ErieBlogs.com: Erie PA News and Events for Tuesday November 13, 2007

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Erie PA News and Events for Tuesday November 13, 2007

Posted by Dennis on November 13, 2007

The 5th floor of Erie City Hall should love hearing this one. An elected member of Erie City Council emailed me and pointed out with the low voter turnout in last Tuesday’s election, the number of signatures needed to hold a hearing to determine if Erie should be declared a distressed city under Act 47, the Distressed Municipalities Financial Recovery Act, would be much lower than in the past. A number equal to 10 percent of the last municipal election voters are needed to submit such a petition to the state. To quote them - “Makes it a lot easier to get the required number, especially since the city is now in negotiations with the fire union.” Great. An elected official thinks things are so screwed up with the city finances that help is needed from the state.

The current City of Erie LERTA (Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Act) plan ends today at 4 pm. If you needed further proof that Erie doesn’t elect competent people, there is no plan in place to continue the program. It could be at least 6 weeks before any future tax breaks are put in place. Developers and builders won’t do anything new until a new plan is put in place.

The Erie School District is so out of touch, it took 9 days for them to learn there was a massive brawl at the end of the Oil City and Erie East football game at Veterans Stadium. If a video of the fight wouldn’t have been place on YouTube, which has caused a bit of an uproar, they would still be clueless as to what happened.

Charles Erskine Scott Wood was born Feb 20, 1852, in Erie, Pa, the second son of William Maxwell Wood, who became surgeon general of the U S Navy after the Civil War. CES Wood received an appointment to the U S Military Academy at West Point by President Ulysses S Grant. Wood remembered seeing Abraham Lincoln, he knew Chief Joseph, Clarence Darrow, and Lincoln Steffens, and he survived to the dawn of the atomic era. Among his acquaintances he counted Mark Twain, Emma Goldman, Margaret Sanger, Woodrow Wilson, Langston Hughes, Ezra Pound, and Ansel Adams. He fought in the Indian campaigns, represented wealthy businessmen as an attorney in Portland, Oregon and befriended the political and cultural radicals of New York in the early twentieth century; and became a central figure among the West Coast artists of the 1930s. Wood’s The Poet in the Desert (1915) and his humorous dramatic dialogue Heavenly Discourse (1927) were both best sellers. Around 1920, he left Portland for Los Gatos (“The Cats”), where he lived the rest of his life with poet Sara Bard Field, who edited his Collected Poems in 1949, five years after his death.

From Dan Desrochers, Director of Marketing and Community Relations at the Community Blood Bank of NW PA - While we were at home still sleeping Sunday morning, Deanna Renaud, the mobile blood drive coordinator for Erie County was hunting down a Wii video game console for us to raffle off at our local high schools before Christmas. Deanna had to get up before dawn mainly because I procrastinated in such a big way saying I’d arrange for the Wii all the while I had NO IDEA how hard they are come by. Deanna’s owned a Wii since the spring so that is what made her insist on that give away. I offered to get her some Aquadots, now that they are on sale but no dice. Here’s what she had to say: “…well, it was the most ridiculous thing I have ever done for a toy, but I got a Wii at Target Sunday morning. Got a paper at 6:30 am, got to Target by 7 and stood in line in the freezing cold for an hour. I was 2nd in line, and by 8 am all 22 of us agreed that this was as easy as it was going to get now that holiday shopping has started. We definitely chose the best store … one lady had a friend waiting at Toys R Us at 7:30 am to find about 25 people already there an hour and a half before that store opened. I was heartened to see that everyone in our line was honest enough to hold the order as we marched to electronics … no mad dashes, no skipping ahead and no elbows!” So there you have it, CBB employees sacrifice sleep and face adversity to provide for a safe blood supply. Just so you know we’re trying!

Tom Ridge of Erie, the first Secretary of Homeland Security and former Governor of Pennsylvania, was named to the Board of Directors of the Hershey Company.

The Roadhouse Theatre is holding an auction on Saturday December 8 at 7pm. This auction will feature art and artifact items from their collection. Examples include a horse head from a production of Equus, dozens of great paintings by local artists, some sculptures, two over-sized Grecian urns, several spectacular lamps, an upright piano, a Hammond organ and speaker, period furniture, along with some strange and exotic props.

Erie Bloggers will be getting together on Tuesday, November 13 at 7 pm at the Brewerie at Union Station. This is a social get together, not a meeting, so stop by. All are welcomed to come meet and exchange ideas.

