Today’s high temperature: 13 degrees. It’s only the middle of January but man it feels like it’s been winter for about a million years. We’ve got a lake effect snow warning that runs until Friday at 7 p.m. and the forecast is calling for about a foot before the warning’s expired. More power to the people that have to work outside in this weather, so thank you, mail carriers and more. Memo to Ray Petelin: is there anything you can do to help us out here?
The House of Representatives voted today 289-139 to provide 11 million children with health coverage through H.R. 2 (State Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization). Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper was one of the sponsors of the bill. Pennsylvania has the 8th highest number of children, 240,152, enrolled in SCHIP in the United States.
The Iroquois School District will pay former teacher Angela Barsotti $100,000. Barsotti filed suit against the district, claiming she was pressured to resign from her teaching position after telling the district she suffered from an eating disorder as well as depression.
One third of VA hospitals around the country had a problem with their medical software recently and some patients to receive the wrong amounts of medication. Good news for patients at Erie’s facility – no problems have been found at Erie’s VA Hospital. If you or a family member have any questions, please contact the Patient Advocate at the hospital by phone at (814) 860-2500.
Chromalox has announced they are restructuring and closing their plant in Edinboro. The closing will affect 96 employees at the plant. They have been given the opportunity to relocate to other facilities. The plant will wind down starting in April and be completed in September.
Two football coaches from Westminster College down the road in New Wilmington were at the American Football Coaches Association convention this week. They may have had a few too many and began to wrestle in their hotel room. The wrestling got a little intense, leading the two go through a double-paned window (complete with wooden sash) and fall down four stories. Both are in the Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville.
If you missed it last week, you should check out our Twitter directory up there in the top area of this page. We’ve added a few more local users, including, wait for it… GoErie.com, who’ve jumped on the bandwagon. They even posted about it on their front page, then killed the momentum by not actually making their Twitter page address a link users could click on.
The Center for eBusiness and Advanced IT (eBizITPA) was awarded a state grant in the amount of $250,000 to be used for the implementation of a new technology training portal. The funding will be used to create more training opportunities and resources online.
Sports
Having solved all the city of Pittsburgh’s budget woes, mayor Luke Ravenstahl has temporarily changed his name to Luke Steelerstahl in preparation for Sunday’s AFC Championship Game.
We love local companies that get social media. You know who gets it? The Erie Otters. They’re holding a Facebook night on Wednesday, February 11. Print out a image on their fan page or this event page and get a free ticket for you a friend. Great marketing, Otters. We otter be there.
This Friday the Otters play the Niagara IceDogs and Saturday the Sarnia Sting — both at the Tullio. Get your tickets here.
The Erie BayHawks lost 79-75 to the Anaheim Arsenal last night at the Tullio Arena. This Friday and Sunday games will be against the Dakota Wizards in Bismarck, North Dakota.
The McDowell athletic department would like to announce the following procedures for tickets to the Prep-McDowell basketball game held in Paul Goll Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday January 24, 2009 at 7:30 pm. Due to the demand for tickets a lottery will be conducted for the right to purchase a game ticket. On Sunday, January 18th from 1-3 pm in the McDowell HS front lobby, the general public can register for the lottery while each person can register to reserve up to 2 tickets. The lottery will be conducted Sunday night with the games of the recipients posted Monday morning, January 19th at 8:00 am on the front doors of McDowell HS. The people on that list can purchase their tickets on Friday, January 23rd from 3-6 pm in the McDowell Front lobby. This lottery is for all members of the public including Millcreek Senior Citizens with gold cards and Millcreek staff and faculty. More info here.
The honors keep rolling in for the 2008 edition of Mercyhurst football. Less than a week after being named to the Don Hansen Football Gazette All-Super Region 1 Team, two Lakers have earned a spot on the 2008 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Association Division II All-Star Team.
The Gannon women’s water polo team is ranked 10th in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Preseason Top 10 poll released Wednesday afternoon.
Events
A DTV outreach public meeting will be held in the Admiral Room of the Blasco Memorial Library Thursday, Jan. 15th at 2:00 PM and again at 6:00 PM. The library is located at 160 East Front Street in Erie, just off of the Bayfront Parkway at Holland Street. There are 33 days until the digital TV transition. H/t: Press and Tower.
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.
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.
