Don’t forget that Discover Presque Isle is this weekend. It is the primary fundraising event for the Presque Isle Partnership and is renowned for bringing together over a hundred quality food and craft vendors resulting in the area’s largest outdoor arts and crafts show. You can download a schedule here.
David Justka had his arbitration hearing [...]

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If you would like your event considered for posting here on ErieBlogs.com, please send us your information using our online contact form. Make sure you check our daily News & Events for new event listings and events happening that day.
This Week’s Events
Willy Wonka will be at the Erie Playhouse January 9-11 and 16-18. This play [...]

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Today is the final day of Discover Presque Isle. Many events are scheduled, including a pancake breakfast until Noon, the last day of the volleyball tournament, and the kids festival. We’ve got a schedule and interactive map here at ErieBlogs.com
GE announced that it will restructure its business units, consolidating from six groups down [...]

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One-year-old Addison Sonney and her mother were attacked by their pet dog yesterday outside the family’s home at the Laurel Hill Cemetary Caretaker’s cottage. Addison was flown to Pittsburgh where she later passed away. Police tracked down the dog to a home in the Love Farms subdivision where they shot and killed it. [...]

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Our theme of the day could be “less news, more events.”
Discover Presque Isle begins this Friday with a concert at beach 11 by Jakes Blues and a bonfire, with various events running through-out the weekend. As promised, we’ve brought you details on the event. Read more about Discover Presque Isle 2008 and find [...]

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It’s hard to believe but the 15th Annual Discover Presque Isle is this weekend, July 25-27. From the event’s beginning in 1993, Discover Presque Isle has continually attracted thousands and thousands of visitors to Erie’s sandy shores every year. Favorite events include the concerts, bonfires, as well as the volley ball tournament at [...]

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A truck overturned around 2 am on I-90 east-bound near Girard. The driver was not seriously hurt. Traffic, which is backed up, is being detoured onto Route 20.
Discover Presque Isle raised nearly $117,000, up about 8 percent from last year. Attendance at the 3 day festival was an estimated 140,000 people. The Presque Isle Partnership [...]

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Ken Brundage has been named the new director of Gannon University’s Nash Library. Brundage will officially join the Gannon Community on Aug. 6. He will be responsible for managing the library’s day-to-day operations, as well as enhancing its future resources and technology. He has had extensive experience as the director of libraries at Mercyhurst College, [...]

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Three stupid teenage boys are luck to be alive after playing in the waters of Mill Creek at the entrance of the Mill Creek Tube. The Mill Creek Tube is a nearly 3 mile concrete pipe that carries the waters of the creek under the city streets to Presque Isle Bay. One boy was rescued [...]

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Former McDowell Intermediate High School Principal Thomas J Maciulewicz Jr was sentenced to 2 to 23 months in prison for stealing district owned synthesizers, two Apple Macintosh G4 laptop computers, an elliptical exercise machine, a LCD projector, a 17 inch computer monitor, and several used musical instruments. He also used a district credit card to [...]

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The family of Greg Jacobs is claiming that his organs were harvested before he died. Jacobs had a snowboarding accident at Peek ‘N Peak on March 13 and had severe head trauma. It sounds like a clerical error, but the time of death was written down nearly a half hour after his organs were removed. [...]

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The last time I wrote about Keeping Erie’s Environment Protected (KEEP). I received harassing phone calls and home and work, and a harassing email. The group is opposed to the Erie Renewable Energy proposed tire to energy plant. They held a meeting at the library which was attended by around 100 people. They would have [...]

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Today is the start of Erie Blogs Week at the Community Blood Bank. Please donate if you can. One random donor who goes to the Community Blood Bank this week and uses the Erie Blogs Week sign up sheet will be entered to win a prize basket full of awesome stuff, including wine, Campbell pottery, [...]

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Here are the bands that are eligible to play Celebrate Erie for the RockErie Music Awards based on voting as of Friday. Voting for the awards continues until August 19th at midnight. Bands will play from 3-10 pm on Friday, 8/17 and Saturday 8/18 and 2-9 pm on Sunday 8/19, 20 minute sets with a [...]

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Elizabeth Hirt Vorsheck has been named as a new individual trustee of the H O Hirt Trusts. In her role as trustee of the H O Hirt Trusts, Mrs Vorsheck replaces her father, F William Hirt, who died Friday, July 13. According to the Trust Agreement the remaining trustees, Susan Hirt Hagen and Sentinel Trust [...]

