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

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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 [...]

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Out of 360 metropolitan areas that the US Census Bureau tracks, only 62 metropolitan areas increased housing construction in 2007. Erie PA was 20th highest in the nation ranked by the percentage change in the January through October total units permitted, with an increase of 40.1 percent. The increase in Erie is attributed to developers [...]

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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 [...]

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  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 [...]

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Questions are now being raised as to why Malcolm Kysor, who escaped from prison on Sunday and is still on the loose, was transferred from maximum security prisons to the State Correctional Institution at Albion, a medium security prison. Kysor was sentenced to life without parole for a 1981 murder in Erie County. Wonder if [...]

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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. [...]

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  Presque Isle Downs will open on February 15, 2007. At lest that’s the tenative date they announced. They’re still at the mercy of construction workers and the weather. The slots-only casino is located at the intersection of I-90 and Route 97 (Exit 27).   The Inner-City Neighborhood Art House in Erie was the subject [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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  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 [...]

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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 [...]

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The state returned $17 million in tax dollars to the Erie area on Friday with five grants through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. The Erie Bayfront Convention Center received $6.5 million for a 300 space parking ramp, Gannon University received $4 million for their Erie Technology Incubator which will allow for the renovations to the [...]

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Alcor, the 750 lbs polar bear at the Erie Zoo, will undergo surgery today at the University of Pennsylvania New Bolton Center. Doctors will attempt to place screw and a metal plate in the bears arm which was broken in two places just above its right paw. The surgical team will be lead by Dr [...]

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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 [...]

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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 has [...]

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A man was robbed and stabbed yesterday at 15th and Ash Streets, an area referred to as Crack Alley. For those of you who don’t know the area, just feet away from where the man was robbed is the razor wire topped fence of the Erie County Prison. Anyone ever think about outdoor security cameras [...]

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Thomas J Gamble, PhD, president-elect of Mercyhurst College, released changes within his new administration that will take effect March 1 when he assumes the presidency. Nothing big expect someone of the pay raises. They are still seem to be puppets of Garvey and Mosco. A restructure of the Office of the President has resulted in [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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A quote from Erie City Councilman Pat Cappabianca during last nights council meeting “We (the city) don’t have enough income to meet our expenses.” Only pre-teens and politicans could say something like that. The pre-teen would ask for an increase in their allowance from their parents. A normal parent would say to stop spending so [...]

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The Koehler Brewery smokestack implosion is scheduled for Thursday February 9 at 11 am. If you plan on going, keep an eye on the weather. If it’s too windy or snowing like mad, it could be postponed. I heard a funny joke about the demolition which I’ll cut down for the sake of brevity. It’s [...]

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York PA is considering change zoning requirements so landlords who rent to college students need a special license with a $50 per student inspection fee. The city is attempting to target those who are not permanent city residents. They got of idea of a fee for college students after the City of Erie considered a [...]

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Three juveniles that stole a minivan in Erie were involved in wild police chase in the Buffalo area. Police have all three in custody. Two were from Rochester and the home town of the other wasn’t released. The chase, involving a helicopter and police from a number of jurisdictions, started after a robbery in West [...]

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MTR Gaming began work yesterday on building a road to their property in Summit Township. The site will be the future home of Presque Isle Downs Race Track and (slot machine only) Casino, a racino. The actual groundbreaking could be held in the next two weeks. Erie County’s seasonal unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent [...]

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