At the US Bankruptcy Court in Erie PA, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge Thomas P Agresti is hearing the case of Countrywide Financial Corp v Sharon Diane Hill of Pittsburgh in a mortgage case being followed by many. Hill sued Countrywide after they had tried to foreclose even [...]

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It’s taken 10 years but the first floor of the Boston Store Place, on State and Peach between 7th and 8th Streets, is finally filling up. John Leonard (Leonardos), who ran the Waterfront Restaurant, announced a new restaurant will be locating to the first floor. Leonard will be GM of the Under the Clock Bar [...]

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An American Black Bear has been spotted on Presque Isle State Park. This isn’t Winnie the Pooh or Yogi Bear so don’t feed it. It’s believed to be a young male weighing about 200 lbs. Adult black bears usually are between 250 and 600 lbs. There are an estimated 15,000 black bears in Pennsylvania and [...]

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There is a nice sheet of ice over everything. Give yourself a few extra minutes to get where you’re going. There is a huge list on YourErie.com of schools with 2 hour delays as well as some closed organizations.
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is warning local taxing districts in Pennsylvania about misleading materials being [...]

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City of Erie police lieutenant Robert Liebel was arrested for stealing cocaine from a police evidence locker. There must have been items missing from the evidence locker recently because it was under surveillance. They caught him with 12 grams of cocaine in his hand. Liebel had over 22 years of service with the bureau. He [...]

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Paragon Promotions of Erie is suspected running a fundraising scam. WJET-TV had the story by Dan Wells that Paragon Promotions is soliciting money in the Erie area. The money they are asking for is for an Erie Fire Safety Guide. It has nothing to do with the Erie Fire Department nor Erie Firefighters Local 293. [...]

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The flap caused by Peter Marsh in a Financial Times article calling Erie “unfashionable” was picked up by the Albany Times-Union, with Don’t disparage Erie and Unfashionable unpardonable. They must have picked up on Peter Panepento’s Erie’s Best Spokespeople. Before this I think the only people that had ever heard of Peter Marsh were his [...]

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The Greater Erie Board of Realtors released the January 2008 property transfer figures for Erie County PA. The reports shows that 243 properties were sold for $41,202,807. This compares to January 2007 when 280 properties sold for $44,849,368 and January 2006 when 254 changed hands for $26,951,813. The figures include residential, commercial, investment properties as [...]

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Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio got away with it. GoErie.com reported that DiVecchio paid $285 in reimbursements for snowplowing and parking fines. DuhVecchio still doesn’t comprehend that what he did was wrong. The article by Kevin Flowers quoted him as saying “I just want this over with.” If you get caught, all you have to [...]

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Governor Rendell was in Erie yesterday to his economic stimulus plan, unveiled as part of his 2008-09 budget proposal. What Fast Eddie didn’t say was that Pennsylvania taxpayers and businesses will continue to be overly burdened with taxes much higher than the national average.
The Pennsylvania budget includes an increase in the Capital Stock and Franchise [...]

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Oops, Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio did it again. Another report of DiVecchio breaking the law and costing the over burdened taxpayers of Erie County more money. Erie County got a bill for a parking ticket DiVecchio received. He received a $30 parking ticket for illegal parking in Washington, DC. DiVecchio, possibly thinking he has [...]

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Paul Mutton in an article on Netcraft reported that The Bank of Lancaster County is currently being targeted by a phishing attack that asks to call a number in Erie, PA. With phone numbers being portable, it could be someone half way around the world but Lancaster and Erie are only separated by 350 miles [...]

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It wasn’t that long ago that downtown Erie had less activity than a cemetery. Now it’s becoming the place to work and live.
Yesterday, Jim Berlin, CEO of Logistics Plus, wrote in his blog Berlin’s Wall that two businesses are moving into Union Station. Great news. Berlin also said that Logistics Plus has added 20 employees [...]