What is the current state of the Erie economy? How will the numbers impact the bottom line for local business? Dr James Kurre, director of the Economic Research Institute of Erie (ERIE), will offer insight into the state of the Erie economy during the Manufacturers’ Association of Northwest Pennsylvania Eggs ‘n’ Issues briefing at 8 am Tuesday, November 13 at the Association’s Conference Center, 2171 West 38th Street. To register for the Eggs ‘n’ Issues briefing, contact Tracy Shepard at (814) 833-3200 / (800) 815-2660 or sign up online. Cost is $30 for members, $60 for non-members.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is inviting public participation in a meeting to discuss a planning study for renovations and expansion at the Walnut Creek Marina in Erie County. The meeting, hosted by Urban Engineers, will be held Tuesday November 13 from 6-8 pm at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center at Presque Isle. Representatives from Urban Engineers of Erie and the Commission will be on hand to provide a project description, explain the project goals and to gain comment from participants on the benefits and drawbacks of the existing facilities. Participants will also be asked to provide comment on the future needs of the facility. The meeting is designed to allow participants to visit presentation booths, engage in discussions, and to hear a brief presentation by engineers and others involved in the project.

The Hot Club of San Francisco, an ensemble of accomplished and versatile musicians celebrating the music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli’s pioneering Hot Club of France, will perform at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, on Thursday, November 15. Hot Club of San Francisco is brought to Erie by Music at Noon: The Logan Series. The lunchtime performance is FREE and open to the public, and takes place at noon in the McGarvey Commons of the college’s Reed Union Building.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” will be shown at the Roadhouse Theatre, 145 West 11th St, on Thursday Nov 15 at 8 pm. Proceeds benefit the Great Lake Film Association. You can purchase tickets online here.

Do you want to know how to expand your sales to the European markets? Learn about product regulatory aspects for goods entering the EU. Understand the importance of Exhibitions in the EU and how trade shows weigh into the overall concept of doing business in the EU. The Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission is holding a workshop in Mercer on Nov 15. Cost is $35. To register please contact Lori Moore, or phone (814) 677-4800 Ext 104.

Gem City Concert Band will offer a concert on Thursday, November 15 at the Blasco Library’s H O Hirt Auditorium. The hour-and-half-long program will begin at 7:30 pm. The concert is free and open to the public, although a free-will offering will be accepted to benefit Gem City Bands. The 40-member band, under the direction of Betty McKinney and Assistant Director Brett Woomer, will perform such pieces as Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts’ Colonel Bogey March from the 1957 film Bridge on the River Kwai; Warren Barker’s Themes Like Old Times, a medley including Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Peg O’ My Heart, I Want a Girl, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, and 12th Street Rag; and Ralph Vaughan William’s English Folk Song Suite. To kickstart the Christmas spirit, several Christmas selections will also be included, including Leroy Anderson’s 1948 favorite, Sleigh Ride. The concert is part of the 07-08 Blasco Library Concert Series and is sponsored by the Erie County Public Library and the Friends of the Library. For more information, visit the Gem City Bands Web site or phone 899-8467.

The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) Student Scholarship Auction Committee has announced that the College will hold the 14th Annual Student Scholarship Fund Auction at the new Erie Bayfront Convention Center on Friday Nov 16 with the purpose of providing scholarships to their students. The program opens at 6 pm with a silent auction, followed by dinner at 7 pm and a live auction at 8 pm. For reservations contact the LECOM Communications Office (814) 866-8125 or (814) 860-5125. You may also send a request for ticket information by Email: communications@lecom.edu. RSVP by November 2.

Presque Isle Downs and Casino is giving away $5000 with their Harvest Cash Giveaway on Nov 17 from 10 am to 2 pm. Eight winners will received $500 and one winner will receive $1000.

The Erie Central High School Class of 1997 Reunion is holding their 10 year reunion on Saturday, November 24 at the Cornerstone Bar and Grill, 809 East 38th St.

The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine School of Pharmacy has scheduled an On Campus Day on November 29, 3-5 pm, to provide opportunities for prospective students to tour the campus facilities and learn about the Doctor of Pharmacy Program. It includes a tour of the facility, a Pharmacy Compounding and Dispensing demonstration, an opportunity to meet with current students and faculty, an overview of the LECOM Doctor of Pharmacy programs and information on the admissions process and financial aid.

European and African tradition meet in the annual holiday performance by the Penn State Behrend Concert Choir and Chamber Choir. The concert takes place at 8 pm Friday, Nov 30, in the college’s Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel. Tickets are $5 for general admission and $3 for Penn State Behrend students, faculty and staff. They can be purchased at the Reed Union Building information desk and at the door.

Dennis Weed