Murder, snow, basketball, table games, building collapse, donating blood, gas prices, cell phone ban, fund raising, Otter hockey…

Read the full post

Thanksgiving is only a week away!

Read the full post

Is it just me, or do the leaves that keep falling to the ground seem to be much more abundant this year?

Read the full post

Election Day events are still dominating the news this morning, a day and a half after the polls closed.

Read the full post

U.S. Congresswoman Kathleen Dahlkemper has co-sponsored The Locomotive Fleet Investment and Tax Credit Act of 2009.  The tax credit is intended to encourage all aspects of the locomotive industry, through increased manufacturing, sales, and purchasing.  By increasing demand, the act should also preserve jobs in the industry.  The act would create a 30% tax credit.  [...]

Read the full post

Kristy Wallace, the delightful young lady who handles the front desk for Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio, awakened yesterday morning to find that someone had rammed their truck into her garage. The garage was
destroyed, and the driver of the truck left behind some blood, but has not been found. Fortunately, Kristy’s car was not in [...]

Read the full post

 
Mother Nature proved again that she can be a mean mom.  The area was hit Tuesday night and Wednesday with high winds and plenty of rain.  Trees and utility poles were blown over by winds up to 50 mph.  Power outages darkened 3800 homes a the height of the storm, and waves of over 15 [...]

Read the full post

Finally someone is going to put to use the constant wind that comes across Lake Erie.  Ontario Hydro is planning to erect more than 800 wind turbines in the lake.  That’s enough to provide power for two million homes.  Sounds a lot better than some other power generation ideas that are floating around.  Now if [...]

Read the full post

We’re feeling sorry for all those poor folks who live in the Pittsburgh area as the G-20 Conference opens today.  It looks and sounds like everyone in the country with something to protest or an agenda to push has descended on the City.  Several groups couldn’t wait for the official opening, and started their shenanigans [...]

Read the full post

Lilly Broadcasting will carry the second annual Community for Kanzius Cancer Research Fund Telethon this evening on WSEE, WICU, and the CW.  Let’s all do our best to help them top last year’s total of almost $100,000 dollars.
Patricia Fronzaglia, of Warsaw Ave, became the first recipient of the Maleno family-to-Family Fund’s Home Makeover.  Mrs Fronzaglia has been disabled [...]

Read the full post

The state budget woes are affecting everyone, including the PA Historical and Museum Commission. They are considering closing 6 historic sites and/or museums, including the Flagship Niagara here in Erie. The ship would stop sailing, but remain as a museum. The commission will hold public meetings at each affected area. We’ll let you know when. [...]

Read the full post

We caught a late night showing of the Watchmen last night. That movie was great but thanks to its length of 2 hours and 40 minutes, we’re a bit groggy this morning. We’ll be brief – go outside and enjoy the great weather.
Erie DA Brad Foulk has reviewed the medical files in the case of [...]

Read the full post

The NBA Development League Erie BayHawks and the OHL Erie Otters are joining forces to give area fans two games for the price of one March 13 and 14 at the Tullio Arena.
Fans who purchase a ticket to the Erie BayHawks Friday, March 13 game versus the Dakota Wizards will be able to take their [...]

Read the full post

February 22 through the 28 is the United Way’s Week of Thanks. Each day this week you will find specials, discounts and offers from local businesses and stores as a way to say thank you to the Erie community for their support of the United Way.
Monday
Bootleggers Bar and Grill are offering a free appetizer with [...]

Read the full post

The big news of yesterday was the passing of John Kanzius. Kanzius, 64, worked at WJET for many years, including serving as the station’s general manager. For the last several years, he had been developing a technology for killing cancer cells using radio waves. He began developing this technology after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. [...]

Read the full post

The Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, in cooperation with the Presque Isle Partnership and Presque Isle State Park, invite everyone to Pucks on Presque Isle, presented by McDonald’s, being held this Sunday from 11-3 p.m. at Presque Isle State Park’s Rotary Pavilion.
Pucks on Presque Isle, presented by McDonald’s, will feature the Otters participating [...]

Read the full post

Did yesterday seem downright tropical or what? Temperatures in the low 40’s make us long for Spring. The heat wave ends today, with temps not even getting to 20°.
Millcreek police were investigating a robbery at a trailer mobile home and instead of a burglary, they found drug paraphernalia and at least one marijuana plant [...]

Read the full post

Today’s high temperature: 13 degrees. It’s only the middle of January but man it feels like it’s been winter for about a million years. We’ve got a lake effect snow warning that runs until Friday at 7 p.m. and the forecast is calling for about a foot before the warning’s expired. More power to the [...]

Read the full post

Hopefully, you had a chance to dig out a bit yesterday. Saturday was intense and the city is still clearing the streets, especially the side ones. We’ve found the key is to make friends with whatever neighbor has a snowblower. Our friend did ours in time for us to get wings before the Steelers game, [...]

Read the full post

Bob at Erie’s Groceries posted this weekend that Troyer Farms is in the process of being sold to Snyder’s of Hanover. If this indeed the case, we hope that Snyder’s will keep the plant open and the people there employed. If we might also make one more request – bring back the smaller crinkles on [...]

Read the full post

Erie is mentioned briefly in this Vanity Fair cover story about Tina Fey. Fey was able to get her husband’s parents to meet Sarah Palin at her Erie rally through her connections with the McCain campaign and SNL – not to mention her dead-on impression.
East 12th Street will remain closed between Bacon Street and [...]

Read the full post

Snows yesterday caused a few crashes and made for some slippery driving. Check the box over there -> for road conditions if you’re travelling.
If you braved the shops yesterday, more power to you. We hope you got some good bargains.
A bit of good news for our area – sheriff sales were down in [...]

Read the full post

Happy Thanksgiving!  There might be some snow showers today and a high of 39 degrees.  Stay warm and be safe traveling.
What are you thankful for today? Post a comment and share your thoughts.
If you think it’s been snowing a lot lately, you’re correct. As of Tuesday, Erie had already been received 19 [...]

Read the full post

The Erie Times-News announced yesterday they will offer buyouts to 25 employees, or about 9% of their work force in a cost-cutting move. Employees were notified of the cuts during a meeting yesterday afternoon. We certainly don’t mean to poke any fun at the pain of losing a job,but when we read the story at GoErie, [...]

Read the full post

Today is Veterans Day. From the President of the United States:
On Veterans Day, we remember those who have served in previous wars, those who are serving today, and those who did not live to become veterans. Our Nation is blessed by these brave defenders, and we owe a debt of gratitude to all [...]

Read the full post

Get ready for some snow today — two to four inches in the snow belt. Drive careful! It must finally be winter time — Mike heard Christmas music in the Wal-Mart last night.
Terrible news to the many people who have ever had the opportunity to visit the Gudgeonville Bridge in Girard.  This past weekend the [...]

Read the full post

The PA Supreme Court has ruled that Steven Porter will not be on the ballot this November.  Porter had appealed a lower court’s ruling that 1,500 of the signatures on his nominating petitions were invalid.  Despite having campaigned numerous times, Porter violated PA election law by completing information for voters.  Porter says he will run [...]

Read the full post

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.
For a complete list of area Halloween and Fall events, see our special coverage.
This Week
The Allegheny [...]

Read the full post

Today is Columbus Day, a day when we celebrate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492.  Can you name the three ships Columbus led to the Americas?  Courts, public schools, many banks, and the Post Office will be closed today, so no Netflix discs for you.
Congrats to Greg Ropp and everyone at [...]

Read the full post

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Thomas Brletic of the Gaming Control Board’s Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement, has testified before a grand jury proceeding yesterday that is largely being kept secret. The investigation is focusing primarily on former state House Democratic Whip Mike Veon and back room deals with casinos [...]

Read the full post

MTR Gaming Group alluded that a major announcement may come during its October 31st conference call when it reports third-quarter results next month. Specifically, it was mentioned that the status of work by the board’s Succession Committee would be reported. Chief Executive Officer Ted Arneault has indicated he could step down at year’s [...]

Read the full post

The sail boats you saw on the bay yesterday were part of the the 24th Annual Erie Yacht Club Regatta. The event benefited the American Red Cross.
Stay away from Cherry Street between 26th and 18th streets. More paving and road work is being done. Liberty Street is your best alternate route.
Erie Blogs [...]

Read the full post

The party’s over for unaccompanied teens who want to attend the 8 Great Tuesdays concerts. The Port Authority voted on Friday to not allow children under the age of 16 to attend the events without a parent or guardian. We’re guessing the 8 fights at last week’s concert was the icing on the cake for [...]

Read the full post

The Erie area enjoyed another glorious day on Sunday – bright sunshine with a high of 88 degrees. About 80,000 people visited Presque Isle State Park over the weekend. The forecast today calls for a high near 90, the fifth day in a row with temps hitting the mid 80’s.
The Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority (EMTA) [...]

Read the full post

The official high temperature in Erie was 92 degrees on Friday. Temps on Saturday and Sunday might be near 90. There was a great crowd along the bayfront and at Presque Isle State Park. I’m a bit jealous of how Ella, daughter of Holli and Jason, kept cool.
Get out of the heat for a few [...]

Read the full post

Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy US Academic Decathlon team, the 2008 Pennsylvania state champion, took third place at the National Academic Decathlon competition at Garden Grove, California. The team competed in Division III, the small schools category. Members of the team are: Amy Babay, Stephanie Engel, and Sumner Nichols (Honors); Amal Abukar, Alexa Johnson, and Rebekah [...]

Read the full post

Handicapping guru Andy Beyer has picked Pyro to win today’s Kentucky Derby. Andy Beyer, a Harvard University graduate from Erie PA, created the Beyer Speed Figures used by bettors that measures how fast a horse runs on any given track. “Synthetic” racing surfaces have replaced the old dirt tracks and made the Beyer Speed Figures [...]