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WRTS-FM “Star 104″ edged out WXBB “Bob FM” in the latest quarterly radio ratings. The complete ratings for Erie area commercial stations can be found here on Radio and Records. For those you you too young to remember, ‘radio stations’ transmit audio and were popular before computers, iPods, MP3 players and satellite receivers.
It was extremely [...]

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The School District of the City of Erie has of budget of over $122,000,000 and has about 12,500 students. You have to wonder about the intelligence of the people running the school district and therefor the quality of education the children are receiving if you read the article Hidden Swap Fees by JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley [...]

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A crudely made pipe bomb was found on the steps of the Erie County Courthouse. The Erie Police Bomb Squad blew up the device. The Erie County Sheriff’s Office and the Erie Police did a bang up job with the dangerous situation. Authorities were checking tapes of courthouse and Gannon University surveillance cameras in hopes [...]

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Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio still hasn’t resigned or been arrested. DiVecchio has been accused of a laundry list of improprieties of misuse of government employees and assets.
Workers began moving into the $14 million Erie County Public Safety Building campus. The county will house 911 call center operations, county communications and emergency service operations at [...]

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Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio still hasn’t resigned or been arrested. DiVecchio has been accused of a laundry list of improprieties of misuse of government employees and assets. He will sit down on Friday with Erie County Controller Sue Weber to try and explain away the charges.
Erie County Council members have no plans to conduct [...]

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Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio still hasn’t resigned or been arrested. Improprieties about the misuse by DiVecchio of county employees, equipment and materials continue to mount. Clueless, arrogant DiVecchio still doesn’t realize what he did was wrong.
DiVecchio used county employees on county time with county equipment to plow his home driveway. Other instances of impropriety [...]

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Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio using county employees on county time as his own personal labor force was the topic all weekend. DiVecchio, one more than one occasion, used a county employee on county time with a county vehicle to have his home driveway plowed. He also used county employees on county time for his [...]

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The State Ethics Commission is aware of Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio having an Erie County employee using Erie County equipment being told to plow his driveway. They are also aware of DiVecchio using county employees to help his sister move and also using county employees to help set up a booth at Celebrate Erie [...]

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Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio wants a new office on the fifth floor of the courthouse. He might not have to wait for the $3 million renovation and the removal of the jail cells of the old pre-release center.
An investigation by Erie County Controller Sue Weber uncovered the following alleged acts:
* Erie County Executive Mark [...]

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Erie International Airport Executive Director Kelly Fredericks has resigned. Fredericks offered to resign for a $100,000 buyout of his contract. He signed a 5 year contract in June of 2006. He was being paid about $164,000 a year. Chris Rodgers, Director of Strategic Development at the airport, will take over as interim director. He [...]

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Unless you have suicidal tendencies, PLEASE stay off the ice dunes at Presque Isle State Park. You could easily step through and drown in freezing cold water.
The moderate blood shortage in our area turned critical for type O suddenly with extraordinarily heavy blood use by local patients over the past few days. There has been [...]

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Megan and Craig Sundberg recently found out their young 3 year old son Jack has an inoperable brain tumor. Jack has Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), also known as grade 4 astrocytoma, which is the most common and aggressive type of primary brain tumor, accounting for 52 percent of all primary brain tumor cases and 20 percent [...]

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eBizITPA and the Economic Research Institute of Erie (ERIE) released a study EVERYONE in Northwest Pennsylvania needs to read and take to heart. Erie workers are behind most the nation, and even most areas in Pennsylvania, and to catch up we have to embrace technology. The press release:
If a region wants to become more competitive, [...]

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It was a might bit cold yesterday in Erie. The high temp was 16 degrees and the low was 10. The area didn’t get much snow but what there was blew around like crazy with strong winds. In case you were wondering the coldest part of Winter in Erie is Jan 23 to Feb 3 [...]

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Just because the posted speed limit is 65 mph, doesn’t mean you HAVE to go 65, especially when it’s snowing and the wind is howling. I-90 was shut down for hours between Harborcreek and Wesleyville due to accidents. As soon as that was reopened around 3 pm, I-79 was closed between McKean and Edinboro. It [...]

