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Erie PA News and Events for Tuesday January 23, 2007

This area seems to have more than it’s fair share of teachers fooling around with kids. Yesterday, one teacher was sentenced to jail while another was arrested. Matthew Weaver, now a former French teacher at Seneca High School, was sentenced to 3-12 months, fined $1000 and must perform 100 hours of community service for soliciting sex from a 14 year old boy when the two of them were doing a play at the Erie Playhouse. Mrs Robin Lee Hecker, a 10th grade English teacher at Northwestern High School, was arrested for having sex with a 16 year old student in her home over a 3 month period in 2005. She was suspended with pay.

Mercyhurst College announced a $10,000 grant from Verizon Foundation for the Mercyhurst Learning Differences Program. The Learning Differences Program offers students with learning disabilities access to technology such as Kurzweil Personal Readers, which convert text to audio, and textbooks on tape. This funding will provide additional technological equipment for the program including speech recognition tools, text to speech readers and visual mapping products. The original equipment, purchased in March 2004, was the turning point for the program, allowing students to interact with PC-based reading systems. As the first learning difference program in the region, the Mercyhurst Learning Differences Program has helped more than 250 students graduate and currently provides support to 155 students on Mercyhurst’s Erie and North East campuses.

CNB Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: CCNE), the parent company of CNB Bank, announced record annual earnings for the year ended December 31, 2006 of $9.6 million or $1.07 diluted earnings per share. William F Falger, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Our loan performance during 2006 was enhanced by growth in the Erie, Pennsylvania market through CNB Bank’s ERIEBANK division as well as growth in the Warren, Pennsylvania market resulting from the opening of our full service office in that community.”

Mercyhurst College, Channel 19, will be one of four area television channels to air “Arts Unwrapped,” a half-hour program produced by Community Access Television, on Saturday, Jan 27, at 7:30 pm, announced Brian Sheridan, HURST TV adviser and a trustee on the board of CAT. The program, funded in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Arts Council of Erie, The Erie Community Foundation, and Time Warner Cable, highlights the availability and approachability of the arts in the Erie area. Besides Mercyhurst’s student-run channel, which is available in the City of Erie and in Corry, the program can be viewed on CATV, Channel 2, Time Warner Cable, City of Erie; WJET-TV 24; and Channel 19, Time Warner Cable, Erie County. Produced and directed by Shawn Phelps, production coordinator at Community Access Television, the program brings together several self-identified “arts amateurs” and exposes them to the wide variety of arts offerings in Erie. Written by local writer Monica Lewis and narrated by Scott McClelland of the Roadhouse Theater, the program is a refreshingly local examination of the arts and illustrates their accessibility, in some cases going behind the scenes.

John Fizel, professor of economics at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, and chair of the Penn State iMBA program, has been awarded the University’s 2007 Graduate Program Chair Leadership Award. Fizel has taught at Penn State Behrend since 1985. He is an active researcher involved in a wide variety of business-related areas including a number of recent books covering sports economics. Penn State’s iMBA program is located in the Knowledge Park innovation center adjacent to Penn State Behrend’s campus. The graduate program was launched in 2002 with 28 students, and currently enrolls 160. Students accepted to the program represent 42 states and 18 countries. The two-year online program is designed to help working professionals develop cross-functional expertise for organizational strategy development and problem solving. There are two on-site residency experiences, one in a company and one in a Penn State classroom, to help students integrate course content and tools with real-world practice.

The Gannon University men’s basketball team shot 28.1 percent in their 61-49 loss to eighth-ranked Grand Valley State.

The Gannon women’s basketball team used a stingy defense and balanced scoring to post a 69-60 victory over defending NCAA Division II National Champion Grand Valley State Monday evening at the Hammermill Center.

Lake Erie Speedway has officially brought the 2006 season to a close by honoring the 2006 track champions at Lake Erie Speedway’s 5th Annual Awards Banquet, which took place at the Ambassador Banquet and Conference Center in Erie, PA on Friday evening, January 19th. $54,765 in point fund money was presented to 79 drivers who qualified for the 2006 point fund, making Lake Erie Speedway one of the highest paying tracks in the area. The 2006 season brought a record number of competitors to the 3/8-mile asphalt oval, with 46 different Late Model competitors (42 of which attempted to qualify for the MAARA Nextel Cup Drivers 125 event) and 56 different Legends competitors having competed in at least one event. Lake Erie Speedway’s newest division, the Krazy Kompacts, saw nearly 60 different competitors race at least once during the 2006 season.

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 Sacred Heart WinterTime Ball featuring music by the Dave Stevens Big Band will be held at the East Erie Turners on January 27, 2007. This semi-formal evening will include appetizers, a silent auction, cash prizes and ballroom dancing. You can purchase your tickets online or by calling Sacred Heart School at 814-459-7247.Tickets are $25 per person. 7pm until midnight.

The Highmark Quad Games Ski Race will be held Sunday January 28 at 1 pm.

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.

The 25th annual Erie Sport and Travel Expo will be held at Family First Sports Park in Erie, Pa March 2-4. The show features fishing and hunting lodges, guides, outfitters, fishing charters and sporting goods vendors and boat and recreational vehicle dealers. General Admission $6 with children under 10 free.

Dennis Weed

Posted by Dennis at January 23, 2007 7:07 AM

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