Congrats to local bloggers Adam and Camille on the birth this week of their son Henry.

If you haven’t taken a moment to enter our $25 gift certificate giveaway for Sluggers Sports Bar and Grill, you can do it right here.

President Obama gave a speech yesterday in Iowa, talking about Earth Day and energy. Titusville and the Oil Region were mentioned. Here’s the text of the speech. Thanks to reader Steve for the heads-up.

We’ve added a ton of new listings to our Erie Twitter Guide, including the Erie BayHawks, Otters and much more. Great to see so many local companies and media organizations embracing social media.

Presque Isle Downs reported wagers of $47,210,870.16 with payouts of $43,193,103.44 from the 2,000 active slot machines. That’s a lot of money.

Precision Manufacturing Institute has received a state grant of $750,000 to provide training for people in Crawford, Erie and other nearby counties.

The Erie School District has approved accepting $1 million in technology grants from the state and federal government. Of the money, $800,000 will come from the state and the rest from Washington.

Millcreek Township is expected to finally be the owner of the Erie Golf Course on Friday. It’s hoped the course can open sometime this year.

Gospel Music Channel (GMC) and tangle.com announced the winner of the first-ever Doves Super Fan Contest in conjunction with The 40th Annual Dove Awards: Alicia Nelson, 22, of Erie, PA Gospel Music Channel will telecast The 40th Annual Dove Awards on April 23 at 8:00 pm. EST, live from the Grand Ole Opry in from Nashville, TN.

Kris Risto has a unique vision that he has been expressing in his
artwork since childhood. Visitors to the Erie Art Museum Frame Shop Gallery, 423 State Street, will see how Risto’s mystical visions come to life in his new exhibition, The End of All Dreams, paintings by Kris Risto currently on view April 24 through July 11, 2009. A public opening reception will be held during Gallery Night, Friday, June 12, 2009 from 7-10 p.m.

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will break ground for the Robert and Sally Metzgar Admissions and Alumni Center on Tuesday, April 28, at 3 p.m. The groundbreaking ceremony will be held near the northeast corner of the Reed Union Building parking lot, where a commemorative sign currently marks the new facility’s site.

Sports

The Erie Seawolves beat Bowie 4-3 in the completion of a game suspended on Tuesday. The second rescheduled game for later in the day was rained out. The Wolves are home tonight to start a series with Harrisburg. The game starts at 6:35 p.m.

Nyjer Morgan singled home the go-ahead run in the sixth, then scored on an error after stealing third, and the Pirates completed a sweep of the Marlins with a 7-4 win Wednesday.

Left-hander Cliff Lee allowed just two runs over eight innings Wednesday, but the Indians were held in check by the Royals’ Brian Bannister in taking a 2-0 loss at Progressive Field.

The Mercyhurst College Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced today its Class of 2009 Hall of Fame Inductees. The group of six will be honored on Saturday, May 16 at 5 p.m. at the Sheraton Bayfront Hotel. Headlining the inductees for the 13th annual Hall of Fame Dinner are two of the winningest coaches in their respective sports in Dick Fox (posthumously), the Lakers first athletic director and legendary basketball coach of the 1970s, and Erie native Joe Jordano, the Lakers’ longest-serving baseball coach. Rounding out the class are former student-athletes Pat Cutshall (baseball, 1994-97), Glenn Francis (men’s soccer, 1994-97), C.J. Ireland (women’s ice hockey, 1999-2003) and Amy Perry (women’s lacrosse, 1998-2001).

The Gannon women’s water polo team is ranked 10th in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 poll released Wednesday afternoon, jumping back into the top 10 for the first time in three weeks.

Events