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 [...]

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Scores of people in the Erie area have called off work with symptoms of the flu and other illnesses. Most will head to Presque Isle State Park for ‘treatment.’ The forcast for today is sunny with a high temperature approaching the record of 95 degrees.
The Community Blood Bank is air conditioned and can take some [...]

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Measuring Up was founded by Tony and Tammy Craig, a husband and wife team with a combined 30 plus years in the rent to own industry. Measuring Up does customer satisfaction surveys, analysis and employee training. The company recently produced a report for the US Congress, documenting the fact that rent-to-own has the highest level [...]

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All around great guy Jack Tirak passed away last night. Jack was a partner at Erie ad firm Engel and Tirak and many of us knew him through his blog, Erie Media Go Round. We’ll fill you in on the funeral details when they become available. Condolences to his family.
Casting call for you actor types. [...]

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WICU reported that the Erie County Employee Picnic has been canceled due “to too much scrutiny.” The food was going to come from DiVecchio’s Catering, the business owned by Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio. This is one the numerous reasons Erie County Controller Sue Weber is planning an Ethics Workshop on July 1.
The blood shortage [...]

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Jack Sundberg passed away on Sunday morning. Jack had an inoperable brain tumor. As they say on his web site Jack’s Battle, he won his battle and now is in a better place. The Sundberg Family – Craig, Megan and Robin – would appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Hopefully, they can get some peace in [...]

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Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine will hold commencement ceremonies for its largest medical and pharmacy classes, along with the school’s second class of master’s degree candidates. Today at 2 pm at the Louis J Tullio Arena, 218 medical students, 123 pharmacy students and six Master of Science in Medical Education students will receive degrees. [...]

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Lisa Maas was murdered in her Pittsburgh apartment. Maas was a 2006 graduate of Harbor Creek High School near Erie. She was attending school at the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute. Terrence Andrews, who occupied an apartment in the same building as Maas, stabbed her with a pair of scissors. Andrews admitted to police he did it. [...]

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Erie County middle and high school students are reporting a higher incidence of alcohol use than their national peers, but much lower levels of participation in antisocial behaviors such as “being arrested” or “bringing a weapon to school,” according to the newly released 2007 Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS), conducted locally by the Mercyhurst College Civic [...]

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In November 2007 just before her new son was born, Tia Peterson, soon to be a new single mother, made the decision that she would stay home to raise her son. She began freelancing as a virtual assistant and has never looked back. Instead, she has moved on to form a virtual assistance firm called [...]

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An arrest warrant was issued by University of Iowa campus police for Abe Satterfield of Erie and another man for charges involving sexual abuse. The incident allegedly occurred on October 14 at Satterfield’s on campus apartment. Satterfield and other person, Cedric Everson, were both members of the Iowa football team. They were both suspended from [...]

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Railpower Technologies announced that it will build an assembly plant in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, creating some 125 new jobs, mainly in manufacturing and development. I thought Erie had a good shot at landing the plant. The company is headquartered in Quebec while their US operations are located in Erie. Railpower produces rail yard switching locomotives and [...]

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Please take a moment today to remember and honor those Americans who died while defending our Nation and its values. They are responsible for the freedoms you enjoy today.
To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed in December, 2000 which asks that [...]

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One person died in their home last night of an apparent natural gas leak or by carbon monoxide poisoning. The home is on Page Street in SE Erie. An official from the Erie County Coroners Office was called to scene as crews from National Fuel worked to repair the leak. Natural gas does not have [...]

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Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong spent another day at a mental competency hearing. It could be months for a judge to decide if she’s competent to stand trial. Of course she’s nut but she’s well enough to know what’s going on. Normal people don’t kill their boyfriend and stick them in a freezer nor are involved in some [...]

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Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong spent 9 hours in court in the first day of two in a mental competency hearing. What a wast of time. Expert witnesses differed in their opinion according to who was paying them, the prosecution or the defense. I think everyone agrees she nuts, ie a wacked out bi__. The question is, does [...]