Read the full post

Robert Waters passed away of a stoke. Waters was a recently the victim of a home invasion. So recently that you have to question the findings by Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook and comments by Erie County District Attorney Brad Foulk. In the story by Kara Rhodes Cook said that his death was unrelated to [...]

Read the full post

GE has 84 job openings posted for their plant in Erie, PA. You can search their employment listings at GE Careers. Just since April 1, they have posted 53 jobs: Program Manager International Loco/Mods, Instructor – Mechanical Systems, Locomotive Compressed Air Systems Engineer, Erie Plant Materials Leader, Instructor – Electrical Systems, Lean Six Sigma Black [...]

Read the full post

Funeral plans for fallen firefighter Mike Crotty are as follows: calling hours will be held at the Iroquois High School Auditorium, 4301 Main Street in Lawrence Park, Thursday 4-6 pm and Friday 4-6 pm and 7-9 pm. The funeral services will be held at Our Lady of Mercy Church, 837 Bartlett Rd in Harborcreek, on [...]

Read the full post

There is an excellent must read article by Mackenzie Carpenter in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today entitled “Erie voters fret about theirs and their children’s futures.” Maybe it’s that Pittsburgh is two hours from Erie but the story was fair and pointed out many of the positives that Erie has and not just the few negative [...]

Read the full post

It’s now been 3 weeks since Lindsay Graygo was beaten and then strangled to death in her Ypsilanti Township, Michigan apartment. Word is investigators are still waiting for the DNA kit to come back. Graygo of Erie, PA graduated from McDowell in 1997, earned a BA in advertising /public relations from Penn State University Park [...]

Read the full post

There is an excellent must-read story in the Charleston (WV) Gazette on the story of Bob Wiesen who grew up in the St Joseph’s Home for Children in Erie. St Joseph’s was the orphanage in Erie. Wiesen lived at the orphanage from the time he was an infant until he finished high school. The story [...]

Read the full post

Tilting at windmills, Erie City Council passed a resolution calling for the City Solicitor Greg Karle to write up an ordinance calling for continuous monitoring at the proposed tires to energy plant. Karle has already told council that any effort to make emissions laws tougher than the current state or federal laws wouldn’t survive a [...]

Read the full post

John Kanzius and Dr Steven Curley announced yesterday to a packed house at South Fort Myers High School Auditorium that Lee Memorial Health System in Southwest Florida will most likely be one of the six sites for human trials of the Kanzius radio wave cancer treatment. About $8 million is needed to raised for the [...]

Read the full post

Two car washes are for sale. One is a bit of a surprise. Splash’s Auto Bath House at 2968 West 12th St is for sale. The listed price for the property is $599,000. Business and equipment is $90,000 extra. Splash’s has been operating for about a dozen years. If I remember right a doctor owns [...]

Read the full post

The Erie Zoo reopens today after being closed for the Winter. Hours are 10 am everyday until 5pm. During the summer months, the zoo is open until 6 pm on Sundays. The Zoo is closed December, January and February. Admission prices are $7 for adults, $6 for senior citizens, $4 for children 2-11, children [...]

Read the full post

Karma. Former state representative Linda Bebko-Jones and her then chief of staff, Mary Fiolek, were formally charged with forging nominating petitions and submitting the fraudulent forms to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Bebko-Jones and Fiolek are scheduled to surrender next week and appear before Harrisburg Magisterial District Judge Joseph Solomon for preliminary arraignment. According to [...]

Read the full post

Scott Enterprises has a news conference scheduled for this morning to announce a 20,000 square foot, $6 million expansion to Splash Lagoon Indoor Water Park Resort. Back in September, Scott Enterprises obtained $81 million as they mortgaged 10 properties. They used $49 million to refi existing debt, built two new hotels, and will use the [...]

Read the full post

Nearly 350 teams participated in the 10th annual MECA Erie Bar Stool Open. The teams paid $100 to play miniature golf and drink on a cold Saturday in February.
Case Management Support Services, which did mental-health and mental-disability services for Erie County, completed their change over. They lost their contract with the county in July. They [...]

Read the full post

Erie, PA based American Resort Management has been brought in to manage and rescue the Fort Rapids Water Park in Columbus, Ohio. Platinum Ridge Properties owns the water park and an adjoining 337 room Holiday Inn and Suites. They are attempting to sell the properties. The occupancy rate at the hotel at 45 percent was [...]

Read the full post

The Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League announced at a press conference that Ron Sertz has decided to step down as the club’s Director of Operations. “I’ve enjoyed 12 great years with the Otters in my position as Director of Operations,” Sertz said. “I’m very proud of the organization that we have built and [...]

Read the full post

The US Coast Guard station in Erie had more excitement Sunday than they wanted. They were called out at least twice for people having trouble on the water/slush/ice. Didn’t hear of any rescues but I’d bet a couple of people got wet. With temps in the upper 40’s and hard rain, the ice covered bay [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

This past weekend, the Erie Otters retired Brad Boyes’ number 16. Here’s a quick video of them raising the banner, this week’s Erie YouTube of the Week.

I went to a couple of games during the OHL finals in 2002, including Game 7. Man, that was fun. I can remember the game going into overtime [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

In a story that just tears your heart out, Robert Riddle went into the ICU at UPMC Northwest in Cranberry Township on Friday. He took his wife’s life and then his own. Shirley Riddle had Alzheimer’s and was being treated for internal bleeding.
John Gillette, a science teacher at James W Parker Middle School in Edinboro, [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

 
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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

 
The proposed 2008 city budget is not available on the city web site. Guess they don’t want the peasants getting their hands on the information. Or maybe the 4 people working in the information technology office (2007 office budget of $268,572; $246,977 in wages and benefits for 4 people, average per person of $61,744) can’t [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

The Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership published the Interim Report on Activity, Findings, and Recommendations prepared by the Mayoral Advisory Group. A group of 40 business and community leaders volunteered their busy lives to give advise to the city to improve finances and avoid Act 47, distressed city status. The ink wasn’t even dry [...]

Read the full post

 
The Best Places to Work in PA winners were announced and 3 Erie companies made the 2007 list for large size companies. Saint Vincent Health System was 5th, Stairways Behavioral Health was 16th and Hamot Medical Center was 48th. No area companies made the list in the medium size category. Registration for the 2008 nominations [...]

Read the full post

Malcolm Kysor of Erie escaped from the State Correctional Institution at Albion. Kysor was serving a life sentence for murder. The morons at the prison found him missing at 4:30. Along with searching for an escaped murderer prison officials should also be searching for other jobs. The first mention that I saw was a news [...]

Read the full post

 
A few toys that were made in the Erie area sold recently on eBay. I know you’re thinking Marx toys from Louis Marx and Co but these pre-date that company. These were manufactured by Carter Toys. Carter Toys was located in Erie, Pa and operated from 1900-1920. They manufactured mostly tin toys, and were well [...]

Read the full post

 
Waitressing in an Erie diner was a necessity for Kathleen Valentine while she attended college at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. Now, nearly forty years later, that experience is the background for her first novel The Old Mermaid’s Tale, released by Parlez-Moi Press. Set in the fictional town of Port Presque Isle, Pennsylvania in [...]

Read the full post

Black Friday in Erie, the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. The day stores live for all year to finally make a profit. Pennsylvania has tax-free shopping on clothes and people flock to the area. Canadians by the bus load are here to take advantage of a favorable exchange rate as $1 Canadian gets [...]

Read the full post

Craig Sundberg and his wife Megan of Erie have just 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 [...]

Read the full post

The City of Erie had a budget deficit of $1.3 million in 2006. That’s according to the draft of the audit done by the regional CPA firm of McGill, Power, Bell and Associates. One of the requirements to have Erie declared a distressed city under Act 47, the Distressed Municipalities Financial Recovery Act, is five [...]

Read the full post

 
According to The Tax Foundation in their 2006 report on Property Taxes on Owner Occupied Housing by County, Erie County Pennsylvania has the 55th highest property taxes in the nation out of 783 counties (or parishes). That will change next year as the following four member of Erie County Council voted to raise your taxes: [...]

Read the full post

 
Erie has been granted a franchise in the National Premier Soccer League. The league has not yet confirmed this. I doubt there is an ownership group in place. The NPSL is a minor league that’s equivalent to the fourth level of pro soccer in the United States. Major League Soccer is the top level, followed [...]

Read the full post

 
Great news for a local company and area high tech job growth. Zabaware’s Ultra Hal software won the “most human” computer of the year in the 17th annual Loebner Prize Competition for Artificial Intelligence (AI). The contest was held in New York City hosted by philanthropist Hugh Loebner. The Loebner Prize is an annual competition [...]

Read the full post

Someone needs to fill the Sheriff Andy Taylor role if Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio is going to play Barney Fife and shoot himself in the foot or rear every week. Take the bullets out his gun already and just let him keep one in his pocket. Just a few days ago, after a public [...]

Read the full post

WJET-TV ran a story in which Sheriff Bob Merski said he was looking into the possibility of putting a temporary halt to sheriff sales in Erie County. Sheriff sales are done to recoup back unpaid property taxes. Merski is asking the County Solicitor’s Office for an opinion. You know things are slow building-wise when an [...]

Read the full post

Union employees at the Erie County Office of Children and Youth voted to approve a new contract. The 4 year agreement gives them 5.2 to 7.2 annual pay raises. The union has continually said the office is short up to 18 caseworkers. Haven’t heard anyone from the county say anything about new hires and there [...]

Read the full post

I don’t really agree with it, but I have to give then credit for being creative. Seems like the Erie County Council and Erie City Council have reached a deal to fund the Erie Airport runway expansion project. The county will contribute at least $18 million toward the project in exchange for appointing 4 of [...]

