Deborah McIntosh, 19, is suing Erie County. In 2006 while at the Edmond Thomas Adolescent Center, she suffered a miscarriage. She claims staff at the center were not responsive when she complained of pain and other issues. A federal court judge  ruled that she can’t sue for cruel and unusual punishment, but rather that her rights were violated.

Smokers = willing to part with more money.  Pennsylvania casinos will petition the state to allow the expansion of smoking areas. The PA smoking ban only allows casinos to designate 25 percent of floor space for smokers to play slot machines. Statements made by a representative of a casino near Pittsburgh indicate that smokers do twice the amount of business as non-smokers. Presque Isle Downs is one of the casinos wanting to expand its smoking area.

The City of Erie School Board has delayed a vote in renaming Collegiate Academy for Dr. James Barker. We agree with board President Gary Horton that there are more important things to deal with right now then re-naming a school.

George Eberle of Corry was sentenced 8 to 65 years in prison for the molestation of an 11 year old girl and must also pay a $50,000 fine as well as register with local police as a predator. He was sentenced Tuesday in Erie County Court. Eberle’s wife, Alesha Eberle, who was in on the sexual abuse, pled guilty in August and is serving a similar sentence. Joining him in prison will be Steven Bingham of Cambridge Springs, who was sentenced to 6 to 12 years for having sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl.

With only eight days to raise funds, The Salvation Army’s Western Pennsylvania Division must raise nearly one million dollars to hit its $2,445,000 goal. So far, Erie is behind in its fundraising. If you see a Salvation Army kettle, please throw in a few cents if you can.

Mace Levin passed away last week at the age of 89. He founded Mace Electronics in Erie. The store grew to 30 stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. When he was a little nerd, Mace was Mike’s favorite store in the Millcreek Mall. Levin was also active with the United Way and many other charities.

AZCentral.com has a feature article on Tempe, Arizona restaurant Riazzi’s Italian Garden.  Here’s a portion of the article discussing the restaurant’s history:

That tradition began even before the first Phoenix Riazzi’s opened in 1947. Jim Jr.’s great grandparents, on his dad’s side, came through Ellis Island in the early part of the 20th century and settled in Erie, Pa. While great-granddad worked for the railroad, his wife, speaking only broken English but gifted with a good business mind and a golden skillet, opened the Spaghetti Shop – a delicious enticement, no doubt, for the hearty people living there.

Gas prices have fallen in the last few weeks to around $1.80 in the Erie area.  The average price is pretty much on par with most of the mid-west .

If you’re using Internet Explorer to read this site, or just in general, please stop. There’s a serious issue with the browser that the AP reports has not yet been patched. If you haven’t used Firefox before, now is a great time to switch. Microsoft also has information about this vulnerability as well.

Sports

The Detroit Tigers have announced that Tom Brookens will return as the manager of the Erie Seawolves in 2009.  The rest of the staff will remain the same with Glenn Adams as hitting coach, Ray Burris as pitching coach, and Chris McDonald enters as athletic trainer.

Chris Ryan, the head men’s lacrosse coach at Mercyhurst College, was re-elected to a three-year term as the board’s NCAA Division II coaches’ representative.

Local sports outlook: The Erie BayHawks play the Dakota Wizards this Thursday in another home game at the Tullio, and Friday the Hawks are on the road and play the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. The Otters are home this weekend playing the Guelph Storm on Friday, and the Sudbury Wolves on Saturday.

Penn State Behrend senior guard Natalie Engel (McDonald/Fort Cherry) has been named the Enterprise RENT-A-CAR Athlete of the week for the week of December 15, 2008. Engel led the blue and white to a split of conference games. Engel led all scores in a ten point loss to Allegheny scoring 20 points.

While the Edinboro University wrestling team remained 17th in the latest USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Team Rankings, Gregor Gillespie assumed the top spot in the individual rankings at 157 lbs. The Fighting Scots are 5-2 following Sunday’s 19-12 loss to Ohio State, who is ranked sixth. The other loss came to Penn State, who was 14th at the time.

The North Coast Athletic Conference selected Allegheny junior George Raftis as its men’s basketball Player of the Week on Monday. During the previous week, Raftis recorded double-doubles in wins over Thiel and Penn State New Kensington.

The Gannon men’s basketball team inched up another spot in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)/Division II Top 25 poll released Tuesday afternoon, moving into the No. 4 spot.

Events

The Erie Playhouse Youtheatre will be offering classes in acting, singing for the stage, and musical theatre dance beginning January 17th, 2009. Classes run seven weeks (until February 28th) and are held on Saturdays. An Audition Workshop will be held March 7th, 2009.  Click here for more information and to register.

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will hold its fall 2008 commencement ceremony on Friday, December 19, in the college’s Junker Center. The ceremony begins at 6:00 p.m. and will confer eight associate, 162 bachelor’s and 20 graduate degrees. Summer graduates participating in the ceremony have received an additional five associate degrees, 46 bachelor’s degrees, and 23 graduate degrees.

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.