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Family First Sports Park is now home to a co-ed boarding school called Family First Academy.
Family First Academy has grades 8-12. Students attend classes at Erie First Christian Academy. The total enrollment is 245 students. The cost for boarding students is $26,000 at year while day students pay $3,300.
GE (NYSE: GE) reported earnings. Fourth quarter [...]

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GECAC, the Greater Erie Community Action Committee, is closing down their Drug and Alcohol Services division resulting in the layoffs of 23 people.
In days past, GECAC was given money based on the number of people enrolled in their programs. The state, trying to hold agencies more accountable for the huge checks they receive, changed to [...]

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Eriez Magnetics of Erie, PA has built a second 55 ton electromagnet, matching the one that is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest. The original magnet was christened “Big Moe”, and the new one is known affectionately as “Big Moe II”. Big Moe II, known officially as the SER700, measures [...]

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Teri Rhodes waived her right to a preliminary hearing on charges she murdered her newborn baby by suffocating the baby girl 10 minutes after birth. Charges include abusing a corpse, concealing the death of a child and a general charge of criminal homicide. The homicide charge could range from involuntary manslaughter to first degree [...]

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Please keep the Bolte Family in your thoughts and prayers. They are having a sonogram taken on Tuesday of their unborn baby they are calling Happy. Baby boy Happy is showing signs of serious congenital abnormalities. They are looking for head/brain growth as well as a detailed look at his heart to see if the [...]

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Lieutenant Colonel Richard J Berrettini died due to injuries received from an improvised explosive device attack in Khowst Province, Afghanistan. LTC Berrettini died Jan 11, nine days after the HMMWV he was a passenger in was attacked. Berrettini, a nurse practitioner, was assigned to the Pennsylvania Army National Guard Medical Detachment, Erie Clinic. He volunteered [...]

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Erie’s public indecency ordinance prohibits nude dancing. Maybe you remember City of Erie v Pap’s A M (“Kandyland”) a few years ago that went all the way to the US Supreme Court on a First Amendment appeal. Perhaps they should have had the girls do the Fan Dance. Faith Bacon of Erie, PA was the [...]

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Anne Ryan, a Sophomore at Penn, died in September of meningococcal meningitis. Ryan was a graduate of Erie Mercyhurst Prep. The family filed suit yesterday accusing the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania of ignoring signs when it failed to admit her after an ER visit on Sept 6. The suit also claims that an [...]

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The dumbest criminal on the face of the Earth is Ronald N Shubert. Shubert robbed the Country Fair at 12th and Parade on Monday. He was arrested when he returned to the store as a customer and a clerk recognized him. Shubert will spend years in jail possibly working on his own “Unfinished Symphony” [...]

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A group of 10 port authority and municipal government officials met in Mentor, Ohio to discuss ferry service across Lake Erie. Nobody from the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority in Erie, PA attended. Ferry service between Fairport Harbor, Ohio to Port Burwell, Ontario and Cleveland, Ohio to Port Stanley, Ontario is in the planning stages. Ferry [...]

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Erie broke a record high yesterday when it reached 67 degrees. Then the cold front went through. Winds gusts reaching 65 mph have knocked down branches and trees everywhere. Penelec crews are working at restoring power. The Fort LeBoeuf School District is closed today and others such as General McLane are on delays because of [...]

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Indianapolis Colts safety Bob Sanders of Erie, PA was named the Associated Press 2007 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Voting wasn’t even close as Sanders received 31 first place votes. Two other tied with 4 each. Sanders was a two time all-state performer for Erie Cathedral Prep and went on to star at Iowa. [...]

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Mike Francesa, host of the Mike and the Mad Dog Radio Show, blogged that the John Kanzius developed non-invasive cancer treatment was his choice as the biggest story of 2007, yet most of the main stream media have failed to adequately cover the story.
He’s got a point. It certainly doesn’t help that people associated with [...]

