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Erie PA News and Events for Friday January 19, 2007

GAF Materials Corporation announced it was closing their Erie roofing shingle plant. The 120 year old plant could be closed in 90 days with the company laying-off over 150 workers. There’s plenty of blame to go around. The city raised their property taxes over 12 percent. The Erie Schoold District will probably raise their portion of property taxes around 5 percent next year. Back in 2002 when the city approached the company about moving off the bayfront and into 12th Street, nobody came through with the grant money or loans to help them build a new, modern plant. In 2002, they were offered $15 million for the property. Today, it’s got to be worth close to $20 million.

LECOM, the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, will announce plans to build a $31 million Health and Welness Center today at 9:30 am. The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine will take a major step to promote healthy lifestyles in Erie with the expansion of the campus to a new building adjacent to Millcreek Community Hospital. LECOM will begin construction this year of the LECOM Health and Wellness Center. The center will become part of the continuum of health care that begins with the training of physicians and pharmacists at LECOM and is maintained through medical services at Millcreek Community Hospital, Millcreek Geriatric Education and Care Center and the physician offices of Medical Associates of Erie. LECOM President John M Ferretti, DO and Provost and Vice-president Silvia M Ferretti DO have led the project team to design a medically integrated wellness center that not only will serve the fitness needs of LECOM students and employees of Millcreek Health System, but also provide a facility that will encourage Erie County citizens to pursue a better quality of life. The nationally acclaimed healthcare architectural and design firm of Marshall Erdman and Associates has developed plans that integrate the amenities of the fitness center with the clinical needs of patients in a three-story building. The architects have created a healthy lifestyle atmosphere that welcomes visitors and draws them into the fitness center that occupies the first two floors. The first level offers a day spa, three swimming pools, aerobic and yoga fitness rooms. The center includes basketball and racquetball courts, a snack bar and Internet cafe, as well as meeting rooms, offices and a child-care area. A three-lane, nine laps per mile running track circles the second floor surrounding equipment for cardiovascular and strength training and a bicycle spinning room. This level will contain a physical therapy facility. The third-floor will house clinical and administration offices for Medical Associates of Erie. MAE will offer Internal Medicine, Integrative Medicine, Geriatrics, Orthopedic Surgery, and OB-GYN care from this location and relocate physicians from scattered locations in Erie. When the Center opens, Power Wellness Management, a national health and wellness center management team, will operate the LECOM facility. Power Wellness has participated in the design of the fitness center and will coordinate the acquisition of fitness equipment. LECOM selected Power Wellness based on the company’s experience and its commitment to improving the quality of life in the community. LECOM expects to start construction of the $31 million center in early fall at West 54th and Peach Streets. The College expects to open the center in late September 2008.

Community Shelter Services provides temporary emergency shelter, meals and referrals to low-income, homeless families and individuals. They had a pipe break in the basement of their building on West 16th Street which cost them about $30,000 in repairs. They could use some help. For more information on how you can help CSS help the homeless citizens, call 455-4369.

Roger Greenlee, a homeless man who says he’s a native of Erie PA, is being sued for $1 million by antiques dealer Karl Kemp for living on he steam grate below the window of Kemp’s store on Madison Ave in NYC. Retired real estate billionaire Edward Baron Cohen, who has been helping out Greenlee since he moved to New York 14 years ago, called the law suit bullshit.

Ron Fitzgerald from Erie, PA was named to the 2007 UPS Freight All-Star Road Team which honors UPS’ safest drivers.

The Northwest PA Regional Planning and Development Commission submitted a proposal to a European furniture manufacturer looking to have an East Coast manufacturing operation in close proximity to particle board companies. The furniture manufacturer is the prime supplier to IKEA, which has their headquarters in Pennsylvania. The Northwest Commission submitted a complete proposal including available sites meeting their needs and showing distance to the closest particle board manufacturers.