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Erie Management Group has a new video on their site called ‘Erie: A Great Place to Live and Work.’ The link to the popup in on the right side of the site. Unless you have a lot of time on your hands, wait till someone posts it on YouTube.
Gannon University has placed a job opening [...]

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Erie Indemnity Company (Erie Insurance) (Nasdaq: ERIE) announced financial results for the first quarter 2008. Net income per share-diluted decreased to $0.51 per share, compared to $0.88 per share in the comparable quarter in 2007 influenced by net realized losses on investments of $0.27 per share, after tax. Although they sold more policies and their [...]

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Paul “The Pittsburgh Kid” Spadafora was arrested AGAIN for violating a PFA order. Police found him with Nadine Russo who has a PFA against him. He was arrested last summer for violating the same order. Spadafora served 13 months in jail for shooting Russo. He has a professional boxing record of 41-0-1 and would be [...]

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The Erie, PA based Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) will open a branch at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA by next fall. LECOM is already the largest medical school in the nation with their main campus in Erie and a branch campus in Bradenton, Florida.

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GE held their annual shareholder meeting yesterday in Erie at the Bayfront Convention Center. It was pretty clear that Erie appreciates having GE in Erie. CNN reflected that with their story headline GE Executives Take Some Solace From Erie Hospitality. Officials with GE had very nice things to say about Erie. GE has taken some [...]

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

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

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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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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 they’re [...]

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This week’s Erie YouTube of the Week shows not only the beautiful vistas of Africa but also local students helping others during the holidays.
Over the Christmas holiday in 2005, 12 students from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine travelled to Kenya delivering medical supplies and care. Here’s a snippet from HuntingtonNews.com:
While most of their [...]

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Erie businessman Robert Dodsworth pleaded guilty to felony money laundering and conspiracy charges in a mortgage fraud scam. Sentencing is scheduled for March which could include up to a million dollars in fines and 25 years in prison. Companies that Dodsworth was associated with purchased low price homes, did minimal cosmetic repairs and fudged figures [...]

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Paragon Promotions of Erie is suspected running a fundraising scam. Greenville-West Salem (PA) Township police are investigating the company for running a bogus fundraising campaign for the Greenville Fire Department and its union. Numerous phone calls were made to Greenville area residents asking for donations so the fire department could purchase fire safety books for [...]

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The Greater Erie Board of Realtors reported the Erie County real
estate sales for October 2007. Sales were in line with the previous
year. The data includes all sales in which a property transfer tax was paid including residential, investment and commercial properties as well as land. In October 2007, there were 437 sales for $50,540,472 vs [...]

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Erie City Council held their biweekly meeting last evening. They might have well just stayed home because they got nothing accomplished. They are expected to make decisions. They can’t grasp the concept. Organized activity to accomplish an objective: Action. Learn it. Live it. They afraid about making decisions? Cripe, they re-elected anyway.
Item 1: The Erie [...]

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Traffic note: Peninsula Dr is now closed between 12th and 26th due to a fire at 18th and Hilborn Ave. Peninsula Dr is not expected to reopen before this afternoon.
Heavy, wet snow shut down I-90, I-79, I-86 and parts of Route 20. Trees and limbs fell. Penelec crews had around 250 power outages to repair. [...]

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Get out and vote today. Poll are open 7 am to 8 pm. Here is the Erie County 2007 Municipal Candidate List. Turnout is expected to be around 25 percent of eligible voters. Internet voting, voting by mail and changing the day of the week would dramatically increase the turnout. It also doesn’t help that [...]

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On this date, November 5 1857, journalist Ida M Tarbell was born in Hatch Hollow, near Wattsburg, in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Tarbell graduated with honors from Titusville High School and went on to graduate from Allegheny College in Meadville with a degree in biology. She is best-known for her 1904 book, The History of the [...]

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A state grand jury is investigating former state Representative Linda Bebko-Jones and her staff for fraudulent nominating petition signatures. This is more than likely going to lead to criminal charges. Bebko-Jones quit her re-election campaign for an 8th term when she said she would not defend a petition challenge. A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article by Dennis [...]

