Commenter Linda left a very interesting comment yesterday about her experience with Tuesday’s manhunt on W. 25th street.

I came into work around 8:30 AM yesterday morning in the building that houses the Whole Foods Cooperative on 26th & Brown’s Avenue & locked the door behind me. The street was not blocked off but there were many police & fire vehicles visible. I stayed away from the windows after reading there was evidence of bullets shot into the building directly across the street from my front door. I know of 3 families that live in the area where the incident took place. Thinking of them & what could have gone horribly wrong in the situation & then reading of the blood shortage at the blood bank prompted me to head there directly after work & donate my very first pint.

The coroner’s office says it has finished the autoposy on the body removed from the rubble at W. 25th Street, but DNA testing is needed to identify the body.

The Erie Catholic Diocese has announced that Cathedral Prep and Villa Maria Academy will become one educational entity, while still keeping separate campuses. Other changes include a joint board who will run both institutions. Jerry Wegley will serve as chairperson of the new board. There will be one President and two principals (Fr. Scott Jabo will be President, Sr. Mary Drexler will continue to be principal at Villa and Sr. Claudia Dombrowski will continue to be principal at Prep). No male students will be accepted at Villa as of next school year. The Erie Times-News has a letter sent to parents and families of students. Here’s a quick snippet:

Under this co-institutional model, the Villa tradition and the Sisters’ charism will continue for young women on the Villa campus and the Prep tradition for young men will continue on the Prep campus. Many clubs, after-school and extra-curricular activities will be conducted collaboratively, thus effectively blending the strengths of single-sex education with a co-educational experience.

Bishop Trautman will lead a new non-profit corporation that will govern the school, and will maintain reserve powers over the Board of Directors. Included as Members will be two Sisters of St Joseph, the Vicar for Education, the Vicar General, the President of the school, and the Chairperson of the Board.

Joe Schember has been appointed president of Erie City Council, replacing Curtis Jones, Jr. Schember replaced Lonny Gatlin. Good luck, Joe.

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has overturned a ruling by a lower court saying that the Erie Golf Course could not be sold without a deed restriction, forcing it to remain a golf course and not become, say, another housing development. Nothing’s finalized in terms of a sale. Rich is reading the court’s opinion and will have more thoughts on it in the next few days.

The Rite Aid store in the Liberty Plaza is now closed. Prescriptions will be transferred to other stores in the area.

For the first time in about 18 months, the hotel tax receipts received by VisitErie are down. November 2008 saw an approximate $9,000 decrease from November 2007. The tax brought in $35,588 this past November, the lowest amount since February 2008.

If an antibiotic is just what the doctor orders during the ‘cough-and-cold’ season, your prescription won’t cost you a penny at Wegmans. The 72-store grocery chain announced that effective Wednesday, January 7, 2009, with a Shoppers Club card, there will be no charge for generic oral antibiotic prescriptions during the months when usage peaks: between now and March 31. Many drugs are covered, you can see a list here. The program covers up to a 14-day supply.

The Washington D.C. and Erie, Pa. offices of Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper have opened and are staffed to address the needs of Pennsylvania’s Third Congressional District.

Miami University of Ohio will now hold required mandatory training as well as background checks for all people who want to drive one of their vans. Actually, it’s been in the works for a while, but in the light of this week’s accident on I-90, the plans were accelerated. The injured students remain at Hamot, with two in serious condition and two in fair condition.

The former Harborcreek Mall has been valued at $460,000. It’s about $100k short because of the dilapidated buildings. The step gets Harborcreek one more step closer to tearing the eyesore down and developing the property into housing. The township will most likely have to buy the property from Baldwin Brothers.

AccuSpec Electronics LLC, an electronics-manufacturing company, will receive a $1.1 million loan to acquire and renovate an existing building in Summit Township, near the company’s current operating site. The loan is a component of a $1.6 million Governor’s Action Team funding package. The $2.8 million project will create 50 jobs and retain 127 existing positions. EIDCO Inc. is the sponsoring agency.

Erie-based Christian metalcore band War of Ages will film a video for the song “All Consuming Fire” on Saturday, February 7 at Forward Hall in the group’s hometown. The band will shoot a “live” clip and wants to make it a family affair. Admission to the shoot is free and everyone is invited.

The Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (DCNR) is reminding winter outdoor enthusiasts that Pennsylvania’s extensive state forest and park systems are the perfect places for cold weather fun. Snow mobilers will soon have access to up to 1,960 miles of state forest roads and 618 miles of trails. Snow conditions are updated regularly at 1-877-SNOMBLE (1-877-766-6253) and at www.dcnr.state.pa.us, click on “forestry”, then “snowmobile information”. For cross country skiers, more than 330 miles of marked trails are offered across 2.1 million acres of state forestland plus 400 miles of groomed and un-groomed cross country trails in 73 state parks. Visit www.getoutdoorspa.state.pa.us for a complete listing of winter activities including ice fishing, downhill skiing, ice skating, ice sailing, sledding and more. You can also contact the Presque Isle State Park offices at 814-833-7424 for local winter fun spots..

Sports

College Basketball
Penn State Behrend 69 Allegheny 52 (M)
Penn State Behrend 64 Allegheny 63 (W)

Daniel Erlich netted two goals and an assist to lead the London Knights to a 6-3 win over the Erie Otters in an Ontario Hockey League game played last night in front of 3,107 at the Tullio Arena. Justin Taylor, Jared Knight, Vladimir Roth and Nazem Kadri also scored for the Knights, who improved to 30-8-0-1 on the season. Justin Hodgman, Greg McKegg and Tyler Hostetter replied for the Otters while Ryan O’Reilly collected two assists. Erie saw their six-game winning streak come to an end with the loss and are now 20-18-2-0 on the season.

Keith McLeod converted a jumper from the top of the key with 35.7 seconds to play and then made the back end of a pair of free throw attempts 30 seconds later to secure a 96-95 victory for Albuquerque over Erie at the NBA Development League Showcase Wednesday at the McKay Events Center.

The Cleveland Browns have hired Eric Mangini as their new coach. Man-genius was most recently the head coach of the New York Gets.

Events

On Saturday, January 10 at 8 p.m., join us for an evening of contemporary music and dance with solo percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani and local dance group Shen & Bones Performance Group. Both Nakatani and Shen & Bones are roster artists with Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour and have performed nationally and abroad to critical and popular acclaim. $5.

The Mercyhurst College Hirtzel Institute for Health Education and Aging and the PartnerSHIP for a Healthy Community will expose minority youth to health care careers through a creative new program called “Wear a Scrub, Get a Career.” The faith-based initiative will give 270 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students in the Erie community a chance to explore a number of health care careers through events at 12 local churches during January, February and March. The first event will be held Saturday, Jan. 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Good Samaritan AME Zion Church, 3209 Pennsylvania Ave.

Join The Ophelia Project for an evening of fun at Jr’s Last Laugh Comedy Club and Restaurant.

Thursday, January 15, 2009
6:00 p.m.
Tickets: $11
Headliner: Paul Varghese

Advance ticket sale proceeds benefit The Ophelia Project, but you MUST MENTION Ophelia when you order tickets. For reservations, call Jr’s direct at (814) 461-0911. * You must be 21 to attend*

It’s with great pleasure, the members of Snow Water Grove, ADF would like to invite all folks of the community to join in celebration of the Imbolc in the druid style. The time of year when we honor the returning daylight and the first hints of Spring, when the animals in the fields start to show signs of the coming birthing season. The celebration will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Meadville (346 Chestnut St, Meadville, PA) in the Parish house dining room on Feb 1st, 2009. Doors open at 5, pre-ritual briefing at 5:15, ritual approximately at 5:30. The ritual will be done with an Irish flair, with Brighid being the Goddess of Occasion.A pot luck feast will follow the ritual. Donations not required, but welcomed to cover the cost of space rental. Donations of non-perishable food will also be collected to bolster the Unitarian Universalists food pantry efforts, as well as household items, toys, work uniforms and cleaning supplies for Women’s services. They very much appreciate our efforts. If you have questions about the event, or need directions to the church please feel free to contact us.

NCM Fathom and Bandai Entertainment bring the U.S. debut of SWORD OF THE STRANGER, one of the most rousing Samurai epics in recent memory, to select movie theatres nationwide for Only One Night –Thursday, February 5th at 7:30 PM (local). This exclusive event will include a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of SWORD OF THE STRANGER, complete with never-before-seen interviews with the voice actors. The movie will be screened at Tinseltown and tickets are already on sale, and look to be going fast. Pick them up quickly.

Best-selling author, nationally recognized speaker and accomplished ultramarathoner Danny Dreyer will speak on “Developing a Consistent Personal Wellness Program: The Five Mindful Steps to Lifelong Health and Energy” at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 6 in Ford Chapel at Allegheny College.

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.