Four Mercyhurst College intelligence studies students received certificates of achievement from the US Army for a strategic intelligence document they produced. The students, seniors Bettie Cole, Greg Bowen and Jim Kelly, along with Anna Dunin, who graduated last term, spent 10 weeks in Kris Wheaton’s strategic intelligence class last fall compiling 125 pages of key findings on “The Impact of the Final Status of Kosovo on European Stability in the Next 3-5 Years.” They worked at the behest of the 66th Military Intelligence Group stationed in Germany.

Michael Drzewiecki is one of three finalist to become the superintendent of the Tuscarora School District in Mercersburg PA. Drzewiecki is principal at Clarion-Limestone Junior/Senior High School in Clarion County. He served as assistant high school principal, from 1997 to 2000, at Harborcreek High School. He taught at Ft LeBoeuf High School in Waterford from 92-97. Drzewiecki has his bachelor’s degree and masters from Edinboro.

Darren Williams, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, has been named to the Harlow Shapely Visiting Lectureship circuit. Sponsored by the American Astronomical Society, Shapely Lecturers share their enthusiasm for astronomy and astrophysics during subsidized two-day visits at colleges across the country, particularly institutions that do not offer an astronomy degree. Williams’ current research interests lie in the relatively new field of astrobiology, which asks, Can a planet support life? Since 1995, Williams has given more than 100 public talks on his research.

Maybe now Lake Superior State Jamie Pewinski will give Gannon women’s basketball team a vote in the next Divison II poll. Gannon (13-3, 7-0) topped Lake Superior State 73-64 at the Hammermill Center.

Lake Superior State posted a 71-61 victory over Gannon in men’s basketball action Thursday evening at the Hammermill Center.

Shelby Chaney set career-highs by going 13-of-16 from the foul line and TJ Mathis grabbed a career-best eight rebounds to power Mercyhurst to a 70-65 win over Ferris State at the MAC.

Ferris State’s Rachel Folcik scored a career-high 37 points, 24 in the first half, and the Mercyhurst women’s basketball team was unable to overcome the performance in a 90-70 GLIAC loss Thursday.

The Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League are set to start a three-game set Friday night at the Tullio Arena when they host the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors. Saturday the Otters take on the Mississauga IceDogs. Both games begin at 7:30 pm. The Otters (9-31-1-2) enter weekend action in the midst of a seven-game losing streak.

George Johnson of Wakefield High School in Arlington VA announced he will attend Gannon University and play basketball for the Golden Knights. Johnson is 6’ 4” and averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds per game. He’s also a standout pitcher and plans to also play college baseball.

The musical “Stand by Your Man” will be performed at the Erie Playhouse tonight and Jan 20-21. For tickets or more info call (814) 454-2852 ext 0.

The Roadhouse Theatre production of “The Last of the Red Hot Lovers” will run Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm through February 10. Admission: Regular seating $12, Riser seating $15, VIP table seating $20. Reservations can be made by phone at 814.456.5656. The Roadhouse Theatre 145 West 11th Street, Box Office hours: 2-6 pm Tuesday - Saturday. The Theater accepts cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard and Discover. It has been twenty years since Scott McClelland toured the country in Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues. After 625 performances of that Tony award winning play, Mr. Simon’s timing and comedic style had become part of McClelland’s acting arsenal. Now for the first time since Biloxi Blues the actor returns to a play by the greatest comic writer of the American Stage. The show is being directed by his wife Kim McClelland who acted in this same play on the stage at 1505 State Street several years before the McClelland’s met.

