozlowski, director of student life at Mercyhurst North East and Polish culture expert, will show you how to make one-of-a-kind Old World Christmas ornaments while exploring popular holiday customs at a workshop on Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m. The workshop will be held in Miller 202 at Mercyhurst North East, 16 West Division St., North East. It is free and open to the public. Call (814) 725-6277 for more information.

The Gem City Concert Band will hold its holiday concert on December 9 at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church on Peach St. The concert is free.

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.