The state budget woes are affecting everyone, including the PA Historical and Museum Commission. They are considering closing 6 historic sites and/or museums, including the Flagship Niagara here in Erie. The ship would stop sailing, but remain as a museum. The commission will hold public meetings at each affected area. We’ll let you know when. We’re not just being homers, but stopping the Niagara from sailing is a big mistake. What do you think?
75 salaried employees at GE have been laid off. These are part of the job cuts announced last month.
We’ve added some new businesses and people to our Erie Twitter Guide. Welcome, Route1a.
Kevin Flowers has a story about something we blogged about a few weeks ago – that Erie should be part of the rail program improvements called for by the Obama administration. Kyle Foust, of Erie County Council, is pushing for Erie to be involved in the plan.
Attorney J. Gregory Moore has been charged with stealing over $190,000 from the estate of a deceased woman. Moore has admitted using the money to pay for repairs to his automobile and to pay his office staff. Moore was named the Pro-Bono attorney of the year by the Erie County Bar for his work with poor clients.
Gannon University’s Respiratory Care program has been reaccredited by the Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC). In order to be reaccredited, Gannon was required to prepare a comprehensive report on the status of the program. CoARC, for example, assesses programs based upon factors like students’ pass rates for required certification exams, students’ job placement rates following graduation, students’ performance in their jobs, and students’ ratings of the program.
Deborah Hazlett, born in Erie, is featured in this story in the Baltimore Sun. She’s starring in a production of “The Cherry Orchard” there.
GE Transportation has announced that its customer Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) has taken delivery of the 3,000th Evolution Series® locomotive produced at GE Transportation’s Erie, Pennsylvania manufacturing site. The Evolution is the most technologically advanced diesel electric, heavy-haul locomotive to-date. One Evolution Series locomotive can pull the equivalent of 170 Boeing 747 “Jumbo Jet” airliners.
Sports
The Cleveland Cavaliers have assigned rookie forward Darnell Jackson to the NBA Development League Erie BayHawks. Jackson was in the BayHawks lineup for the game Wednesday night versus the Austin Toros. The Erie BayHawks (23-19) utilized a balanced scoring attack with all seven players who logged minutes, in double figures and finished with a strong fourth quarter of out distance the Austin Toros (26-14) 114–106. The BayHawks return home for a game versus the Colorado 14ers, Friday March 27, at the Tullio Arena, tip off set for 7 PM. The first one thousand fans will receive a set of thundersticks courtesy of Burger King. The team squares off against the Los Angeles D-Fenders, Sunday, March 29 with a special tip off time set for 2 PM. The special Faith & Family game will feature $8 Main Level tickets and $1 Hot Dogs courtesy of Smith Provisions.
A limited number of seats remain for a bus trip to London for Game 2 of the best-of-seven series between the Otters and the Knights at the John Labatt Centre. Cost for the trip is $65 and includes a ticket to the game. The bus will depart from the old theaters at the Millcreek Mall. Meeting time is 1 p.m. Saturday with departure at 1:30 p.m. sharp. Interested participants are required to have two forms of photo ID for immigration purposes. For additional information or to reserve a seat on the bus call the Otters Office at 814-455-7779.
Events
Autism in Our Community Event will be held March 28 at the Penn State Behrend Junker Center from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. This exciting event will provide information about the goods and services available to families influenced by, and managing Autism in their lives. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet other families and all those who work with children, adolescents, and adults on the autism spectrum. The keynote speaker is Rebecca Klaw who has worked since 1988 as a consultant, trainer and advocate for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and their families, published author and producer of training DVD’s.
The Clements Group will present its final report titled “Evaluation of Workforce and Post-Secondary Education Needs of Erie, Crawford, and Warren Counties” to the public on Friday, Apr. 3 at Blasco Library, 160 E. Front St, in Erie. The presentation will begin at 9 a.m. in the H. O. Hirt Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Dr. Rich Gross, executive vice president, will present findings on the current and future workforce training and education needs of the region, and how those needs can be met. Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio will introduce the presentation of the results, which will help determine if a community college is warranted to serve northwest Pennsylvania. If so, the next step would be consideration of an application to the State Board of Education to create a community college to serve northwest PA.
The public presentation will mark the end of more than five months of unprecedented regional research, including 98 one-on-one interviews with business leaders, eight industry and community forums, a ten-day online survey with more than 2,000 responses, and the collection and review of secondary data. The full report will be available Apr. 3 online at www.rethinkerie.com. Copies will also be provided to Erie, Crawford, and Warren county library systems.
Perhaps if the ship stopped sailing, then people form Erie might just be able to see it. I think they need to spend some serious time letting the people of Erie enjoy what they bought and paid for.
It might not hurt to take a season off now and then. Not retire it permanently as it is a great ambassador, but let out of towners come to it once in a while.
I don't think there are but one or two photographs of the ship under full sail available anywhere.
I've got to agree with Inked. The Niagara makes a great sailing ambassador, BUT, if it's out visiting other ports all the time people will not come to Erie to visit it. It needs to have a balanced schedule with enough weekends in town so that tourists can go on board and see what the ship is all about. Static displays at the Maritme Museum just don't compare to going on board.
The ship is a tactile event – There is something about touching the vessel that you cannot get in photos and videos.
Being on the ship, down below connects you with a bit of the lives of the people who sailed these ships and the hardships endured to forge a better life for all.
Erie is really fortunate to have this and I think should have every opportunity to use it.
People who naysay spending the money on this have never really been on it and just don't get the importance of history.
What I think a lot of people don't understand is that the Niagara is in port, on average 310 days out of the year. That's 85% of the time. That means local visitors can go to the museum and board the Niagara most of the time – and she can still sail and be a great ambassador for Erie. Considering that Niagara can earn over $300,000 a year sailing, all that revenue is lost if she doesn't sail. But the expenses don't go away. The ship still needs maintained, and the maintenance cost is still there.
I forgot to mention that Niagara is available for local residents to take daysails out of Erie over the course of nine weekends this year (or 27 daysails). I don't believe that any of these trips are sold out yet. The fact remains that Niagara is probably the most accessable historical ship that also sails in the whole world. Try booking a daysail on the USS Constitution and you'll find that it can't be done. We have a gem here. I hope our local residents understand that.
What some people don't realize is that boats/ships (any boat) like to be used. If the Niagara stays in port all the time and isn't sailed, she will start to deteriorate from lack of use. I have a wooden boat and wood boats will start to loose their shape if not used. Reading several of the earlier comments about the ship staying in Erie–the majority of the individuals who see the ship while in port are out-of-town visitors. Local residents don't seem to visit her even when she is in port.
How about our former Erie School District Board Member and Erie City Councilman not paying his student loans? Typical politician. Maybe he thinks Obama will notice and offer him a Cabinet position.