Read the full post

Emmanuel was not born in Erie. He was born in a small village in Cameroon, in West Africa. His parents were poor, hardworking and uneducated, in the school sense. For that reason they wanted to be sure their children were educated and educated well. They wanted more for their kids than working on a farm [...]

Read the full post

Erie International Airport officials asked Erie County Council for $18 million for the runway expansion project. The airport is owned by the City of Erie. County council wants the Erie Municipal Airport Authority board expanded to 9 members with 4 appointed by the county. Erie City Council hinted around that they might agree to 3 [...]

Read the full post

The Erie Community Foundation has received an anonymous donation of $100 million. Yes, $100,000,000. It is believed to be the largest anonymous charitable donation EVER. Much of the money, $85 million, will go 46 nonprofits in the Erie area. A big reason why Erie nonprofits are so successful is the Erie Community Foundation. The foundation [...]

Read the full post

Erie County Office of Children and Youth employees went on strike yesterday. They had been offered a 4 year contract that called for raises of 3 percent for the first 3 years and 3.2 percent in the final year. The county filed an injunction to make the employees at the Edmund L Thomas Detention Center [...]

Read the full post

Wesley Urch was charged with involuntary manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter and 9 other charges for intentionally running down Terri Peoples and Stephan Caldwell on Sunday. Caldwell died and Peoples is in serious condition at Hamot. All three were drinking at a club on Sunday. Peoples and Caldwell were close to Urch’s truck, too close for Urch. [...]

Read the full post

 
The 10th annual Run Around Erie takes place today at Presque Isle State Park. The run spawned one of my favorite “Only in Erie” stories. It use to go through the streets of the city. The run went down Ash St and then west. A few years ago during the race, the corner convenience store [...]

Read the full post

 
Lerhonda Anne Starnes of North East, PA stabbed her boyfriend Tony Orlando Frazzini of Erie when he told her he was a Megan’s Law registered sex offender. Frazzini was convicted in NY in 1993. Starnes was charged with attempted homicide in the incident which took place in Butler, PA. If you are going to break [...]

Read the full post

Andrew Keel was arrested and arraigned for a Wednesday home invasion of 90 year old man’s apartment at the Sarah A Reed Retirement Center. Keel broke in through a screen window, stole items and assaulted the man. For some reason Keel wasn’t charged with attempted murder even though he twice tried to kill the victim [...]

Read the full post

 
Erie Shipbuilding held a christening ceremony yesterday for the first ships built in Erie in 34 years. The ships are the 245 ft dump scow WITTE 4003 and the 166 ft deck barge SUE B. Jeff at Erie Shipping News was there and has an excellent post on the event.
 
The Erie County Office of Children [...]

Read the full post

GE has been in Erie for 100 years. There’s a nice story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review by Rick Stouffer called GE: 100 years and still chuggin’.
 
Ron Androla of Erie has had a number of poetry books published. Ron sometimes posts poems on his online message board at The Pressure Press.
Bill Phillips (Erie, PA) is a [...]

Read the full post

An Erie Police officer shot and killed two pit bulls and they attacked and mauled an animal control officer. Patrolman Tom Dunmire shot the animals at the were biting Rob Culbertson. They were called to remove 4 animals from an apartment at the the request of the landlord who owns the property in the 900 [...]

Read the full post

Verizon most likely has a wire attached to your home for a thing called a “telephone line” for a “home phone.” Verizon is now using those useless wires to compete against cable and satellite. The company announced that they will begin construction on a video hub facility and expects to start offering FiOS TV service [...]

Read the full post

Teri Rhodes, the Mercyhurst College student whose baby died minutes after giving birth, still hasn’t been charged with a crime. It’s now been 5 weeks — 35 days. Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook declared the death a homicide. Cook said the baby was born alive and suffocated to death. Police found the baby in a [...]

Read the full post

Steris Corporation announced they have reached a tentative non-binding agreement to sell their property in Erie to IRG (Industrial Realty Group). That’s great news for the Erie area as IRG has an excellent rack record of turning industrial properties into mixed use complexes. Steris only put the property up for sale a couple of months [...]

Read the full post

Last month the Commonwealth Court rejected a 2005 lawsuit by Erie area hotel operators against the Erie Convention Center Authority that is building a Sheraton Hotel with money coming from a hotel room tax. It’s being appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The operators were crying unfair. You would think they would have to go [...]

Read the full post

The 298th Trensportation Company from Franklin PA, which had about 160 soldiers in Forward Operating Base Q-West Iraq (Quyarrah AB) aka ‘Key West’, will be arriving home this weekend. Welcome home.
Richard Valentine allegedly killed his wife Anna, threw a blanket over her, changed his clothes, left a note for his landlord not to enter the [...]

Read the full post

Today is the 6th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Never forget. Hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Another plane crashed at Shanksville, PA when passengers and crew fought back.
A Freedom Walk will be held this morning at Wesleyville Memorial Park. Registration begins at 8 pm with the walk starting at [...]

Read the full post

The Greater Erie Board of Realtors reported the latest monthly real estate sales figures for Erie County in which a transfer tax was paid. For the period of August 1-31, 2007 there were 553 properties sold for $67,275,094 which compares to the same period in 2006 in which 566 properties changed hands for $73,272,981. Figures [...]

Read the full post

Dennis Beard III was found not guilty of the 1998 murder of Amy Lawrence. There was a boat load of circumstantial evidence but no physical evidence and his former fiancee testified that he admitted the murder to her but it wasn’t enough to convince the jury.
 
Molly Brannigans announced they are opening a restaurant in Heritage [...]

Read the full post

Port Erie Boat Works has gone out of business. Just recently their web site stated that “Port Erie Boat Works has been sold to an elite group of boat builders and investors.” Now it says they’re gone.
 
The Erie International Airport received a $5.1 million check from the FAA to acquire a few homes for the [...]

Read the full post

Erie Blogger Scott McCausland has been ordered by the United States Government to switch to Windows from Ubuntu, a free Debian derived Linux-based operating system. Scott is on probation and the monitoring system will only run on Windows. This comes awful close to cruel and unusual punishment. His related entry. There have been a number [...]

Read the full post

In Erie County last year there was just under 650 foreclosures. The latest figure I heard for Erie County and Northwest PA in 2007 is over 1,400 foreclosures. Yipes. Get help before it happens. Call your lender. Refinance through another lender. Take action. Do something. The National Association of REALTORS has a brochure in pfd [...]

Read the full post

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 [...]

Read the full post

Erie County Judge Stephanie Domitrovich ruled against lifting a deed restriction on the Erie Golf Course property. It must remain a golf course or a public park. The city wanted the restriction lifted so they could sell the property to developers. The city has about a $2 million debt from recent renovations at the course. [...]

Read the full post

Spectrum Control of Erie (Nasdaq: SPEC) reported fiscal second-quarter net income of $2.8 million, or 20 cents per diluted share, on sales of $33.6 million, compared to net income of $1.7 million or 13 cents per share on sales of $31.9 million for the same period last year. For the first half of fiscal 2007, [...]

Read the full post

 
The 2007 Erie Summer Festival of the Arts wraps up today. Perfect weather has brought out large crowds. This is a FREE event and open to the public. It’s being held at Liberty Park on the Erie Bayfront. The theme is “You Gotta Have Arts.”
 
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry Center for Workforce Information [...]

Read the full post

Attorneys Norman A “Buddy’ Stark and Eric S Yonkin agreed to a $21,500 settlement on behalf of Invest Erie Development Corporation in their suit against the City of Erie. If you ever need a lawyer, call everyone else in town before these two jerks. Invest Erie Development Corporation has done more damage to investment and [...]

Read the full post

The ponytail wearing environmentalist hippies held a misrepresentational information meeting on the Erie Renewable Energy proposed tire to energy plant. They would have you believe the plant will cause everything from cancer to autism to children not wanting to do their homework. Energy Products of Idaho, the company that will design the plant in Erie, [...]

Read the full post

 
Harborcreek Township began work on a number of additional improvements at Shades Beach Park. Construction work includes 4 new boat launches, fishing piers, as well as the improved beach
area. On the shores of Lake Erie, Shades Beach is located at 7000 East Lake Road (Route 5) at the intersection of Bartlett Road. Shades Beach [...]

Read the full post

Just a rumor but there is talk of a hotel and golf course being added at Presque Isle Downs and Casino.
 
Still looking for house plants or flowers for your yard? The Dr Gertrude A Barber National Institute Greenhouse offers plants and flowers available for sale year round, including seasonal items such as an array of [...]

Read the full post

“One of the most dangerous places in the US is the space between a senator and a TV camera.”
Tom Ridge
Tom Ridge of Erie, the former governor of Pennsylvania and the nations first Secretary of Homeland Security, sure sounded like a candidate for Vice President at a speech he gave to the members of the American [...]

Read the full post

 
Swamp Zombies is being released on Tuesday May 8. The DVD will be available at KillerWolfFilms.com, FYE Music and Movies, Suncoast, Best Buy , Circuit City and other video outlets. Swamp Zombies features Shannon Solo, WWE superstar Blue Meanie, XXX legend Jasmin St Claire, UFC hall of famer Dan “the beast” Severn and sexy [...]

Read the full post

Jack at Erie Media-Go-Round has confirmation from Carol Wilson that she will be leaving WSEE. Her last day is Friday May 11.
Excellent job by Jeff at Erie Shipping News covering the ships coming and going from the Port of Erie. It seems every time I look at the lake I see a big ship.
 
Very Reverend [...]