Exhibition opening receptions at the Erie Art Museum, Kada Gallery, Urraro Gallery, Glass Growers Gallery and Mercyhurst College’s Cummings Art Gallery are planned for Gallery Night, a new collaboration among local art galleries, on Friday, Jan 19, 2007 from 8-10 pm. “The galleries are working together to coordinate our exhibition openings and promoting them as an evening of art. Each gallery will display works in various media, as well as offer interaction with gallery staff and sometimes, the artists themselves,” said John Vanco, director of the Erie Art Museum. Gallery Night was organized by the Erie Art Museum. Exhibitions on view during Gallery Night are:
Erie Art Museum, 411 State Street
Artists of the Commonwealth and Objects Are Larger than They Appear: Recent Works by Ian Short
Eva Zeisel: The Shape of Life, Recent works by John Lysak
Kada Gallery, 2632 West Eighth Street - Works by Local, National and International Artists
Urraro Gallery, 2416 Peach Street - Works by Jeremy Beightol and Ashley Reitz
Glass Growers Gallery, 10 East Fifth Street - Ether and Ethos: Paintings by Jack Coville
Mercyhurst Cummings Art Gallery, 501 East 38th Street - Thomas Paquette: Gouache Paintings

Peek’n Peak Resort and Conference Center will be host of a Jeep Terrain Park Challenge grassroots qualifier event for amateur skiers and snowboarders Saturday January 20. The competition will be from 10 am to noon. Registration is from 9 to 10 am. You can download an Entry Form and Waiver form here. Participants must have a valid lift ticket. Helmets are required. The Jeep Terrain Park Challenge is an amateur ski and snowboard series which holds 75 events throughout the country. The Challenge invites skiers to show their moves on the rails, jumps and other terrain park obstacles. The top male and female participants from each qualifier will advance to six regional competitions. The top finisher in the four categories from each regional event will earn a spot in the finals March 10 in Sugar Bowl, CA.

Get some great exercise while enjoying the quiet winter woods with the “Forests by Cross-Country Ski: Skiing Basics” at Presque Isle State Park on Saturday January 20 at 10 am. If there is not sufficient snow, a hike of the same theme will still take place! No skis? Rent from the park concession located in Shelter 2. No fee, no registration. Meet at the Presque Isle Lighthouse lot.

Don’t let winter get you down. Get out and enjoy the season by taking a hike on snowshoes at Presque Isle State Park on Saturday January 20 at 1 pm. The hike will take participants through the interior trails. If you don’t have snowshoes, borrow ours! If there is not sufficient snow, a hike of the same theme will still take place. No fee, registration required to borrow snowshoes. Meet at the Presque Isle Lighthouse lot.

There will be a fundraiser for the proposed skate park in Erie on January 20 at Forward Hall. Admission for the all age show is $10. The bands that will be playing include Common Enemy, Whiplash, Cardboard Box, Piranha Deathmatch and Last of a Dying Breed.

Shake off the winter blues during with a day of fun during the “Winter Adventure Day” at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center on Saturday, January 20. Learn to snowshoe, check out cross-country skiing, test your winter survival skill, venture into ice fishing and more! No fee, No registration. Various locations on Presque Isle. 11am - 4pm. Meet at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center. Call 814-833-7424 for more info. Check out some true survival skills on the BIG Green Screen during Winter Adventure Day: Adventure Movie Package - Buy Two regular priced Movie Tickets and get a FREE Large Popcorn! Not valid with any other discounts. Or “Two” True Adventure Package - See Everest AND Lewis and Clark for only $2 more than the regular price of 1 ticket. (valid for same day movie only)
Everest (Showtime’s at 12N, 2pm, 4pm)
Lewis and Clark Adventure Package (Showtime’s 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm)

The Mercyhurst College chapters of Kappa Gamma Pi education honor society and the Council for Exceptional Children will host their Second Annual Teaching and Learning Expo on Saturday, Jan 20, from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm in the Audrey Hirt Academic Center. Presenters include both Mercyhurst faculty members and other highly skilled in-service educators. The cost of the program is $5, including lunch. For more information, contact Dr Ruth Auld at 824-3370 or e-mail rauld@mercyhurst.edu.

