Yes, it actually was the first day of spring yesterday. There were several accidents around the area yesterday morning, and 90 was closed for a few hours. By the end of the day it was sunny, but chilly.

Local bloggers Toni Kelly and Michele have launched a new site, Presque Isle Naturally, that will focus on Presque Isle. They are are passionate about nature and plan to bring readers stories, photos, art, adventures, activities about Presque Isle. We’re looking forward to all the great content.

The US Postal Service has announced it will close its district office, located on Legion Road. Up to 63 jobs may be lost. Many of the employees who would be affected will be eligible for retirement. The Pittsburgh district office will manage this region. No carriers or other public serving postal service employees will be affected.

PAAdventure.com is seeking out guest bloggers from our area. They contacted us and we’re passing along the message. They’re about to launch a redesign as well. They write:

We are looking for anyone in the Great Lakes Region who blogs about food & dining, outdoor activities, history & culture of the area, eco-friendly travel etc… We want to hear personal experiences of exploring PA! The more bloggers the better!

Each blogger will get a bio page, with a brief bio and photo displayed along with a list of their submitted posts. We will also do a link exchange and place their URL on our blogroll.

If you’re interested, contact Amanda.

3 local men have been arrested by Erie police after they tried to sell a stolen guitar at World of Music. Unbeknownst to the genius criminials, the person whose home was broken into had called the store seeing if someone had tried to sell his guitar. eBay = stunned.

Troy A. Skwor, Ph.D., assistant professor, Gannon biology department, recently had two manuscripts chosen for publication. The first study, “Role of Secreted Conjunctival Mucosal Cytokine and Chemokine Proteins in Different Stages of Trachomatous Disease,” was published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the first open-access journal devoted to the world’s most neglected tropical diseases. It includes peer-reviewed research on all scientific, medical, and public-health aspects of such diseases and is published by the Public Library of Science (PLoS). Skwor’s second study, “Identification of Novel Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Inflammatory Genes as Risk Factors Associated with Trachomatous Trichiasis,” was published in PLoS One. Both studies discussed the ocular disease trachoma and identified proteins in an effort to shed light on future vaccine targets.In addition to his teaching duties at Gannon, Skwor serves as a visiting scientist at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute.

A book written by James E. Miller, CPA, DBA, assistant professor and director, Gannon University accounting program, has been published in paperback form. The book, The Miller Ratio: A Tool to Detect for the Possibility of Earnings Management, is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Miller’s development and study of the Miller Ratio provides practitioners and regulators with a new tool to test for the possibility of corporate management engaging in aggressive earnings management. For his research, Miller won a Best Paper Award at the recent International Business and Economics Research Conference.

WJET has notified the Federal Communications Commission that they will be shutting down their analog signal on April 17, 2009. This will affect WJET and WFXP.

Sports

Congrats to the Villa Victors girls basketball team! They won the PIAA state title yesterday.

The No. 3 Mercyhurst College women’s hockey team defeated second-ranked Minnesota, 5-4, in the semifinal round of the 2009 NCAA Women’s Frozen Four Friday evening at the Agganis Arena. The Lakers will now play No. 1 Wisconsin for the national championship on Sunday at 12 p.m.

Philip McRae scored his second goal of the game six minutes into the third period to lift the London Knights to a 5-2 win over the Erie Otters in Game 1 of their best-of-seven OHL Quarterfinal series played last night in front of 9,090 at the John Labatt Centre. London leads the series 1-0. The Otters and Knights meet in Game 2 of their best-of-seven series tonight at 7 p.m. at the John Labatt Centre in London. The game can be heard live on FOX Sports Radio AM 1330 The FAN and on-line at www.ottershockey.com beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.

Utah Jazz assignee Morris Almond scored a game-high 26 points and all five Utah Flash starters reached double-digits in scoring as the Flash earned a 103-91 NBA Development League victory over the Erie BayHawks Friday night at the McKay Events Center.

Some sad sports news today. Vince Lascheid, longtime organist for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins, passed away Friday at the age of 85. He worked for the Penguins from 1970-2003, the year he was also inducted into their Hall of Fame.

Events

On March 25, there will be a screening of Milk with a panel discussion at SUNY Fredonia (Williams Student Center, downstairs, Fredonia, NY 14063) at 1 p.m. Panelists will include Jamestown NY City Council President Greg Rabb, who is the first openly gay elected public official in the region.

Pulitzer Prize winning historian Mark E. Neely Jr. will present a lecture titled “The Constitution and Lincoln” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25 in Ford Chapel at Allegheny College. Neely is the McCabe-Greer Professor of the History of the Civil War Era and senior historian in residence at Pennsylvania State University and the author of “The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties,” which won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize in history. A U.S. political and constitutional historian, he works mainly on the period 1787-1877.

The Ophelia Project will present, “Fathers Be Good to Your Daughters” on March 27 at 3:00 p.m. at the McGarvey Learning Center at St. Vincent. This forum will focus on the importance of the father (or caring male)/ daughter relationship. Dr. Charisse Nixon, Joe Markiewicz (Penn State Erie, CORE) and Jeff Natalie (President of ErieKIDS) are the panel of experts. They will be discussing how fathers not only can form thoughtful, caring relationships with their daughters, but also how fathers can endorse their daughters and overcome cultural differences. The panel will also discuss how fathers significantly influence their daughter’s role in aggression. This forum is free and open to the public. For more information click visit www.opheliaproject.org

Randall Balmer, professor of American religious history at Barnard College, Columbia University, will deliver the Sixth Annual Towns Family Lecture on Monday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Tillotson Room of the Tippie Alumni Center at Allegheny College. His lecture, titled “So Help Me God: Faith and the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush,” will be followed by a reception in the Hoag Gallery. Both the lecture and reception are free and open to the public.

The D’Angelo Department of Music at Mercyhurst College will present two performances of the Mozart opera “Don Giovanni” on April 3 and 5. “Don Giovanni,” widely considered one of the greatest operas of all time, follows the exploits of Seville’s infamous Don Juan, whose philandering led him directly to hell. Performances of “Don Giovanni” are scheduled for Friday, April 3, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 5, at 2 p.m. in the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center at Mercyhurst. Tickets are $12.50 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, and $5 for youths 15 and under. Call 824-3000 for reservations.