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Why is it the temperature is in the 50’s in Erie, PA in the middle of Winter? Global warming? No. El Nino? No. Hot air from city council? No. It’s the Latimer Effect. That’s the weather phenomenon named in honor of Craig Latimer of Erie. Simply all that occurs is that Craig Latimer schedules the [...]

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Hackers from China broke into Pennsylvania government web site prompting the decision to take down nearly the entire system. It was back up later in the day after being down for several hours.
Steris Corporation announced they closed on the sale of their 525,000 sq ft manufacturing complex on 25 acres in Erie, PA. Industrial Realty [...]

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Presque Isle State Park attendance for 2007 was 4,073,053. To put that in perspective, that is more people in a year than visit Yosemite National Park (around 3.2 million), more people than visit Yellowstone National Park (around 2.8 million), more people than visit the Empire State Building (around 3.7 million), and just slightly fewer people [...]

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VisitErie (formerly the Erie Area Convention and Visitors Bureau) released the latest Erie County hotel tax figures. In November 2007, they received $44,885 vs the 2006 November amount of $31,878, an increase of about 41 percent. The Buffalo NY area saw a decline for November 2007 vs November 2006. The fiscal year to date figures [...]

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Starting today Single Stream Recycling begins in the City of Erie. Everything can be places together in blue or clear plastic bags every week. Aerosol cans, styrofoam, pizza boxes and waxed cardboard such as milk cartons and laundry detergent boxes aren’t accepted but all other glass, plastic, paper and cardboard items can be included.
Maybe someday [...]

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Good story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about the story of Joe Cavarretta of Erie, PA. His brother Thomas Cavarretta passed away from cancer at the early age of 45. Joe wanted to do something to honor the memory of his brother. He heard about the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE) from a friend [...]

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Residents of Boston might want to consider moving to Erie for the weather. Boston will end December with 8 more inches of snow than Erie. However, we’re due for lake effect snow on Wednesday and Thursday before temps rebound and the snow melts.
It’s going to be a couple days before the final figures are in [...]

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Big oops at GE. WJET-TV reported that the weekly paychecks at GE were misplaced and employees there won’t be getting their Thursday pay until tonight and Monday. It’s hard to imagine in this day and age why someone would still want to get a paper check rather than getting direct deposit. I’d bet a whole [...]

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Erie PA native Rear Admiral (Retired) Charles August Curtze passed away at age 96. He attended public schools in Erie then went to the Naval Academy Preparatory School. He then received an appointment to the US Naval Academy and was part of the Class of 1933. After assignments on the USS New Mexico and USS [...]

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled (press release) that employers may take Medicare benefits into account on voluntary health care to their retired workers. This was a response to a 2000 court decision in the case of Erie County Retirees Association v County of Erie. Erie County was spending more on workers under age 65 [...]

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Five year old Michael Misko of Erie PA has Adams-Oliver syndrome, a rare genetic defect that caused his scalp and skull to not form properly. Michael has had surgery 38 times in his young life. He received a Christmas vacation in Florida from Give Kids The World (GKTW), a non-profit that creates magical memories for [...]

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The Erie area will have a white Christmas. There’s snow on the grass and we’re due for another inch or so today. Enough to make it look seasonal, but nothing major.
Erie Blogger Kim Fabrizio was featured in today’s paper in the article Shining moments by David Bruce.
VisitErie is busily getting the next issue of the [...]

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At the last Erie City Council meeting, council agreed to a resolution authorizing and directing officials to execute the Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty between the City of Erie, Erie Sewer Authority and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection with an agreement to pay $20,300 in fines for violations under Section 8 of the Air [...]

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My favorite Christmas story this year has got to be what happened to the Erie Brewing Company. Erie Brewing makes seasonal beers. Their winter seasonal was to be called Red Ryder Big Beer. In either a great marketing ploy or because of a couple of trial lawyers, they changed the name. It’s called ‘Ol Red [...]

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Parsimony is a ‘less is better’ concept of frugality, economy or caution in arriving at a course of action. Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio can’t grasp this concept. Somehow DiVecchio has taken the excellent idea of a community college and bastardized it into an incredibly expensive, complicated mess only a government bureaucrat can embrace.
DiVecchio’s idea [...]

