Happy Chinese New Year to our Chinese friends, family and readers. 2009 is the Year of the Ox.

Also, this is post #1,700 for this fair site. Thanks for reading every day – we do this because we love Erie and want to see it thrive. Would you mind taking a second today and telling somebody about this site? Twitter it, IM it, blog it up, use the ShareThis button at the bottom of the page-the choice is up to you. We want to grow this site and the best way (ok and the only way we can afford) is by word of mouth. Thank you so much!

Felix Velasquez, 15, is being sought by City of Erie Police who believe he was the shooter in last week’s incident at East High School. Police think he’s hiding somewhere, and if you know where this boy is, please talk to City of Erie Police at 870-1120. WICU has an image of Valasquez, who also goes by the nickname “Junior.”

The Emmaus Food Pantry will be closed today and tomorrow due to damage caused by a water leak. If you use the Pantry for food, you may need to make alternate arrangements.

PA House Majority Whip Bill DeWeese has announced plans to start up legislation that will allow table gaming at Pennsylvania casinos. The hope is this would bring in additional gaming revenue, which will lead to property taxes going down, though to date the average PA homeowner has seen a reduction of only $150. Where’s the rest of the money going?

Natalie Hurlburt and Kristopher Porter are in a bit of hot water with the PA Department of State. They are both real estate appraisers did not report why several properties they appraised had substantial increases in value. Kevin Flowers in the Erie Times-News reports that one house was purchased for $15,000 then appraised at $72,000 five months later. Here’s a more information about the appraisals from ETN.

TheFullPint.com ran a review this weekend of Erie Brewing’s Golden Fleece Maibock. They had this to say: “This beer is delicious. It offers a very complex blend of malts and hops and finishes with a sweet, buttery caramel flavor. Nothing is overpowering and there is just the right amount of alcohol presence.”

The Northwest Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association held its annual Blue Collar Bash this past Saturday. The evening event celebrated the local tooling and machining industry and included the presentation of $2,000 in training money to three tool and die companies. The Meadville Tribune awarded $1,500 to NuTec Tooling Systems and $500 to Merit Tool Company of Erie.

The 103rd Annual Erie Kennel Club Dog Show was held this past weekend at the Bayfront Convention Center.

Sports

Patrick Sanders scored 28 points and Cartier Martin added 24 on Saturday night as the Iowa Energy handed the Erie BayHawks their fifth straight loss, 90-80.

Cody Lindsay scored a goal and an assist to lead the Ottawa 67’s to a 4-2 win over the Erie Otters in an Ontario Hockey League played this afternoon at the Ottawa Civic Centre. Thomas Kiriakou, Thomas Nesbitt and Ryan Martindale also scored for the 67’s, who improved to 28-16-2-2 with the win. Brian Birkoff collected four assists for the winners. Luke Gazdic and Mike Cazzola scored for the Otters, who dropped to 23-23-2-0 on the season.

The Gannon men’s basketball team got 40 points from its backcourt tandem of Joe Lindsey (Spring Valley, N.Y./Spring Valley) and Pierre Howard (Chicago, Ill./Bloom) while limiting Indiana (Pa.) to 22 second-half points as the eighth-ranked Golden Knights posted an important 73-57 victory Saturday night before 2,050 fans at Memorial Field House.

Behind the strength of four power-play scores, the Mercyhurst College men’s hockey team completed the series sweep of Connecticut with a 6-0 victory in front of a crowd of nearly 900 fans Saturday evening at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

In their first meeting since last year’s PSAC Championship Game, Edinboro ran off ten straight points midway through the second half to take the lead for good and held off a late California(Pa.) rally to pick up a rare win at Hamer Hall, 56-52, on Saturday night.

The Allegheny women’s swimming and diving team victorious on Saturday at Case Western Reserve as it claimed a 141-101 decision. In the day’s other competition, the Gator men lost to Case Western, 135-94.

Events

Upcoming Concerts and Shows:

Feb. 3: Harlem Globetrotters (tickets)
Feb. 13: The Temptations, Warner Theatre (tickets)
Feb. 19: Jerry Seinfeld, Warner Theatre (tickets)
Feb. 22: Rain (Beatles Cover Band), Warner Theatre (tickets)
March 7: Motley Crue w/ Hinder, Last Vegas, Theory of a Deadman, Tullio Arena (tickets)
March 22: New Kids on the Block, Tullio Arena (tickets)
March 29: Comedian Lewis Black, Warner Theatre (tickets)

ArtsErie (formerly Arts Council of Erie) will host a special presentation called “The Current Economy and its Impact on the Arts” on Wednesday, January 28 at 4 p.m. at the Erie Insurance Auditorium. The presentation will expand upon the state of the economy as it affects the local arts community with the goal of helping attendees recognize challenges, explore alternative funding and collaborative programming, understand funding priorities and learn how to present a clear and positive message on the value of the arts in our community. This event is free to all ArtsErie members and $5.00 per person for non-members. The general public is invited to attend. Reservations should be made in advance to Erin at (814) 452-3427 or info@artserie.org. Light refreshments will be provided.

Gannon University will host a guest lecture on Wednesday, Feb. 4 in observance of Black History Month. The lecture, featuring Preacher Moss, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Yehl Room of the University’s Waldron Campus Center, 124 West 7th St. It is free and open to the public. His visit is sponsored by the Gannon University Activities Programming Board. For more information, call 814-871-7766.

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.