We had snow and very cold temperates last night and into this morning. Many activities and sporting events were cancelled. Good for ice fishers, not as good for the rest of us. Speaking of ice – we’re starting to get ice dunes at Presque Isle. For the love of all that’s holy, stay off the ice dunes.

Pretty much the last news you want to hear here in Erie is “layoffs at GE.” No cuts have been announced, but given the state of the global economy, we can’t say we’re exactly surprised, especially following the 35 people who were let go last week. More then 2,000 people have been hired over the last five years, when demand for locomotives was high and there were a large number of orders. Those locomotives are still being built. GE is one of those places where just about everybody in town has a relative or friend that works there. Keep your fingers crossed things perk up soon.

Erie mayor Joe Sinnott will be heading to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration of Barack Obama to represent the city. Mayor Sinnott, send us some photos we can post while you’re there.

A federal judge has set a date later this month to hear whether he will allow the trial of Pittsburgh pathologist Cyril Wecht to move up to Erie. The hearing will be January 29 in Erie.

46-year-old James Frey, who plead guilty in December to charges stemming from running a methamphetamine operation, will be sentenced tomorrow. Frey is looking at a minimum of five years imprisonment.

A Meadville woman is in trouble for leaving her 1 year old son at home alone while she went to a community center to use a computer then to a friend’s house to use the phone. We’re hoping she wasn’t working on her MySpace page. The child is now under the care of Children and Youth Services in Crawford County and the mother, Pamela Darnley, 19, is in the Crawford Correctional Facility.

Erie is one of a number of cities where protests are planned in reaction to the shooting death of 22-year old Oscar Grant of Haywood, California on New Years Day in San Franscisco. The death of Grant is shocking since he was shot in the back by Bay Area transit authority police, seemingly without provocation.

In preparation for the analog TV transition coming up in February, WJET has lowered its analog signal power. If you have a digital converter box or cable, things are just fine. We couldn’t think of a witty joke about diverting power to the website to push all those giant images down the pipe. We tried.

L’Arche Erie has launched their new website. L’Arche Erie is a nonprofit, faith-based organization striving to reveal God’s love for all people by creating home with faithful relationships of mutuality lived between people with developmental disabilities and those who share life with them.

Loretta Hido of Erie was walking on the beaches of Lake Erie in November collecting things that washed up on the shore when she found a fossil of what is believed to be a new species of starfish. The fossil is dated between 360 and 365 million years ago. It’s believed to be from the Devonian period. Cool.

Sports

The Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, in cooperation with the Presque Isle Partnership and Presque Isle State Park, introduced Pucks on Presque Isle, presented by McDonald’s, at a press conference held this afternoon at Presque Isle State Park’s Rotary Pavilion. Pucks on Presque Isle, presented by McDonald’s, will be held in and around the Rotary Pavilion on Sunday, February 8th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will feature the Otters participating in an outdoor inter-squad scrimmage and a public skate on the East Settling Basin as well as various indoor and outdoor nature activities. A full schedule can be found here. All activities are free to the public other than the public skate, which will be $5 for adults and $3 for children (12 and under). All proceeds from the skate will be donated to the Presque Isle Partnership. The inter-squad scrimmage and public skate will take place weather and ice conditions permitting.

ErieSportsFans posted that you can get BOGO tickets to tonight’s Erie Bayhawks game. No internet or phone – get them at the box office. It’s a great chance to catch some quality b-ball.

This Friday the Otters play the Niagara IceDogs and Saturday the Sarnia Sting at the Tullio. Get your tickets here.

Bills fans will be happy to hear that Buffalo is the first NFL team to earn the designation of StormReady Supporter by the National Weather Service. [...] Yah, that’s what we thought too.

The Mercyhurst women’s basketball team will take on Slippery Rock Wednesday at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center at 5:30 p.m. The contest will be the Lakers’ first-ever PSAC West game.

The Gannon men’s basketball team plays its first-ever Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division game Wednesday, January 14 at California (Pa.). Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m. The Golden Knights (11-1) are ranked sixth in NCAA Division II.

Bradford High School’s football program is in question right now. Coach Steve Ackerman has resigned and it seems to be related to assistant coach Jerry Pattison not being rehired for next season.

Events

Coinciding with Allegheny’s week-long celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Allegheny College will host two special half-day visit programs for college-bound students and their families on Monday, Jan. 19. Both morning and afternoon sessions, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m., include a welcome and introduction by Scott Friedhoff, vice president for enrollment and communications, an open discussion with a panel of students and faculty, and a tour of the campus. For more information or to register for the visit programs, call toll free (800) 521-5293.

The SeaWolves are looking for enthusiastic, outgoing individuals of ALL ages to join their team.  The ‘Wolves will be hosting their second annual Job Expo on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at the Erie Civic Center from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. We are filling positions for our “Wolf Pack” promotional team, ushers, concession stands, mascots and other exciting game day jobs. The job expo will be located in the Civic Center suites and interested parties can enter at entrance B near the southeast corner of the arena. Perspective game day employees will fill out applications and interview for positions on the spot. For more information about the 2009 Erie SeaWolves Job Expo, contact (814) 456-1300 or visit www.seawolves.com.

Ken Springirth will present “Make Way for the Trolley,” a history of public transportation in Erie, today at 7:30 p.m. in Mercyhurst North East’s Alex Theater, 16 West Division Street, North East. Springirth has published a number of books on railroads and trolleys. The presentation is free and open to the public. Call (814) 725-6277 for more information.

The Manufacturer and Business Association presents New Trends in Spam and the Emerging Threats of Spyware, with speaker John Vedrody of Barracuda Networks today from 8 – 9:30 a.m. This presentation will review the latest spam and spyware attacks, and how to protect against them. Pre-registration is required to attend and the event is free and open to the public.  For more information including registration visit the event website.

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.