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The Erie Housing Authority held a public meeting yesterday on the proposed spending of $1,045,000 to install central air conditioning in over 1,300 public housing units. The authority will vote on their $3.7 million 2008 spending plan at their December 26 meeting. You can view their entire draft plan here.
Their excuse for spending $1,045,000 [...]

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Toni and Guy HairDressing Academy had a bomb threat yesterday which shut down the school and a good chunk of downtown Erie. Of course police didn’t find anything. Triangle Tech had bomb threats on Nov 20 and again on Nov 21.
 
Advance America, the cash advance company, is closing all their Pennsylvania locations. In September, they [...]

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The Department of Environmental Protection has ordered First Alliance Church in Millcreek Township, Erie County, to plug a recently drilled gas well on its property that is believed to be the source of migrating gas that has kept five area families out of their homes since Nov 20. The natural gas levels in and around [...]

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The end of the World did not happen on Sunday. It simply snowed a bit. Areas of the City of Erie received less than an inch of snow. Strong winds were the main problem around town. Those winds did push the snow inland. Corry and Meadville received saw nearly a foot of snow. The roads [...]

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State Correctional Institution at Albion superintendent Marilyn S Brooks was finally relieved of her duties Friday. Raymond Sobina, former superintendent at SCI-Forest, has been named acting superintendent of the medium security prison that houses 2,331 inmates. The announcement came from SCI-Albion spokesman Bob McCarthy. Past announcements has come from prison PIO (Public Information Officer) Melinda [...]

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Rumors are flying that employees at Ameridrives in Erie on Pittsburgh Ave will receive layoff notices next week. The number rumored by company workers is a job cut of 18. The company has made no official announcement. Even workers at the New Braunfels, TX have heard the rumor there will be layoffs in Erie and [...]

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At the start of the new fiscal year in July, there will be enough money from slot machine taxes in the Property Tax Relief Fund which could see property owners getting an average of $300 of tax relief. Homeowners will receive tax relief once gaming generates $570 million – $400 million to distribute statewide, $100 [...]

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Chytoria Graham was sentenced by Judge Rusty Cunningham to 5-10 years in prison for swinging her 4 week old baby like a baseball bat at her boyfriend, the father of 2 of her 5 children. The baby suffered a fractured skull and other injuries in the Oct 8 incident after Graham came home from a [...]

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A huge water main break has shut down 12th Street at Downing Ave. If you’re going to GE, use East Lake Road or Buffalo Road.
 
The First Presbyterian Church in Benton, Arkansas recently installed an 1884 Jardine pipe organ. It took workers nearly a month to install. The organ has nearly 600 pipes with the tallest [...]

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Federal Aviation Administration officials were satisfied that local matching funds of $25.7 million were available for the Erie International Airport Runway Extension Project. It appears that the FAA will be funding $47.7 million of the two phase project. The first phase would be an 920 foot runway extension to meet FAA safety standards. A second [...]

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The Federal Aviation Administration today will meet with local government officials to discuss the Erie International Airport Runway Extension Project. U S Rep Phil English secured the meeting at the request of local officials. The FAA meeting will take place at 9 am in the Conference Room on the 2nd floor of the Erie Intermodal [...]

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Erie City Council unanimously passed Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott’s proposed 2008 $57.1 million budget. A second reading is still required. All members of Erie City Council as well as Mayor Joe Sinnott are tax-and-spend liberal Democrats. Council ignored $335,500 in budget cuts recommended by their own accountant, Sean T Sullivan, CPA. Here are the recommended [...]

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Darren Amy and Joseph Dille, both 19 year old Saegertown volunteer firefighters, were arrested and charged with arson for setting 9 fires in the Saegertown area. The duo set fires to vacant houses and then helped put the fires out.
 
There will be a citizenship ceremony at the Erie Federal Courthouse today at 10 am. All [...]

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