Read the full post

 
There was a bit of a commotion at Erie International Airport Friday morning when a Cessna reported engine problems. Traffic was a mess for about a half an hour with emergency vehicles racing to the airport. The RELCO (Radio Emergency Light Company) system prevents accidents but it’s frustrating to drivers that have to sit at [...]

Read the full post

 
Kevin Mahoney fo Erie PA was named a Carnegie Medal winner yesterday by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. The law student at Ohio State University had recently graduated from Penn State University and still was living in State College the morning of April 2, 2006. Mahoney and Matthew Emmerling saved Seth Mattleman and others from [...]

Read the full post

Jon Whaley has resigned as assistant to Mayor Joe Sinnott. I’m not sure if he was just frustrated with trying to deal the the bureaucracy of government work or if it had anything to do with the hiring of former TV reporter Erika Howland who is now working for the City of Erie. The timing [...]

Read the full post

A symposium on the John Kanzius cancer treatment was held yesterday at Mercyhurst College. The place was packed yet you could have heard a pin drop. People in attendance soaked in every word. Dr Steven Curley of M D Anderson Cancer Center and Kanzius spoke. Since Kanzius came up with the treatment, every bit of [...]

Read the full post

Valerie Cantu, a former Gannon student, was arrested for making terroristic threats. Cantu called a current Gannon student and told her not to go to classes because there was going to be a massacre. Erie Police were notified of the threat. They called the FBI. The anonymous called was easily traced. Police called Cantu [...]

Read the full post

David McHenry entered a plea agreement in the murder of Joshua Dibello. 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. McHenry was sentenced to 22-45 years in prison.
Walter Hendl passed away at age 90 in his home in [...]

Read the full post

 
A court hearing was held yesterday concerning the Erie Golf Course. The hearing will continue in April. The city wants to sell the property while the Lake Erie Region Conservancy, the Keep Erie Golf Course Open Committee which is headed by former councilman Jim Casey, and Jim Casella, the former assistant city public works director, [...]

Read the full post

 
A bathroom remodeling at The Depot Restaurant and Lounge, which was a former train station in Yakima, Washington, revealed a carving of famous hobo and author, A-No 1, Leon Ray Livingston of Erie PA. His hobo name and the year 1935 were etched on a marble bathroom wall divider. Owner Karl Pasten had the watch [...]

Read the full post

 
I talked to someone at Presque Isle Downs and Casino that said 8-9 out of town buses have scheduled trips to Erie but out local bus company, the EMTA (Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority) still hasn’t made a decision on providing service. Has anyone told them the place is open and employs 700 people that might [...]

Read the full post

 
Radnor Property Group and Fourth River Development were picked as the development team for the first phase of the downtown Erie redevelopment plan. The area is between Holland and Sassafras Streets, 12th to 14th Streets. Radnor and Fourth River announced (press release) they were looking for a project to do together back in December after [...]

Read the full post

 
The Erie County Department of Health released their 2007 Erie County Health Assessment. in 2000-04, 41.4 percent of children born in Erie County PA were bastards, born to single mothers. In 2004, the pregnancy rate for underage teenage girls (ages 15-17) in Erie County was 18.9 percent per 1000 girls. Over 60 percent of county [...]

Read the full post

Erie City Council refused to re-hire fired Erie Police Detective Ed Dickens. After a 2 day hearing, council voted unanimously not to let him return to work. Dickens was convicted of harassment for a 2005 incident involving his wife, they were split up at the time, and her male friend.
Tomorrow is the worst day of [...]

Read the full post

 
Erie School District Superintendent James Barker had his contract extended for 5 years by the Erie School Board. He`ll get a 3 percent salary increase each year plus cost of living adjustments. He’ll be making about a quarter million dollars a year by the end of the contract. Barker doesn’t live in Erie so [...]

Read the full post

 
The Millcreek Golf and Learning Center was built on the site of a former toxic waste dump. It was completed in 2001. Township officials knew it wouldn’t be in business for long because they knew the Erie International Airport runway expansion was coming and wipe nearly half the course. But hey, it wasn’t Millcreek taxpayers [...]

Read the full post

According the Brookings Institution study – From ‘There’ to ‘Here’: Refugee Resettlement in Metropolitan America – an analysis of refugees as a percentage of overall immigrants, the Erie PA area ranked third in a list of Medium-sized USA metropolitan areas. From 1983-2004, 4,545 refugees made Erie their new home including 2,969 from 1990-2000. The International [...]

Read the full post

 
Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy won the United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) Pennsylvania state competition and will move on to the national competition, which takes place in Hawaii this year. This year’s team comprises Amy Babay, Matt Faytak, and Samantha Ohmer (honors); Amal Abukar, Alexa Johnson, and Alicia Quick (scholastic); and Josh Ohmer, Celeste Trombetta, and [...]

Read the full post

Erie County Judge John Bozza granted a permanent injunction preventing the county wide smoking ban from taking effect. The judge concluded that the county ordinance violated the Pennsylvania Clean Indoor Air Act. Congrats to Eric Purchase on the win. This is exactly what the county solicitor told Erie County Council would happen. The arrogant members [...]

Read the full post

 
The numbers for the opening day of Presque Isle Downs and Casino were staggering. I think company officials were even a bit stunned at how well they did. Here are the unofficial, unaudited figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The amount wagered was $8,881,234. The amount paid out as winnings was $8,068,267 for a [...]

Read the full post

 
The Presque Isle Downs and Casino Roarin’ 20’s Players Club is the casino’s player club. As a member, you’ll receive special discounts and comps, special invitations to player only events, promotional mailings and the opportunity to win big prizes that are exclusive to the Roarin’ 20’s Players Club members. When I think Roaring 20’s I [...]

Read the full post

 
A dozen people were arrested Thursday for operating a meth distribution ring primarily in the west county. They were importing the meth from Mexico. A heard a funny tongue-in-cheek rant about how the bust will preserve American manufacturing jobs in the methamphetamine industry. Here’s the press release by the Attorney General.
 
I was looking for info [...]

Read the full post

Saint Vincent Health Center has become an affiliate of Catholic Health Partners of Cincinnati. Affiliate in this case means taken over by. I don’t care if they say St V’s will still be run by people in Erie or that it will help them in recruiting doctors, it’s no longer a local hospital.
 
The preliminary ruling [...]

Read the full post

There was a shooting in North East PA last evening shortly after 11 pm. A North East Police officer responding to a domestic dispute shot a man in the left side of the chest. The man is in Hamot in critical condition. Pennsylvania State Police took over the investigation because it was an officer involved [...]

Read the full post

James Skindell has resigned as head of security as Presque Isle Downs. Cripe, he didn’t even make it to opening day. No reason was given and I haven’t even heard a rumor as to why he quit. Presque Isle Downs slots casino will open on February 28. Skindell retired as deputy chief of the City [...]

Read the full post

Pittsburgh has always had a residency requirement for city employees. With Erie negotiating union contracts this year, it’s something the city should consider reinstating. Make it a condition for all new hires that the individual must make their residence within the city, within 12 months or lose their job. If you don’t live in the [...]

Read the full post

Allegheny College edged Penn State in the name game. Back in September, Penn State announced they were changing the name of Penn State – McKeesport to Penn State – Allegheny. Allegheny College was none to happy and threatened legal action. Penn State gave in a little and the branch will now be renamed Penn State [...]

Read the full post

Erie County Judge John Bozza heard arguments Friday from attorneys representing two Erie County taverns asking for a preliminary injunction delaying the smoking ban from going into effect February 17 throughout Erie County. The main agrument is that Pennsylvania law supersedes the county ordinance. Bozza will announce his decision next week.
NanoLogix (Pinksheets: NNLX) announced the [...]

Read the full post

 
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A McGinty toured the site where Lake Erie Biofuels is constructing a state-of-the-art facility that will produce 45 million gallons of biodiesel each year, and spoke with company and local officials about the economic opportunities created by the governor’s Energy Independence Strategy. Biodiesel is becoming an increasingly important piece [...]

Read the full post

It’s 3 degrees. The high today is expected to be 8 degrees. We’ve had about a foot of snow in the past 24 hours and the wind has been howling. A large number of churches cancelled Sunday services. Another 10-16 inches of snow is expected with wind chills reaching 20 below zero.
A powder outage in [...]

Read the full post

A train derailment in Westfield NY, about 30 miles east of Erie, caused train traffic delays from Chicago to NYC. The CSX freight train had only a half dozen of the cars jump the track. There were no injuries. Traffic was diverted to the Norfolk-Southern line.
Erie is experiencing it’s coldest temperatures in nearly 4 decades. [...]

Read the full post

 
The city is taking away a $300,000 state for the proposed grocery store at 19th and Parade Streets. The grant must be used by June. The city wants to use the money to demolish the Warren Radio building at 14th and French Streets. The Erie Redevelopment Authority wants to have townhouse built at that location.
Invest [...]

Read the full post

Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott announced he is forming a committee to plan for future use of the GAF Materials roof shingle plant on the Erie Bayfront. The property sits next to the Erie Bayfront Convention Center. The Erie Port Authority or the Erie Convention Center Authority seem to be the most likely buyers. Hopefully the [...]

Read the full post

The Harbor Creek School District fired David Sidelinger for refusing a photo ID badge. Sidelinger sued the district wearing saying a photo badge was against his religious beliefs. The case was pretty much over when an attorney for the district wondered why it wasn’t against his religious beliefs to have his photo plastered on a [...]

Read the full post

I received more info on the City of Erie health care insurance. The city budgeted $16,500 per employee and councilperson for 2007.
In response to the questions you posed related to my e-mail, I have some additional information for you. First of all, the City of Erie is “self insured.” They pay the actual costs of [...]

