Well well well. What do we have here.

I lamented and you, the awesome people of Erie, came through, more then I could have imagined. Ads were sold, writers recruited and it feels awesome to have your support. If you missed a few posts over the weekend, go and check them out. Brian’s new Way Out West column will be an interesting look at life in Erie from Arizona, and Dale Hannah is going to jump in and provide some commentary as well. If that wasn’t enough, how about former Erie Times-News and USA Today film critic MV Moorhead jumping in to offer cultural reviews. If you missed his Tarantino review, check it out here. They’ll join myself, Lory and TL to bring you the best Erie news, opinion and so much more. I am re-energized and renewed. Let’s bring some thunder.

Senator Bob Casey will be holden a town hall meeting this morning at the Hirt Auditorium, Blasco Library at 10:30 a.m. You can RSVP here. U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3) will join John Malone, CEO of Hamot Health Foundation, and Insurance Executive Wendell Potter for the final healthcare town hall of the District Work Period to address healthcare reform and answer constituent questions. The event will take place at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania on Saturday, September 4 from 11am-12:30pm.

The Erie County Fair opened this weekend and runs until Friday. Ashton Shepherd will perform Saturday, September 5 at 8 p.m. This is the 125th year of the fair, which is awesome.

We missed it at the end of last week, but the China Garden Restaurant sustained heavy fire damage. The restaurant was closed for a renovation so luckily no customers were dining. No one was injured and there’s no word when the restaurant will reopen.

Tom Ridge is getting a ton of press in Erie and around the country the last week or so. He’s got a new book coming out, and one of bits that gotten the most press is that media outlets are saying Ridge was pressured to raise the terror level prior to the 2004 election by Bush administration officials. He’s since said that didn’t happen. John Guerriero has a look at the book in the Erie Times-News yesterday.

My wife likes the show Ace of Cakes. Duff Goldman, the owner of Charm City Cakes often wears hockey jerseys on the show, and on the episode airing September 3, he’ll be rocking an Erie Otters jersey. Erie Blades = stunned. Did you know the cakes they show on that program start at a minimum of $1,000. Personally, I’d be happy with a Fudgie the Whale cake, but that’s me.

Another Highmark Healthy High 5 Grant has been awarded to the Millcreek Township School District! Chestnut Hill Elementary School is the proud recipient of $10,000 to implement the “CardioKids” and “Healthy Eaters” programs aimed to increase physical activity and nutritional awareness.

The Manufacturer & Business Association is proud to announce that three students – including two from Our Lady of Peace School and one from St. John-Holy Rosary School – have been selected as the recipients of the 2009-10 John P. Tramontano Jr. Education Foundation Scholarship Fund and will each receive $1,000 in scholarship money toward their education for up to three years. The students, who qualified for the three scholarships, were selected by a lottery drawing held in June 2009.

PSI Medical Catheter Care in Erie, Pa., expects to close its $1.5 million capital raisenext week to develop better ways to disinfect intravenous catheters and protect them from bacteria.

Sports

The SeaWolves beat the Altoona Curve, 7-6 in 12 innings on Sunday afternoon thanks to a walkoff walk ending Erie’s losing skid at two games.

Can you believe its almost time for hockey? The Otters dropped an exhibition game to St. Catherines over the weekend. Mike Cazzola scored the first goal of the pre-season for the Otters on a power-play two minutes and 43 seconds into the game.

Mercyhurst scored three first-half goals on the way to a 3-0 victory over visiting Urbana Sunday. Billy Colton converted a penalty kick, while Nicholas Thompson and Paul Neill added markers during the first half.

The Edinboro University women’s soccer team tallied their first victory of the season in impressive fashion as they defeated Shepherd by a score of 6-0. The win puts the team at 1-0-1 while Shepherd falls to 0-2.

Events

Want to add your events to our calendar? Submit them using our contact
form or let me know and I’ll give you access directly to the calendar.

Judge Richard L. Nygaard will give Gannon University’s annual Constitution Day lecture. Nygaard’s lecture, “Our Constitution – the ‘Bestseller’ No One Reads,” will begin at 12 p.m. in room 1200 of the University’s Palumbo Academic Center, 824 Peach St. It is free and open to the public. During his lecture, Nygaard will discuss how most people actually know very little about the Constitution. He also will encourage the audience to stay better informed with respect to current Constitutional issues.

The Sam and Irene Black School of Business at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will host three information sessions for its MBA degree this fall. All are free and open to anyone interested in researching the program. The information sessions are Thursday, Sept. 17, Tuesday, Sept. 29, and Tuesday, Oct. 6. Each session formally begins at 6 p.m., and will be held in Logan House, 4215 Station Road.

All An Act Theatre Productions and The United We Stand Theater Troupe presents the stage adaptation of Primal Fear, based on the best selling novel by William Diehl and Paramount Picture’s hit movie. Performances of the psychological thriller run Fridays and Saturdays, September 4th, 5th, 11th, 12th, 18th, and 19th at 7:30 PM. Sunday performances at 3 PM on September 6th, 13th & 20th . Primal Fear will be performed at The All An Act Theatre in Columbus Square, 652 West 17th Street, Erie PA 16502. Tickets are $10.00 for Adults and $5.00 for Students and Seniors. For information call 450-8553. Visit our website at www.allanact.net for full schedule or to purchase tickets on-line. $1.00 of each admission benefits Community Shelter Services, providing shelter, help and hope to Erie’s Homeless