MORE SNOW.

If you are traveling out of the Erie airport today, please check with your airline regarding delays. With the winter storm in this part of the country, expect delays.  As for Erie, well, we’re getting more snow.  From Accuweather:

Warm air will not be able to invade places farther to the north and west, setting the stage for a significant snowstorm. Places from central Ohio to Maine will measure a total of 6 to 12 inches through tonight. This amount of snow will bury the cities Erie, Buffalo, Syracuse and Burlington.

A winter storm warning remain in effect until 7 p.m. tonight. Be careful driving today.

15-year-old Felix Velasquez was arrested in Lawrence, Massachusetts yesterday. Police believe he was the shooter in last week’s East High School basketball game. The victim, Shareese Birchfield, was released from the hospital over the weekend. Velasquez will now face rendition to Erie. Velesquez was in Lawrence, Mass. staying with his uncle. How did police find him? By posing as a teenage girl and chatting with him on his MySpace account of course. The IP address of the suspects location where he was accessing his MySpace account lead to the Massachusetts address. When police arrived, they found him sitting at the same computer.

Speaking of East High School – Brandy Lyons, 16, was charged as an adult last year when she allegedly slashed the face of another student. Now, she wants to be tried as a juvenile. Lyon’s lawyer said she carried a knife because “no one would help her.” When we had troubles in school, we talked to a teacher, or parent. We didn’t carry knives and slash people in the face.

Seriously, what is going on at East High School and that vicinity over the last year? Shootings, slashings, fights outside the school, citizens getting jumped.

State Representative John Evans (R) has been appointed to serve on the House Appropriations, Transportation and Commerce committees. His duties on the House Appropriations Committee will include attending budget hearings and casting key votes to move the budget bill out of committee and onto the floor for debate.

Teachers in the Iroquois School District are planning to strike starting February 3 if a new contract is not reached by this coming Monday. We’ll be keeping an eye on this over the next week. Students in this district = stunned when their summer vacation goes away.

Lorene Schaefer has settled her lawsuit against GE Transportation. The terms of the settlement are being kept confidential. Shaefer was previously general counsel at the Erie plant. She claimed men were given unfair preference when it came to promotions in legal jobs.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Eric Vey from Erie, provided expert testimony in the Steven Colegrove triple murder trial held in Towanda, NY. Vey gave his interpretation of autopsy reports and photographic evidence. Colegrove is accussed of killing his parents and brother on August 8, 2007. More details on the trial here.

Maurice Rodgers, 28, hanged himself in his jail cell at the State Correctional Institution in Albion on Monday. He was convicted last May of aggravated indecent assault of a person under 16 and faced a sentence of between 2 to 5 years.

STERIS Corporation today announced financial results for its fiscal 2009 third quarter ended December 31, 2008. Fiscal 2009 third quarter revenues increased 2% to $319.5 million compared with $314.0 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2008, driven by 4% growth in the Healthcare business segment. Fiscal 2009 third quarter net income was $28.6 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, compared with net income of $21.8 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2008.

Nine female refugees from the African Republic of Burundi performed songs and dances from their homeland for Jefferson School kindergartners as part of an aesthetic education experience facilitated by Mercyhurst College education majors on Tuesday, Jan. 27. The refugees, ages 7 to 15, demonstrated their songs and dances to Mercyhurst students last week and the students, in turn, used the performance as the basis of interactive lessons they developed and delivered to the Jefferson pupils. The lessons spanned geography to mathematics.

On this day in 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off. We remember watching this in school. In fact, Mike’s family was in Florida right before the accident and went to watch the launch, but it was scrubbed due to weather.

The Erie Community Foundation announced this week they have distributed $259,145 to thirty-four nonprofits and $19,855 worth of education mini-grants to 27 schools as part of the “Helping today” grantmaking.  Find out more about the announcement here.

Meadow Brook Dairy announces “Start Right-End Right” $25,000 Sweepstakes to promote daily personal and family health and wellness in the New Year. The sweepstakes gives consumers a chance to win a $25,000 Visa gift card that they can use to build their dream kitchen and ultimate home entertainment center. Consumers can collect the caps from Meadow Brook Dairy milk can enter promotional codes at StartRightEndRight.com to participate. The sweepstakes runs through the end of February 2009.