Read the full post

A reader sent me details about the GAF Materials Corporation severance package to the Erie based employees. They were offered 3 weeks severance, and if you stay until the end you receive an additional $500. If you’ve been there 20 years or more you receive 4 weeks severance. If your anniversary of working [...]

Read the full post

I received the following from a reader that brings up a great point -
I’m just wondering why there has not been any ink given to the City of Erie’s 2007 Budget. Of particular interest to me was the overstating of the “estimated” health insurance costs. The budget allocates approximately $16,500 for each city employee, even [...]

Read the full post

The White House has nominated Lieutenant General James M Dubik of Erie PA to take charge of training Iraqi military and police forces. Dubik has been commanding general at Fort Lewis and I Corps since 2004. He graduated from Holy Rosary, Erie Cathedral Prep and in 1971 graduated from Gannon University with a bachelor’s degree [...]

Read the full post

 
Former city employee Dan Borgia, a Mario Bagnoni Democrat who must feel like he hasn’t done enough damage to the city, was on WJET-TV yesterday saying he wants the city to adopt a system for real estate taxes in the city of Erie which would have a much higher rate for land and a lower [...]

Read the full post

 
Timothy Flanagan was going to take a job as a probation officer in Erie PA when his faculty advisor, Gannon Univeristy anthropology professor Jude Kirkpatrick, told him to go to grad school. After graduating from Gannon he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in criminal justice at the State University of New York at Albany. [...]

Read the full post

On Friday I spoke with Mike Foreman of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Center for Local Government Services in Pittsburgh about starting a citizen based petition drive to have a public hearing to see if the City of Erie should be declared a Distressed City under Act 47. I’ll have to gather [...]

Read the full post

 
John Deasy went to Mercyhurst College in Erie PA on a golf scholarship and graduated with a BA in History and Communications. An Irish Fine Gael politician and a member of Parliament from Waterford, Deasy could be a candidate to become leader of his party. Deasy said that party leader Enda Kenny should resign if [...]

Read the full post

When we are infants, we don’t think. Infants act without thinking and such acts are completely honest. As we grow into adults, we become more and more adept at thinking before we act. So either the elected officials of Erie County are not yet adults or they are exceptions to the rule.
Erie County Executive Mark [...]

Read the full post

Hugh Ogden, a native of Erie PA, drowned on Sunday when he fell through the ice on a Maine lake. Ogden was crossing Rangeley Lake on cross-country skis to get to the mainland from his camp when the ice gave way. He joined the faculty of Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut as Professor of English [...]

Read the full post

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Alice Robie Resnick, who was born in Erie PA, did not to seek re-election in 2006. Resnick steps down on Monday after spending 18 years on the bench. Her husband, former appellate Judge Melvin Resnick, has been in poor health and during her last term she was convicted of a DUI.
Vogt’s [...]

Read the full post

County Executive Mark DiVecchio is scarring me. Maybe he isn’t the bumbling goof he was thought to be. He again sounded reasonable and wants to save the taxpayers of Erie County a possible lawsuit by delaying the smoking ban until May 1 saying the delay would give the state legislature time to fix the law. [...]

Read the full post

Erie County Council appointed Charles Augustine to the seat formerly held by Joy Greco. Augustine spent years working as a pharmacist and part of the management team at the county owned Pleasant Ridge Nursing Home so he has a good understanding of how council operates. An official vote will take place today and then he [...]

Read the full post

SP4 Jody (Gollihugh) Ghisoiu of Erie PA is serving as a medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion and the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division at Camp Taji, Iraq. As explosive ordnance and disposal teams clear roads and other areas of improvised explosive devices and destroy insurgent weapons caches, [...]

Read the full post

It’s a pleasure to wake up to 55 degree temperatures on a December day in Erie. We might hit 60 today. Got to love the effects of El Nino. Looks like the only white we’ll see on Christmas is the mashed potatoes on our plates.
Photo by ron richardson on a beautiful card created by C-Rolla.
 
Thomas [...]

Read the full post

General McLane beat Pottsville 28-23 to win the Pennsylvania Class AAA football championship. Tough as nails Drew Astorino had 172 yards rushing including a long touchdown run after he twisted his ankle. Astorino has given a verbal commitment to Kent State but a couple of people have said Duke has offered him a 4 year, [...]

Read the full post

While dozens of Erie area economic development officials were sitting on their rears and Erie City Council was raising taxes and creating a new landlord tax, Ameridrives Coupling Products of Erie announced plans to invest more than $600,000 in capital expenditures at an existing vacant building and start manufacturing disc couplings for the natural [...]

Read the full post

 
Herbert Fiss passed away earlier this week. Fiss is the guy who tricked the city in to giving him a quarter million dollars when he said he was going to build a fruit juice plant in the Erie area. He called his sceme IFP North America. Erie was at least the third city where he [...]

Read the full post

 
 
Unlike scandals at Enron and Tyco, where fraud disguised huge losses, Rent-Way’s deceptions exaggerated growth. 
There is a great, Pulitzer Prize Explanatory Reporting great, story in today’s New York Times by Charles Duhigg on the downfall of Erie based Rentway.
Renway was a growth company. When growth slowed, three company officials cooked the books so it [...]

Read the full post

Thomas Macuilewicz, the former principal at McDowell Intermediate High School, was arraigned on charges of theft yesterday. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing and all charges were bound over for trial. Macuilewicz took nearly everything of value that wasn’t nailed down at the school – computers and musical instruments including 14 synthesizers. [...]

Read the full post

He comes the snow. We’re supposed to get anywhere from 4 to 24 inches in the next two days. Text book case of Lake Effect Snow with cold air rushing over the 40 degree waters of Lake Erie and dumping the moisture on the southern shore area. See Brian’s site at WX-MAN.com for the weather [...]

Read the full post

As well intentioned as the smoking ban in Erie Councty is, County Solicitor Thomas Talarico advised the Erie County Council that it was illegal. The smoking ban passed the first reading last evening by a vote of 5-2. It is up to state legislators to pass a ban. Council is taking a broke county down [...]

Read the full post

Erie City Council held a Saturday budget session and rubber stamped the budget submitted by Mayor Joe Sinnott making only one minor change of $24,000 to the $59.9 million budget. The formal vote on the budget will be held at the regular council meeting on December 20. Council made no cuts to the budget only [...]

Read the full post

 
Auditor General Jack Wagner released an audit of the City of Erie Aggregate Pension Fund, which found that a new retirement provision enacted by the city in 2004 resulted in the city’s receipt of $893,745 of excess state pension aid from the commonwealth. Wagner said the $893,745 of excess state aid identified in the audit [...]

Read the full post

Over 900,000 Pennsylvania hunters will head into the woods today for the first day of rifle season for deer. The season officially opens 30 minutes before sunrise. In 2005, 45 percent of antlered bucks were taken on the first day. Schools and many businesses are closed. This year’s season ends December 9.
 
Cody Hodgson scored his [...]

Read the full post

The law allowing Internet-based competitive bidding by Pennsylvania municipalities went into effect on September 5. The law also authorized reverse auctions. In reverse auctions, vendors see a ranking of bids without knowing the actual bids and can lower their offers to win the auction. eDynaQuote is a reverse auction company based in Erie. The City [...]

Read the full post

 
Erie area residents can recycle their old telephone books and also help the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania, thanks to Idearc Media, the official publisher of Verizon Print Directories and Erie Energy Products. A $5,000 grant from Idearc Media to the Second Harvest Food Bank will enable Second Harvest to continue to coordinate [...]

Read the full post

Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott yesterday submitted his budget to Erie City Council. It calls for a 12.14 percent increase in property taxes of 1.24 mills, the elimination of 16 firefighters and the sale of the Erie Golf Course. Although departments were asked to cut expenses, no job cuts will be made in the 5 story [...]

Read the full post

When the bridge going over the Wintergreen Gorge for Bayfront Connector was being built, a crane was torched, spikes were placed in trees and equipment was vandalized. It is believed that a group affiliated with ELF (Earth Liberation Front), an environmental group made up of radical liberal Democrats, caused the damage. Now the anti-icing system [...]

Read the full post

Douglas A Spadey, a Edinboro freshman from Philly, was arrested for sending racial and threatening emails to fellow black Edinboro students. Hours before he was led away in handcuffs, he was saying he was one of the victims of the emails. About 20 students received emails with the N-bomb and threats that some would be [...]

Read the full post

Monsignor Charles Kavanagh, a NY Archdiocese Catholic priest accused of sexual assault, will be tried by a church tribunal with the trial held in Erie, PA beginning today. The trial will be conducted behind closed doors by a tribunal of three canon law judges.
The Arts Council of Erie is partnering with some of the finest [...]

Read the full post

The Villages is a retirement community in Florida. Population about 8,500. Because there are so many former residents of the northwestern Pennsylvania area they formed a social club called the Erie Club. In the club’s second month in existence, Madge Koscelnik, the group’s leader said 75 people attended a meeting earlier this week.
We’re still a [...]

Read the full post

If you can read, thank your parents. If you can read this in English, thank a Veteran.
The Erie Bayfront Convention Center is now booking events for the Summer of 2007 and beyond. Rooms for weddings, banquets, meeetings, exhibits and classes range from space for 52 to 1920 people with theater style seating for up to [...]

Read the full post

Erie City Council, oblivious as to their actual role, voted 5-2 to support a smoking ban in Erie County. This is a matter for Erie County Council and all it did was waste time they could have spent dealing with problems facing the city. Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr correctly pointed out they were voting to [...]

Read the full post

Here’s the 2006 election results for the major area races:
Ed Rendell defeated Lynn Swann for Pennsylvania Governor.
Bob Casey, Jr defeated Rick Santorum for US Senate.
Phil English defeated Steven Porter for US House of Representatives.
Patrick Harkins defeated Christine Pontoriero for State House, 1st District.
Flo Fabrizio was unopposed for State House, 2nd District.
John Hornaman defeated Matthew Good, [...]