Curtis Granderson, the Erie SeaWolves Centerfielder and 2004 Eastern League MVP Canididate will be in Erie on Wednesday, January 24 at the annual Erie SeaWolves Hot Stove Banquet. The event begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour. Individual tickets are on sale now for $35 Fans can also purchase a table of eight for $240 ($5 discount per ticket). The event will be hosted by Jim LeCorchick and will feature many special guest speakers including Detroit Tigers Director of Player Development Glenn Ezell, Mandalay Sports Entertainment VP of Development Rich Neumann and 2007 SeaWolves Pitching Coach A.J. Sager. For more information or to purchase tickets for the event, contact the SeaWolves at (814) 456-1300.

Identity theft can wreak havoc on otherwise perfect credit ratings and wipe out bank accounts. And it’s a crime that’s growing by the minute. Learn more about this alarming crime as Stephen Szwejbka, director of the criminal justice program at Mercyhurst North East, presents “Information on and Prevention of Identity Theft,” on Wednesday, Jan 24, at 7:30 pm in Miller Hall, Room 116, on the MNE campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.

The Cleveland Indians have announced the line up for this year’s Winter Caravan that will be visiting Erie on Thursday, Jan 25. The event will be held at the Dr Gertrude A Barber National Institute, 136 East Avenue. A ball park dinner will be served in the gym starting at 5 pm, with the program beginning at 6:30. Players scheduled for the Caravan include star first baseman Ryan Garko, left fielder Jason Michaels, and second baseman Josh Barfield. Hitting Coach Derek Shelton is also on the roster, along with team announcer Matt Underwood. The players and coach will present a brief program and answer questions from the audience, and will sign autographs for youngsters in attendance. A charity auction will be held featuring team memorabilia and apparel and prime game ticket packages. All proceeds from the auction and the event will benefit services to children and adults at the Barber National Institute. Dinner includes hot dogs, chips and beverages. Tickets are just $7, and are available in advance at the Barber National Institute and Hector’s Restaurant. For more information, please call 453-7661.

The Erie Chamber Orchestra in residence at Gannon University presents “The Annual Tribute Concert to Dr Martin Luther King, Jr” on January 19 at St Patrick’s Church, 130 East 4th St. The Shiloh Baptist Church Choir, under the direction of Evangelist DM Jamerson, will honor Dr King’s memory at 7:30 pm. The performance is free and open to everyone.

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will host only the third performance of “Inspired by America,” a groundbreaking program that fuses live music performed by Cypress String Quartet with an original film based on Jacob Needleman’s best-selling book The American Soul. Directed by Emmy and Peabody winner Michael Schwarz, the film uses American art, landscapes, news footage, readings, and other images and sounds to reflect the diversity of the American story. The event, part of Music at Night: The Logan Series, will be held at 7 pm on Thursday, February 1, in the Reed Union Building’s McGarvey Commons. Tickets are required. Music at Night tickets can be purchased at the door on February 1, or in advance at the Reed Union Building main desk or online. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $8.50 for adults over 60, $5 for Penn State Behrend students, and $4 for children under the age of 16.

The 9th Annual MECA United Cerebral Palsy Barstool Open is set to take place on Saturday, February 24, 2007. Last years event had 1200 participants and raised $30000. Yes, 1200 people out drinking in downtown Erie on a cold February afternoon. Teams of 4 will compete in golf at 9 bars in downtown Erie PA. The putting exhibition contest takes place on holes with wacky designs. This year there are 14 bars participating. Click here for a registration form. Mail the registration form and enclose your check for $100, $25 per person, made payable to: MECA United Cerebral Palsy, 3745 West 12th St, Erie, PA 16505.

On Feb 25, the Brewerie at Union Station in Erie hosts the Erie Illusion women’s football team Beer Fest.

Dennis Weed

Posted by Dennis at January 19, 2007 7:08 AM

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Posted by: Jesse at January 19, 2007 9:51 AM

Posted by: Stan at January 20, 2007 12:16 AM

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