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Attorney John Mizner yesterday had a meeting with the committee of the state Supreme Court Disciplinary Board. Mizner stole nearly $70,000 from his former law firm. He jacked up his travel expenses. When he was questioned about it, he repaid the money and left the firm. His excuse was that he suffers from obsessive-compulsive [...]

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No wonder Brian Wells was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the bank robbery that led to his death. Court documents unsealed on Wednesday said that Wells had his neck measured for the collar bomb placed around his neck. Excellent job by reporters at the ETN including Ed Palattella that must had had to dig through [...]

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One man died and two people are in serious condition after an accident on I-90 in Harborcreek. It happened at 4 pm. Traffic was backed up to near the New York and Ohio state lines. With the thruway closed, traffic was funneled into the city on to Route 20. Total clusterf___. Detour signs are [...]

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The Pennsylvania House and Senate approved a $27.2 billion budget, a 4.4 percent increase from last year. The Pennsylvania Senate stuck to their guns and defeated 7 tax increases proposed by Governor Rendell while the state had a $650 million surplus.
 
The 1933 Barbara Stanwyck film “Baby Face,” whose racy content inspired the Hays Production Code [...]

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Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott announced he has hired Laura Schaaf to be his top assistant. Schaaf has spent her career working in the education field. She has bachelor’s and master’s from St Bonaventure University, certification from Ohio State University and a principal certification from Gannon University.
Smart, educated and a leader but with no background working [...]

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William “Bill” Hirt, board chairman of the Erie Indemnity Company and retired president and chief executive officer of Erie Insurance, passed away on July 13, 2007, at the age of 82. During his tenure as CEO (1976-1990), Erie Insurance grew 15 times in assets and nine times in premiums, making it larger than 99 percent [...]

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Delta Air Lines is leaving Erie in September, after just one year in the Erie market with their Atlanta route. They dropped the Erie to Cincinnati route in November and only had the Erie to Atlanta route left. Around 15 employees will be transferred or laid-off. Erie International Airport will lose about $60,000 in annual [...]

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Sex and drugs and murder. Stephen King couldn’t come up with anything this bizarre and twisted.
U S Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan held a riveting press conference yesterday afternoon announcing the federal indictment was handed down. Brian Wells, the pizza deliveryman killed in the collar bomb explosion, was named as a co-conspirator along with Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong [...]

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A 1:30 pm press conference is scheduled so that U S Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan can announce indictments of Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Ken Barnes in the kidnapping of pizza deliveryman Brian Wells. Expect to hear something about Wells himself being involved somehow. This could be very interesting.
On August 28 2003, pizza delivery man Brian Douglas [...]

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Governor Rendell played chicken and lost. Rendell and the Pennsylvania Senate reached a budget agreement last evening. The main sticking point was Governor Rendell’s energy plan which called for a tax increase on electricity use. Pennsylvania taxpayers are fed up and Rendell needs to be reigned in. Senate Republicans opposed the tax increase. Furloughs were [...]

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Presque Isle State Park is closed today – on a day where temperatures are expected to approach 90 degrees. And forget about visiting the Erie Maritime Museum and US Brig Niagara. Governor Ed Rendell furloughed around 24,000 “non-essential” state employees at 12:01 am when he failed to get a budget passed. The casinos around the [...]

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The Beach Boys will be the headlining band for Celebrate Erie on Friday August 18th.
The 2006-07 schedule for Gannon University’s Schuster Theatre has been announced. The list of performances is as follows: “Dining Room” by A R Gurney, Directed by Paula Barrett, Sept 28-30, Oct. 1, 5-7, 2006; “James Joyce’s The Dead” , Directed by [...]

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Erie PA native Alan Baer joined the New York Philharmonic in June 2004 as Principal Tuba. He also rides a motorcycle. What else would he call his own record label but Baer Tracks Music. Baer actually straps the tuba to he back and rides. This summer he rode 2,000 miles from NYC to Vail, CO [...]

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It looks as though Lancaster PA is scrapping plans for their downtown convention center and hotel project. Bids for the $140 million project came in at $20 million over budget. Nearly $30 million has already been spent.
The $95 million Erie Bayfront Convention Center is $9 million over budget. The Erie project is on schedule to [...]

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Congrats to Pennsylvania Sate Police Troop E commander Kevin Dugan. Dugan was off-duty and driving over 12th Street when he heard an alarm going off. After calling in the alarm, he asked the witness of a break-in for a description of the suspect. The quickly found the guy who was making his getaway on foot [...]

