Congresswoman-elect Kathy Dahlkemper has announced her office locations. She will be in Rep. English’s former location at 208 East Bayfront in the Intermodal Transportation Center. In Washington, her office will be in the Cannon Office Building, room 516.

A 52-year-old man died while in Erie police custody. The man, who remains unidentified by police until his family are contacted, was arrested for public drunkenness. An officer was checking on him while he was in a holding cell and noticed he wasn’t breathing.

The serial bank robber who held up two local PNC Banks has been identified by the FBI as being behind a total of 10 robberies in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the robber’s identity and conviction, and anyone with information can call the FBI at (614) 744-2168. We’re trying to come up with something pithy to call the serial bank robber since the “serial bank robber” just doesn’t have a ring to it. Any ideas?

Good news, Millcreek residents. The township has passed a budget that has no tax increase. To balance everything out, they will be cutting back on overtime and not immediately filling some police officer positions until mid-year.

The township also voted to apply for money from PENNDOT to do some road re-alignment at the Route 8/Norcross Road intersection. It’s a weird intersection, and can create problems for the Belle Valley firefighters when they need to exit the station and there’s heavy traffic. It could cost $1 million to do the re-alignment.

Michele M. Roth-Kauffman, chairperson and professor, Gannon University physician assistant program, recently was featured on XM Satellite Radio’s “Reach MD” program during a Clinician’s Roundtable segment. Roth-Kauffman discussed the differences between the coverage options available to physician assistants, the limitations of such coverage, and how physician assistants can enhance their own coverage to afford greater protection against malpractice claims.

eDynaQuote, which is based in Erie, reports it has saved a “Big Ten University”  (probably Penn State) $675,000 on coal purchases because of its reverse auction software.  The software allows sellers to place competitive bids made by an interested buyer.

CATA, or the Crawford Area Transportation Authority, has a new trolley, similar to the one EMTA operates in Erie. From Dec. 15 through Dec. 20, if you are in Meadville and see the trolley on any route, you can ride it for free.

Congratulations to Sarah Srnka of Erie who was the Grand Prize Winner of the international 2008 Lake Erie Living Photo Contest held by the Lake Erie Living magazine. For Sarah’s picture entitled “Horseshoe Pond” (pictured above) which was taken at Presque Isle, she won a Nikon d60 digital camera.  Sarah had an unfair advantage seeing that Erie and Presque Isle have an abundance of beautiful scenery and sunsets to take snapshots of.

We’re not quite sure how the study was conducted but research done by Dr. Eric Corty of Penn State Behrend reveals that ideal sex lasts 7 to 13 minutes, while sex that lasts 3 to 7 minutes is “adequate.” The study, which is published in the international Journal of Sexual Medicine, was conducted in order to counter unrealistic beliefs that healthy sex should last a long time.  You can read more here.  (Insert joke here.)

Sports

The Erie Otters are continuing their effort to raise money for the Salvation Army in the annual 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 today from 5-8 p.m. Those who donate will receive one free ticket coupon for one Otters game from December 19th to January 7th.  There will also be an Otter player appearances today at Wendy’s on French Street at 6:30 p.m.

Speaking of the Salvation Army, Mike caught several Seawolves employees (and C. Wolf himself) outside JC Penny’s last night – and with a donation of $5, he received 2 tickets to a 2009 game and a Seawolves hat. Big ups to the Seawolves for participating in this event.

The Gannon men’s basketball team continued its constant climb up the national ladder and moved to No. 5 in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)/Division II Top 25 poll released Tuesday afternoon. It marks the Golden Knights’ first top-five ranking since February 8, 1988. Gannon has been ranked in the top five nationally 14 times in school history.

The Mercyhurst women’s soccer team has been ranked No. 9 in the final NSCAA/adidas national poll, released Tuesday. The team’s ranking is its highest this season, moving up from No. 17 in the final regular season poll, released Nov. 12. The Lakers (15-5-4) reached the NCAA quarterfinal for the first time since 1995.

George Raftis scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Allegheny men’s basketball team over Thiel, 89-78, in non-league action at the David V. Wise Center on Tuesday.

Events

In one of North East’s most anticipated events of the year, the Mercyhurst College Concert Choir, under the direction of Rebecca Ryan, will present its annual Christmas Concert at Mercyhurst North East on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 7:30 p.m. The choir will be performing carols and selections from Handel’s Messiah in St. Mary’s Chapel on the MNE campus, 16 West Division St., North East. The concert is free and open to the public. Call (814) 725-6277 for more information.

Mercyhurst College announced a program entitled “Creating a Culture of Trust: Conflict of Interest and Business Ethics” on December 11th at 8:15 pm. The event is being presented by Mercyhurst’s Evelyn Lincoln Institute for Ethics and Society, and will feature P. Kelly Tompkins, the executive vice president, chief administrative officer and chief financial office for RPM International, Inc., and a 1978 Mercyhurst grad. The talk is free and open to the public.

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.