Read the full post

The Erie SeaWolves have a press conference scheduled for today to announce that Detriot GM Dave Dombrowski will name Matt Walbeck will become the team’s next manager. For the past three years Walbeck has managed Single A West Michigan. He had an 11 year career in the majors with six teams. Tom Brookens is expected [...]

Read the full post

 
The Greater Erie Board of REALTORS released the Erie County property transfer report for October. For Oct 2006, 432 properties were exchanged for $47,279, 377. The Oct 2005 figures were 512 transactions for $61,760,628. This marks the fifth straight decline year-over-year. Year to date, the 2006 totals are down $29,904,788 and 280 transactions compared to 2005. [...]

Read the full post

Erie received it’s first sizable snow storm. The city and the airport, where the official totals are measured, got about 3 inches. There was about 9 inches near the Millcreek Mall and a foot was connon in other places. I think I heard the phrase “This sucks” over 100 times yesterday. O course people don’t [...]

Read the full post

A Jeep driven by Maurice Bort of Erie going West on I-90 drove over median and struck another Jeep head-on which was travelling East on 90. Both drivers were killed. Traffic was tied up for nearly 3 hours. Drivers from out of town that exited the thruway trying to find a way around the accident [...]

Read the full post

Developer Brad Fairfield announced he received funding to begin construction of Koehler Brewery Square. Hallelujah. National City Bank has joined Sky Bank in providing the financing. Construction is expected to start by the end of November and the building for Cornerstone Healthcare Group should be move in ready by the end of 2007. Fairfield has [...]

Read the full post

Brad Fairfield, developer of the Koehler Brewery Square Project, has a press conference scheduled for 10:30 am this morning. He was still looking for over $3 million in financing last I heard and if he got it you would think he’d let the world know immediately.
The Seattle Post Intelligencer ran a good story that mentions [...]

Read the full post

Paragon Print Systems formally opened their new building at Joyce A Savocchio Business Park, the former junkyard turned into an industrial park by the Greater Erie Industrial Development Corp. The Paragon Print Systems story has been the story of Erie economic growth for the past decade and will be a story repeated many times in [...]

Read the full post

Questions remain about the circumstance that resulted in the accidential death on Friday evening of Andrew Polakowski of Erie. Polakowski, a freshman at Ohio State, was pinned between an elevator car and the third fllor of Stradley Hall. He had just entered the elevator and when he changed his mind and tried to exit the [...]

Read the full post

The Erie Redevelopment Authority received a $950,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency for the Mercantile Building revitalization project. Plans call for retail space on the first floor, offices on the second and third floors and residential condos on the top 2 floors. The Erie Redevelopment Authority took over the building earlier this year [...]

Read the full post

The best argument against democracy is five minutes of an average Erie City Council meeting. However, they did pretty well last night electing Joseph Schember to fill the counicl seat caused by the resignation of Dr Lonnie Gatlin. Gatlin resigned for ‘health reasons’ which was a polite way of saying the actual reason which everyone [...]

Read the full post

Erie City Council yesterday held a meeting to talk about the city amusement tax. The tax raised about $36,000 for the four month period of June through September. Council had thought the tax would raise $500,000. It would have raised that amount if there were 56 months in a year. There are in fact 12 [...]

Read the full post

Pennsylvania State Police released the name of the man shot and killed on Saturday in the parking lot of Lazer Tag at Splash Lagoon. The man was indetified as Jesus Mancilla aka Edward Pina, an illegal immigrant living in Ashtabula, Ohio. The usupect in the shooting is 17 year old Donnie Swift of Highland, Michigan.
Downing [...]

Read the full post

A man was shot and killed Saturday afternoon outside the Lazer Tag at Splash Lagoon. The victim and the suspect, who is till on the run, were not from this area. I’m guessing drugs.
Erie received 1.3 inches of snow on Saturday. WTF. It was October 14 for cripes sakes. The low temperature was 33 degrees [...]

Read the full post

I don’t think the people of Erie realize how bad the Buffalo area got hit with snow. There are 390,000 people without power. The Erie hotels are packed with refugees from WNY and cars are streaming down I-90 for food, gas, generators and batteries.
On a realated note.. There is now a severe blood shortage in [...]

Read the full post

The Erie Times-News repoted today that Dr Chuck Rosenthal and his brothers, Peter and James, have filed a lawsuit against former Mercyhurst College President William Garvey and Mercyhurst board of trustees chairwoman Marlene Mosco. Chuck Rosenthal was the first to publically accuse Gavey of sexually assualting him. A number of others, think the number is [...]

Read the full post

The conversations around Erie centered on Chytoria Graham and what she did to her baby. Graham used her 1 month old baby to strike her boyfriend. The baby is in a Pittsburgh hospital in a drug induced coma with brain damage. There were reports that she confessed to police. What a despicable crime. Tom Vinca, [...]

Read the full post

Chytoria Graham is in jail facing assault and other charges after using her 1 month old baby as a weapon to hit her boyfriend. She swung the baby to hit him as if it was a frying pan. Her own baby. The child was flown to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. She should have her [...]

Read the full post

The Erie SeaWolves alumni team, the Detroit Tigers, completed a remarkable upset of the New York Yahkees with Saturday’s 8-3 win. The Yankees will be playing golf while the Tigers will face the Oakland A’s in the ALCS. Nearly half of the Tigers roster are former Erie SeaWolves players.
Gannon University honored four individuals at its [...]

Read the full post

The estate of Brittany Legler is suing the Erie County Office of Children and Youth alleging that actions and inactions by the agency contributed to her death. They’ve got a good case. Brittany Legler died from continual beatings by her adoptive mother Lisa Iarussi. Iarussi was sentenced to 7-14 years. It’s the job of the [...]

Read the full post

I had to laugh yesterday at the news (newspaper story, WJET-TV story) that Erie Convention Center Authority is counter suing Nick Scott over the old convention center plans. Scott owns the big, empty plot on the NE corner of State Street and the Bayfront Parkway. The was where the contention center and hotel were originally [...]

Read the full post

Erie Traffic Court manager Deborah Steff was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months for stealing more than $272,000. She was also ordered to pay full restitution for the money she embezzled. If you paid a traffic fine or a parking ticket in cash between 2002 and 2005, there is a very good possibility it went [...]

Read the full post

Great story in today’s Erie newspaper about Erie photo blogger Ron Richardson and his pics of his rubber duck.
Erie blogger Michael Mahler was mentioned in a Slate.com article about his comments concerning former Rep Mark Foley.
Some drunk hit a telephone pole on Pine Avenue at 2:15 am breaking the pole in two. Power in the [...]

Read the full post

The Brewerie at Union Station is now open. If you go, send in your thoughts. I’ve heard good things about the beers available. The food is another story. It could be a matter of working about the kinks and details but “slow service” and “cold when it should have been hot” is what I’ve heard.
The [...]

Read the full post

Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio submitted his proposed 2007 budget on Friday. It doesn’t call for a tax increase but it’s $1.7 million more than anticipated revenue. The money to balance the budget would be taken from a reserve account. The reserve fund was designed to be used for emergencies. Not being able to cut [...]

Read the full post

Grand River Village, Ohio Mayor Chris Conley will be Columbus today to hear that a proposal to bring an international ferry terminal to the village is viable. Conley expects state and federal grants of $50 million which should attract an additional $150 million to $250 million in private investment. The village would build docks for [...]

Read the full post

 
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board unanimously approved licenses for five locations but not Presque Isle Downs, under construction in the Erie suburbs. The decision on a license for Presque Isle Downs was delayed “for further investigation.” Board members wanted “adequate time to review testimony and personal notes taken at that applicant’s Suitability Hearing.” The [...]

Read the full post

Erie City Council member Lonny Gatlin resigned effective immediately. He also has has taken a leave of absence from his job as a dentist at Community Health Net:. The reason stated was a medical condition. That is an extremely polite way of putting it, at least if the word around the water coolers are true. [...]

Read the full post

Well no wonder the Erie newspaper didn’t run a story about the the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority ferry from Erie to Port Dover, Ontario. See yesterdays post where I pointed out that the story didn’t run locally. The only bit of new info was that Willard Marine would be building the boat. The authority received [...]

Read the full post

The Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority ferry from Erie to Port Dover, Ontario will begin as trial runs in 2007. The details were published in the Port Dover Maple Leaf. Great job by Emma finding the news and correctly pointing out nothing has published locally.
The port authority has somehow found the money to have a boat [...]

Read the full post

Within 10 years, over 1 million people will be working in the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) industry. RFID is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. An RFID tag is an object that can be attached to or incorporated into a product, animal, or [...]

Read the full post

Dr Thomas J Gamble was official installed at the president of Mercyhurst College. Gamble replaced Dr William Garvey who resigned amid allegations that he was a sexual predator of young boys. The Mercyhurst Board of Trustees seemed well aware of the allegations against Garvey for years but seemed ok with it. The heat was turned [...]

Read the full post

An elderly women drove through the wall of the Union CIty Pizza Hut. Neither the 88 year old woman nor her passenger were injured. Unbelievably no one inside the restaurant were hurt either.
As everyone has reported Erie County Republican Chairman John Mizner has resigned from MacDonald, Illig, Jones and Britton and joined Conner, Riley and [...]

Read the full post

Millcreek School District Superintendent Dean Maynard should be the next to submit his resignation. McDowell Intermediate High School principal Tom Maciulewicz was allowed to resign instead of being fired after it was discovered there is police investigation involving Maciulewicz and the theft of school district property. There seems to be a clear path from the [...]

