ErieBlogs.com: Erie PA News and Events for Thursday October 20, 2005

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Erie PA News and Events for Thursday October 20, 2005

Posted by Dennis on October 20, 2005

The Erie School District Board of Directors wants to spend $153 million in the next 20 years to renovate schools. They are much better at spending money than actually educating children.

There was an electrical fire last night at the Smokey Bones Restaurant on upper Peach Street. The restaurant will be closed for a few days.

Score one for the Erie Police Department. A female detective posing as a 13 year old girl met Willard Jeffery Splitstone in a Yahoo chat room during an August undercover sting operation. Investigators found pornographic images of children stored on his computer. Splitstone was the sexton at St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Greenville, NC.

Nortel Networks has named Mike Zafirovski Presidet and CEO. Zafirovski was previously President and CEO of Motorola. Zafirovski is a graduate of Edinboro.

Rent-Way reported unaudited, preliminary, fiscal 2005 full year and fourth quarter core rental business revenues (which excludes the company’s dPi Teleconnect unit) of approximately $499.3 million and $121.6 million, respectively. This represents an approximate 4 percent increase over 2004 full year rental business revenues and an approximate 5 percent increase over rental business revenues in the 2004 fourth quarter. Same store core rental business revenues increased approximately 2.1 percent in the 2005 fiscal year and 1.4 percent in the 2005 fiscal fourth quarter versus the same periods in fiscal 2004. “As a result of ending the quarter with fewer than expected rental contracts and the expenses related to the two hurricanes, we expect that operating income for the quarter will be below previous forecasts,” said William McDonnell, Rent-Way’s Chief Financial Officer. Rentway opened 12 stores in the fourth quarter and 44 stores in the 2005 fiscal year and now have 795 stores in 34 states.

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Robert T Thompson, Troop E, Girard, is among 28 law enforcement officers to be honored by a statewide association for their efforts to combat drinking and driving in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Driving Under the Influence Association will present its “2005 DUI Top Gun Awards” during the annual meeting Thursday, Oct 20, in Camp Hill PA.

The Alex is looking for 7 people to take a Haunted Carriage Ride through Erie this Friday Oct 21 at 9:15 pm. Cost is $18 per person. Leave a comment on her journal here if you want to go.

The Erie Ad Club will host a special event this Thursday night on the campus of Edinboro University. The event is called Beautification: A Design Collaboration featuring the work of nationaly renouned graphic designers this Thursday, October 20, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Members are free, guests $15. Space is limited. Register online or call the Erie Ad Club at 814-451-8677.

Twelve outdoor sculptures by internationally known artist David Hayes will punctuate Erie’s downtown and Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park in a yearlong exhibition of his colorful, playful abstract works beginning Saturday, Oct 22 at 4 pm. This outdoor exhibition is the most recent public art endeavor by Erie Art Museum to bring art out of the museum and into the city streets in ways that engage, excite and surprise. The sculptures will be on display at the following locations: Hamot Medical Center, Erie Art Museum, Erie Insurance, West Perry Square, Erie City Hall, Boston Store Greenspace at 8th and State, Avalon Hotel, Greek to Me Restaurant, Parking Lot at 13th and State, plus 3 sculptures at Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park. Installation of the artwork begins on Friday, Oct 21 along State Street and will continue the morning of Saturday, Oct 22. The official unveiling begins Saturday at 4 pm at each public art location. The event is free and open to the public. For more information contact the Erie Art Museum at 459-5477.

From Sunday, Oct 23, to Saturday, Oct 29, the Mercyhurst College Campus Ministry will collect non-perishable food items from the surrounding communities. Last year, the drive collected a record 5,825 pounds. The food is donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwestern Pennsylvania, and then is distributed to 275 agencies that directly serve families facing hard times.

Edinboro linebacker Seth Fragale is among the country’s 184 semi-finalists for the Draddy Trophy. Known as the “Academic” Heisman, the Draddy Trophy is named after former National Football Foundation Chairman Vincent dePaul Draddy.