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David McHenry was charged with the murder of Joshua DiBello. Police also recovered the murder weapon yesterday. Tips and details by the public along with good police work solved this crime in less than a week.
I received the following:
Jared Smith is an American citizen, born in Erie, PA, he is 25 years old and he [...]

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The review of 74 cases from the Erie County Office of Children and Youth was turned over to the county. Retired Erie County Judges Michael Palmisano and Fred Anthony conducted the review and wrote the report. It would be a shock if many of these cases weren’t repoened due to mishandling by the Office of [...]

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The search for Fran Medwick of Washington Township has been called off. Medwick apparently fell off his boat and drowned while fishing in Lake Erie in the area between Elk Creek and Trout Run.
Avoid West 12th Street for the next two days. Demolition work on the former Gunite plant at 12th and Cherry is taking [...]

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When I saw a 1954 Studebaker, I knew something was up. Especially the way it was painted. And I quickly found out it’s one of the cars taking part in the Bullrun, the famous road rally and 3000 mile party. The car driven by Kevin Ward and Bret Haller has 650 HP with a top [...]

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Congrats to Margo Carlson whom won the “Name the Tower Ride” contest at Waldameer Amusement Park and Water World. The new 140 foot Tower Drop ride will be called the X Scream. There will be a 2 day preview, Sat Nov 4 and Sun Nov 5, before the ride opens for the season next Spring.
The [...]

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Joshua Dibello was found dead in his car in the parking lot of Herman’s, 28th and Old French. He died from a gunshot to the head. No word on any suspects but with his brother John being a city police officer, it shouldn’t be too long.
The ONLY supplier of blood to the hospitals in Erie [...]

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The young girl that abandoned her baby on Tuesday evening has turned herself in. It’s up to the DA to decide if any charges will be filed. The Erie County Office of Children and Youth has custody of the baby for now. With their track record that’s a scary thought. The baby is still at [...]

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Yesterday evening around 8 pm a young woman abandoned a newborn baby at the corner of Maryland Ave and South Shore Drive. The umbilical cord was still attached. The birth giver, the term “mother” is not appropriate, faces a number of charges.
Under the Safe Haven program, you can give up a baby at any hospital [...]

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Erie based Spectrum Control (Nasdaq: SPEC), a leading designer and manufacturer of electronic control products and systems, announced that it has acquired all of the outstanding common stock of Advanced Thermal Products. ATP, based in St Marys, Pennsylvania, designs and manufactures custom temperature sensors. The total purchase price of the acquisition was $9.3 million. This [...]

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The Lansdowne, the barge that has been sitting and rusting on the Sassafras Street pier since 1999,has been towed away to Buffalo. Specialty Restaurants Corp of Anaheim CA wanted to convert the barge to a floating restaurant before the company ran into financial problems.
Flickr photo by mattcr2006.
The official high temperature on Sunday which is measured [...]

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I was hosting an open house yesterday at 351 East 24 Street when around 2 pm the youth group from the Mt Zion Seventh Day Adventist Church, 206 East 24th Street, came along with garbage bags in hand and picked up litter throughout the neighborhood. The church should be commended for making a difference in [...]

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Former City of Erie Finance Director Chuck Herron has your social security number, tax records, employer information and income information for all people that lived or worked in Erie in 1999. This is what the thief Chuck Herron stole from the city when he was fired. The white collar criminal Herron used those records to [...]

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Erie based RentWay (NYSE: RWY), an operator of 790 rent-to-own stores in 34 states, is up for sale and has hired investment bank Citigroup to oversee the process. Rent-Way shares jumped 7.5 percent to $8.14 on the New York Stock Exchange after Reuters reported the news just before the closing bell. Shares closed at [...]

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A couple of kids, 13 and 14, attempted a hold up with a gun last night at the Wendy’s on Buffalo Road. State police troopers quickly caught them as their cars went faster than the kids making their getaway peddling their bicycles.
The Bayfront Center for Maritime Studies in Erie will be given a wind turbine [...]

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Jack Tirak has started a new blog called Erie Media-Go-Round. Tirak is ‘THE’ expert on Erie media. He seems to have agnered a couple of people at WSEE. The blog, including the comments, is a must read.
Who at Case Management Support Services pissed off a Erie County Council member? County Council council voted 5-2 [...]

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