Read the full post

 
After being on the run for more than five months from when he escaped from a Buffalo area jail, career criminal Ralph “Bucky” Phillips was captured near Akeley PA in Warren County, just south of the New York-Pennsylvania border. Phillips is the main suspect in the shooting of three police officers. On June 10, NY [...]

Read the full post

The Federal Bureau of Investigation in conjunction with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York; United States Marshal’s Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and the New York State Police announced that Ralph Buckey Phillips has been placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list. The reward [...]

Read the full post

The US Marshals have added Ralph “Bucky” Phillips, the main suspect in the sniper-style shooting of two NY troopers, to their top 15 list. Police are searching from him in Chautauqua County and Cattaraugus County in NY and Warren County in Pennsylvania. The case will be featured on America’s Most Wanted this Saturday night at [...]

Read the full post

Rae Sherred of Edinboro University was honored with the 2006 NCAA Sportsmanship Award. Sports isn’t just about winning and losing, it’s about building character. Sometimes the worst conditions bring out the best in people. In the PSAC women’s basketball title game against California of Pennsylvania with the score tied and with 7 seconds to play, [...]

Read the full post

Ralph ‘Bucky’ Phillips is still on the loose. Two New York state troopers were shot and in are critical conditions at hospitals in Erie and Buffalo after someone fired on them near the home of Phillips’ girlfriend in Stockton NY. Phillips escaped from a jail in Buffalo and has shot one cop before. This piece [...]

Read the full post

Thee are two economic development related press conferences scheduled for today. Nothing new but it’s nice to hear it officially.Brad Fairfield of Koehler Brewery Square will announce that he has received funding. Urbaniak Brothers Meat Market, Pennsylvania Wine and Spirts, and Cornerstone Healthcare Group, a long term healthcare medical care, will be moving into [...]

Read the full post

Three years ago today, on August 28 2003, pizza delivery man Brian Douglas Wells was allegedly locked into a bombing device by a stranger and ordered to rob a PNC bank branch on Peach St in Erie, Pennsylvania. When he was detained by state police following the robbery, the bomb exploded, killing him instantly.
The FBI [...]

Read the full post

Former WJET-TV anchor Amanda Barren will start anchoring a new weekend 10 pm show in September on WSAZ. Amanda joined the WSAZ Charleston WV team in January of 2006. She passed along word that she misses Erie and the friends she made here.
The US Brig Niagara was featured on the Weather Channel over the [...]

Read the full post

There aren’t a lot of employeers that would let you keep your job after you were convicted of a crime and sentenced to 30 days in jail. Being a City of Erie Police officer isn’t among them. Erie Police Detective Ed Dickens was sentenced to 30 days, followed by 90 days probation and ordered to [...]

Read the full post

Officials with Presque Isle Downs held a press conference and released some construction photos and had a number of artist images of what the facilities will look like. They are finally almost done pushing dirt around and are now pouring concrete. They plan on having live racing and the slots going by Fall 2007. [...]

Read the full post

Scott Wludyga is leaving WJET-TV and Fox 66. Booo. Scott is taking a teaching position at Pymatuning Valley High School. He’s keeping his home in Erie and driving the 60 miles to Andover, OH each day. That’s going to get old quick. Luke Simons is taking over the weekday sports duties. No word on who [...]

Read the full post

The Erie Community Foundation is one of Erie’s best organizations. Where would we be without it? The founders were way ahead of the curve and through the years it’s been very well managed. Other, larger cities wish they had what we have. The Erie Community Foundation’s 70/70 Anniversary Event will be held at the Warner [...]

Read the full post

Yesterday evening, a young woman was hit and killed by an SUV at East 8th and the Bayfront Connector. She and her friends were attempting to cross against the traffic light.
The Tom Ridge Environmental Center at Presque Isle State Park won the top prize in the 2006 Commonwealth Design Awards. The interior is divided into [...]

Read the full post

A neighbor near the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory at 6th and Parade Streets in Erie said that officials with the School District of the City of Erie toured the property. They could be interested in buying it. The 1st Battalion of the 112th Infantry will be moving from the facility in Erie in a couple [...]

Read the full post

Someone broke into the North East PA Wine and Spirits Store, the state run liquor store with overpaid union workers, and waled out with thousands of dollars of booze. The break-in happend between late Sunday to early Monday morning. Anyone out there planning a big party?
The Erie Art Museum has a press conference scheduled for [...]

Read the full post

Three year old Abby Murray of Niagara Falls, Ontario was born without a lower right arm and hand. Abby has gone to Green Prosthetics in Erie, Pa for her prosthetic arm since she was a baby. The last time she went for a new prosthetic, she asked for a arm so she could go fishing. [...]

Read the full post

Fullington Trailways is cancelling their DuBois to Erie and return trip to Clarion effective July 1 due to low ridership. Fullington/Greyhound is based in Clearfield.
Jessica Meeker is looking for a job in Erie. She is looking to work at Hot Topic or Papa Johns. Meeker could be running either of those companies in a year [...]

Read the full post

Conneaut Lake Park has layed-off all employees and may not reopen. The park needs $250,000 to open for the season. The park, whci first opend in 1892, is owned by a public trust.
The Erie Plastics plant in Corry is adding 35 jobs with the shift of production from their plant in Westborough, Mass. In 2001, [...]

Read the full post

A microbrewery is being planned for the old Porter`s Restaurant in Union Station. I’m guessing they will be buying a Price-Schonstrom system. Chris Sirianni said they are planning to be open by July. The BrewErie At Union Station will be a brew-on-premises (BOP) brewpub. That I believe. The talk of a number of a number [...]

Read the full post

Erie City Council and Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott announced they have reached an agreement to cut spending and reduce taxes.
Yes, you guessed it. April Fools!
Congrats go out to Erie Blogger Bobbo for breaking the story about the theft of the student newspaper, The Gannon Knight.
Last weekend Miles D Rish of North East, PA, a freshman [...]

Read the full post

No verdict has been reached in the trial of former Erie Mayor Rick Filippi and his friends and business partners Rolf Patberg and Eric Purhcase. The jury worked the case for about 7 hours on Friday. Deliberations will resume this morning.
Four punks aged 20 and 21 were arrested for firing hundreds of paint balls at [...]

Read the full post

Judge Ernie DiSantis dismissed the bribery charges against former Erie Mayor Rick Filippi and his business partners Rolf Patberg and Eric Purchase. The group who still has a bundle of charges facing them including conspiracy, conflict of interest and using inside information. Filippi, Patberg and Purchase formed a partnership called Aiko Acquisitions which bought properties [...]

Read the full post

Matthew Selker has withdrawn his name from consideration for the position of head of the Erie County Bureau of Economic Development. Erie County Council was to deal with the matter today. Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio bypassed the usual hiring process and hired him as a per diem employee with an hourly wage rate. [...]

Read the full post

Horace Hawes was a native of Danby, New York and spent a number of years in Erie PA. In Erie County, Hawes became deputy attorney general, county prosecutor and a commissioner of deeds. President Polk sent him to be the US Council for the South Seas Islands and later appointed him prefect of the District [...]

Read the full post

The names were released of the four people killed in the accident on St Patrick’s Day. Killed were Jacob Latta, Matthew Maisner, Megan Watson and Heidi Britton. It appeasrs that they guys were going hone from an evening in downtown Erie when Latta lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the car of [...]

Read the full post

I’m not sure if the taxpayers of Pennsylvania have to be blindfolded or must gouge out their eyes but were not allowed to look while the state goes into our pockets to settle a lawsuit. Yesterday, I mentioned that Representative Linda Bebko-Jones has settled with TE Kalkhof Realty on her breaking the lease for her [...]

Read the full post

A small earthquake shook northeast Ohio on Saturday at 7:27 am. This was the fourth and largest quake to hit the area this year. The magnitude 3.1 was centered 5 miles NNW of Mentor-on-the-Lake, OH which is about 60 miles from Erie. There was no damage reported. The Northeast Ohio seismic zone has had moderately [...]

Read the full post

Two students from Erie at Penn State University Park were arrested after a really dumb prank. Corey P Thompson and Michael D Strafford were both charged with possession of alcohol and Thompson was also charged with impersonating a police officer. Thompson was a part-time auxiliary officer that could ticket cars but had no other police [...]

Read the full post

Four Mercyhurst College freshman football players were charged with beating an Erie man outside of Peccadillo’s Bar. Facing assault charges are Theo Hall of Cincinnati, Aaron Hayes of Beachwood, Ohio, Dwayne Marshall of Trotwood, Ohio and Richard Stokes of Cincinnati. The four were suspended from the team. No word as yet if Bobby Bowden [...]

Read the full post

Nick Scott is quoted in todays Cleveland Plain Dealer saying that plans are in the works for another expansion of Splash Lagoon Indoor Water Park in Erie. Why? To keep the large crowds coming back they want to keep the place fresh. Just last year two new slides, another hot tub, another restaurant and more [...]

Read the full post

The contract for steel for construction at the Erie Bayfront Convention Center came in $900,000 over budget. The amount of steel needed is 122 tons more than expected. That’s about the weight of a small planet. With the Universal Law of Gravity in effect on this planet, steel and not thin air is needed to [...]

Read the full post

Affinia announced the company will close its Erie and North East PA, and McHenry, Ill plants before the end of 2006. The plants produced automotive aftermarket brake parts. Affinia purchased the Erie plant at 14th and Wayhe and the North East Pa plant on Loomis Strret and the rest of the automotive aftermarket businesses from [...]

Read the full post

Looks like we due for a last blast of Winter. Erie is expecting 3-6 inches of snow by late Monday. It any of it sticks it won’t last long. We’re due for temps in the 40’s by mid week.
Gannon University announced a new bachelor’s degree program in sport management and marketing. The program will become [...]