Sports

The Erie Otters will be away tomorrow for a game against host Niagara IceDogs.  The Otters return to Erie on Friday to play the Oshawa Generals and Saturday against the Guelph Storm. Get your tickets here.

Last night the Erie BayHawks  lost to host Colorado 14ers by a score of 114-110. The ‘Hawks are on the road until February 4th before returning to the Tullio.

The NCAA has released the first of three coaches’ panel rankings for the 2008-09 wrestling season. The final rankings will be one of the tools used to determine the qualifiers for the 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling National Championships.

Fans who wish to attend the Gannon vs. Mercyhurst basketball doubleheader on Wednesday, February 4th can purchase tickets for the event beginning on Saturday, January 31 at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. Cost for the event is $4 for adults and $2 for non-Mercyhurst College students.

The Erie RiverRats conducted their first open tryout for the 2009 season this past Saturday night. Participants were tested in the bench press, the 40-yard dash, the short shuttle, and agility drills before going to more position specific drills. Athletes from the Pittsburgh area came to the Greentree Sportsplex to show their skills in front of Rats head coach Steven G. Folmar and his staff.

Events

For you die hard beer fans, The Main Street Grille and Brewing Co located in Garrettsville, Oh. (between Cleveland and Youngstown) will hold a beer festival on Saturday. In addition to beer from Main Street and other Ohio breweries, there will be a large representation of Erie area breweries including the Blue Canoe Brewery in Titusville, Brewerie at Union Station and the Erie Brewing in Erie, and the Voodoo Brewery in Meadville. Saturday’s festival will have two separate two-hour sessions, beginning at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. The cost is $20 in advance and $30 at the door. Participants will receive a 5-ounce sampling glass. For reservations or more details, call 330-527-3663 or online.

An interview with James C. Lombardi Jr., an associate professor of physics at Allegheny College, is included in the Discovery Channel show “Cosmic Collisions: Galaxies,” which will air for the first time at 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 28. Lombardi and his students use computer simulations at Allegheny to model what happens when stars collide. The program, which was produced for the Discovery Channel by Jethro Nededog with executive producers Luke Ellis and Matt Hickey, discusses collisions between galaxies, as well as between the stars within them, and portrays the future collision of our own Milky Way galaxy with its neighbor, Andromeda.

Award-winning poet Henri Cole will read from his work at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 5 in Quigley Auditorium at Allegheny College. The program, which is free and open to the public, is part of the college’s Single Voice Reading Series. The Single Voice Reading Series is sponsored by the creative writing program of the Allegheny College Department of English. The series will continue with readings by Katherine Min on March 4 and Mark Doty and Paul Lisicky on April 14.

After an unprecedented number of donors at a September blood drive at Gannon, the Gannon Community will have another opportunity to make a donation to the Community Blood Bank. Gannon and the Blood Bank will host a drive from 11 am to 5 pm on Tuesday, Jan 27 and from 9 am to 1 pm on Wednesday, Jan 28. The drive will be held in the lobby of the Hammermill Center both days. No appointment is needed; donors may walk in. Those wishing to donate should note the following: A photo ID is required at the time of donation; Donors should be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, and be in generally good health; No tattoos or piercings from a tattoo parlor in the last 12 months. Eating a “good” meal before donating is encouraged. The Blood Bank is also offering incentives for the Gannon Community. Each day, one lucky donor will win a pair of lift tickets to Peek’n Peak, and everyone who tries to donate automatically will be entered to win a 42-inch plasma HD television through a promotion with Fox 66 and yourerie.com for National Blood Donor Month. The contest is open to all donors the month of January; however, a Gannon student won a similar contest when a television was given away last year. For more information, contact the Community Blood Bank at (814) 456-4206. All information is confidential.

Mayor Joe Sinnott will address the direction of the City of Erie, during a legislative luncheon with area business and community executives at noon Wednesday, January 28, at the Manufacturer and Business Association’s Conference Center, 2171 West 38th Street. Registration begins at 11:45 a.m. All media are invited to attend. Mayor Sinnott will highlight his administration’s accomplishments, as well as the state of the Erie economy. Following his presentation, the mayor will take part in a question-and -answer session. Cost is $30 for members; $60 for nonmembers; and includes lunch.

Upcoming Erie 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 on sale 1/24)
March 29: Comedian Lewis Black, Warner Theatre (tickets)

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.