Read the full post

When Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio speaks you don’t know if he’ll telling a joke or announcing one of his off the wall plans. DiVecchio want to build a courthouse for county offices in SW Erie County in what is being described as a branch campus. He didn’t explain where the money will come [...]

Read the full post

Anthony Mills robbed the Erie Community Credit Union at 12th and State yesterday afternoon. Police had him in custody in less than 15 minutes. He was wearing a bright yellow jacket when he robbed the place and had the jacket on his arm when police picked him up 5 blocks away.
At its regularly scheduled meeting [...]

Read the full post

Cleo Hartwig of Erie Pa wasn’t a well known sculpture during her lifetime but her work is now being more widely recognized. Hartwig passed away in 1998. Olivia Smith was granted exclusive world rights to reproduce works of Hartwig, some of which can be found in museums throughout the country. Smith has some of the [...]

Read the full post

Saturday was the 2006 MECA United Cerebral Palsy Barstool Open. The event packed downtown Erie bars with 1,200 participants and raised $30,000 for a great cause.
Good job by the Erie Times-News on the story about the taxpayer rip-off by Bac Consulting doing computer work for the Erie County Office of Children and Youth. After spending [...]

Read the full post

This could be the first tax I have ever agreed with. State Representative John Pallone (D-New Kensington) introduced House Bill 2454 which will levy a $100 fee on every resident in communities with 9,000 or more people that require state police because they are too cheap to have their own police force. My state taxes [...]

Read the full post

So you’re a high school punk that doesn’t want to say ‘Want fries with that?’ or ‘Thanks for shopping at Wal-Mart’ for the next 50 years. The answer is to get an education. There is a good article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette today on how to get into the college of your choice. The [...]

Read the full post

The Erie newspaper is running a story tomorrow on Mike O’Brien and his song “Erie PA” which can be found on his website. The song has become a bit of a sensation. I’m guessing a couple of thousand of people have heard it. It’s got going to win any award from the chamber of commerce [...]

Read the full post

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to be speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government [...]

Read the full post

The Koehler Brewery building’s 155-foot smokestack fell at 11:15 am Thursday morning. This photograph was taken from Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy’s promenade. Photo courtesy Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy.
It’s taken nearly 20 years in the planning but they finally had the groundbreaking for the Dementia and Alzheimer’s Unit at the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in [...]

Read the full post

The Academic Sports League regional competition held in Erie was more exciting than anyone could have ever imagined. Near the end of the competition a bomb threat was phoned in and the Northwest Collegiate Academy school building was cleared out. It was reported that it was thought that the call came from a member of [...]

Read the full post

Get your cameras ready. The old smokestack at Koehler Brewery will be imploded on Thursday February 9, 2006 to make way for constuction of a new building at Koehler Brewery Square. Cornerstone Healthcare, Urbaniak Brothers and a Pennsylvania Wine and Spirts store have signed leases to move into the new complex.
Randy Brewer announced he [...]

Read the full post

Soon the City of Erie will begin negotiations with Erie Cablevision for the fee in exchange for the ability to run cable in the city rights of way. The way the city negotiates, we could end up paying Time Warner and paying for their health benefits. The city receives no fees for Internet or digital [...]

Read the full post

Incumbent Republican state Representative John Evans will face a challenge in the May primary election from Erie County Council member Carol Loll for the 5th District seat. The district covers western Erie and northwestern Crawford County. Evans was one of those that voted for the legislative pay raise last July.
The new CD by Train, For [...]

Read the full post

The loud flushing sound heard in Erie PA on Thursday was a campaign going down the toilet. Gubernatorial candidate Bill Scranton made a campaign stop in Erie and made national news firing his campaign manager James Seif for making racial remarks about Lynn Swann. Seif appeared late Wednesday on a television call-in show about the [...]

Read the full post

The main water cooler topic yesterday in Erie was Mayor Joe Sinnott going over to the studios of radio station Rocket 101 and breaking their boards. OK, it was wooden boards and not equipment. Sinnott showed off his martial arts skills to publicize the 30th Anniversary of the King Cobra Open which will be held [...]

Read the full post

An Erie area company could be building a new facility in southern Illinois. The Rend Lake Conservancy District Board of Trustees recently discussed a proposed development project. A lender representing the owner/operator of a resort in Erie, PA has submitted a proposal for the construction of a theme
park and facilities near Whittington, IL. The lender [...]

Read the full post

The Pittsburgh Steelers dominated Denver winning 34-17 in the AFC title game. Seattle will meet the Steelers in Super Bowl XL in Detroit on Sunday Feb 5. For those of you who went to Edinboro, that’s Super Bowl 40, not extra large. It was great to see Nate Washington make an important catch for Pittsburgh. [...]

Read the full post

A Pennsylvania State Police Clandestine Lab Response Team took part a meth lab bust in Wesleyville. This marks the 9th lab that this team has cleaned up on 3 weeks.
There is an excellent article by Mike Bucsko in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the budget troubles Erie is experiencing. Pittsburgh entered a state-mandated financial recovery plan [...]

Read the full post

Trina Orlando will be the new morning anchor for WJET-TV beginning on Monday. She will also appear on WFXP. Orlando is a 2002 graduate of Mt Pleasant Junior/Senior High School which is about 40 miles Southeast of Pittsburgh. She attended the University of Southern California doble majoring in broadcast journalism and political science.
The exotic dance [...]

Read the full post

There was a house fire at 25th and State Streets. The family of 6 got out safe but they lost everything. Keep your ears open to see which local bank will set up an account for the family and donate a buck or two. Every fire around town brings out the tears from our firemen. [...]

Read the full post

The EAGLE (Erie Area Gang Law Enforcement) task force arrested 9 people of possession and conspiracy to distribute powder and crack cocaine. All 9 are looking at spending the rest of their lives in prison because of amount of drugs and number of charges involved. They said they had investigated one person for 10 years. [...]

Read the full post

The US Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center reported that Northeast Ohio received their second earthquake in a week. The latest quake happened on Friday at 10:32:17 am. The Magnitude 2.4 micro earthquake was centered in the Cleveland suburb of Eastlake, OH which is about 73 miles SW of Erie PA. It happened at a [...]

Read the full post

David Gonzalez, director of Latino services for the Hispanic American Council of Erie, was elected to fill the position on Erie City Council when Joe Sinnott resigned to become mayor. The voting done by council members took ten ballots.
Saint Andrew Elementary School, 606 Raspberry Street, could be closing next year as enrollment continues to decline. [...]

Read the full post

Former Villa Maria Academy English teacher Megan Fecko was arrested for having relations with a female student of hers. The charges included involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault.
Cost zero, the buzz it’s created priceless. Tom Kennedy, president of Professional Development Associates of Erie and Prudential Advantage Realty, has placed the former Franklin Hospital for [...]

Read the full post

Brad Fairfield of Koehler Brewery Square, LLC today is holding a press conference and signing ceremony with Cornerstone Healthcare Group. Cornerstone will sign a lease to occupy the top two floors with a long term care facility of the soon to be built main building. Cornerstone will employ about 150 healthcare workers.
Yesterday was the dead [...]

Read the full post

Ian Murray wants the job he was fired from nearly 12 years ago. No private business would re-hire someone who has been fired from their job for wrongdoing but Erie County might. Murray wants a position in the Erie County Public Defender’s Office. Murray was fired for having coerced a client of the Erie County [...]

Read the full post

Monsignor Charles M Kavanagh, a NY Archdiocese Catholic priest accused of sexual assault, will be tried by a church tribunal with the trial held in Erie, PA. The trial will be conducted behind closed doors by a tribunal of three or five canon law judges. No date has been set. Hey, Mercyhurst College could always [...]

Read the full post

Saint Vincent Health System (St Vincent Hospital) held a formal groundbreaking at 24th and Myrtle on a $28.2 million expansion project. Landmark Healthcare Facilities LLC will finance and own the medical office building. Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott was all over the news saying how great that it was a new private development and that it [...]

Read the full post

If you ever thought about drinking and driving, tonight is not the night to start. The Pennsylvania State Police will be conducting checkpoints and roving DUI patrols. Alcohol-related crashes in Pennsylvania claimed 542 lives in 2004.
There was a story yesterday about a house being raided due to suspected pit bull fighting. I thought it was [...]

Read the full post

The Erie Police raided a home on Erie’s lower Eastside and seized 4 pit bulls that were suspected to be involved in dog fighting. This story could get interesting.
The applications for the slot machine licenses had to be in the hands of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday. The applications weren’t measured in pages, [...]

Read the full post

Erie City Council passed it’s $54.8M 2006 budget on Wednesday. Current City Councilman and mayor-elect Joe Sinnott, Jim Thompson and Pat Cappabianca fought till the end for a higher property tax increase. What a bunch of bastards. Only a token effort was made to cut costs throughout the entire budget process. Fiduciary responsibility is a [...]

Read the full post

Erie City Council will vote to pass the budget for 2006 at their meeting tonight. Mayor Rick Filippi said he won’t veto it because council has enough votes to override any veto. It includes a property tax increase, an earned income tax increase, a sewer rate increase, a garbage rate increase and an amusement tax [...]

Read the full post

The Marxist-Leninist socialists on Erie City Council obviously agree that raising taxes is easier than cutting spending. They are raising every tax and fee that they can. With this move, businesses and residents will continue in even greater numbers to move beyond the city limits. Council finally agreed on a balanced budget by raising property [...]

Read the full post

The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, which has an office in Erie, is a building a $23.5 million performing arts center in Midland, PA. Students who attend cyber schools take classes via computer. Midland doesn’t even have a high school of its own. This little tidbit comes from a PittsburghTribune-Review article titled State-funded cyber school draws [...]

Read the full post