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Allegheny College issued a press release Thursday that will most likely insure that the college will never, ever, ever, ever, host any major political candidates. On Monday, Allegheny College President Richard Cook, Professor of Political Science Daniel Shea, and Center for Political Participation student fellows will host a news conference to announce ‘a national democracy-strengthening [...]

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Contract ratification votes were held for two unions representing Erie County workers. The AFSCME union for clerical and technical employees accepted their contract. The AFSCME union for ‘professional’ employees reject their offer and authorized a strike. Both contract offers offered 3 percent raises for the first 3 years plus a $1 and 3.2 percent raise [...]

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Unless you want to pay $25 to read “Carbon nanotube-enhanced thermal destruction of cancer cells in a noninvasive radiofrequency field” that was published online on Oct 24, wait till the December issue of Cancer in sitting on a table in a doctors waiting room. Here’s the basic info from the article. This is the first [...]

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Way to go Phil! Ensuring public dollars support American families not an addiction is the goal of legislation recently introduced by U S Rep Phil English (R-Pa). HR 3656 would require states to administer drug tests for welfare recipients if the state has substantial evidence that an individual welfare beneficiary is abusing controlled substances. “My [...]

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Erie Central Tech High School has been declared a “dropout factory” by researchers at Johns Hopkins University as less than 60 percent of their incoming freshmen make it to graduation. That’s less than 6 in 10 for those of you that are dropouts.
Erie School District Superintendent James Barker had his contract extended for 5 years [...]

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Ethan Fuhrman’s Cider Mill and Bakery on East Gore Rd in Belle Valley burned down to the ground. The 111 year old company is (was?) best known for their apple cider. They also produced Concord grape juice, apple-grape, cherry flavored cider, and hot mulled-cider. Their “from scratch” bakery had soft German pretzels, cookies and trays, [...]

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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 [...]

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The monster Teri Rhodes was finally charged with homicide and related charges including abuse of a corpse. Rhodes gave birth on August 12. The baby only survived 10 minutes before it suffocated to death. Police found the dead baby in a plastic bag. Her baby. She cut the umbilical cord with a pair of scissors [...]

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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 [...]

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Scott Enterprises has obtained $81 million as they mortgaged 10 properties. They will use $6 million to expand Splash Lagoon Indoor Water Park. I think this will be the third expansion of the park that draws huge numbers of people. In a very smart move they will use $49 million to refi existing debt. A [...]

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The Erie Bayfront Convention Center opens today. Rooms for conventions, weddings, banquets, meetings, exhibits and classes range from space for 52 to 1920 people with theater style seating for up to 4114. It will be open for public tours 12-6 pm August 17 – 19.
 
The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine has purchased the Erie [...]

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

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

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

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Erie Police are searching for James J Jackson of Erie for stabbing a 16 month old in the face with a knife. Marcus Gray was in the backseat of Amanda Wiseman’s car when he saw Jackson who Grey said robbed his apartment. Words were exchanged and Jackson attempted to stab Grey but missed and sliced [...]

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Chytoria Graham was granted a request to withdraw her guilty plea by Judge Rusty Cunningham. Graham had pleaded guilty back in March but Cunningham wasn’t convinced she knew what she was doing. I think he just didn’t to see her change her mind in a couple of months. Graham used her 1 month old baby [...]

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Never screw with Erie Insurance. The IRS and FBI are investigating insurance payments made to Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Michael Joyce of Erie. Joyce received $390,000 from Erie Insurance and $50,000 from another insurance company following a 2002 car accident.
Daniel Meyer was named the new conductor of the Erie Philharmonic. Meyer is currently the resident [...]

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Waldameer Amusement Park and Water World held the official ground breaking for the Ravine Flyer II. The Ravine Flyer II will be a wooden roller coaster. The coaster will traverse Peninsula Drive (State Route 832) and have great views of Lake Erie. It is expected to open in 2008.
 
 
Erie Bank held the official ground breaking [...]

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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, [...]

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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 [...]

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GAF Materials Corporation announced it was closing their Erie roofing shingle plant. The 120 year old plant could be closed in 90 days with the company laying-off over 150 workers. There’s plenty of blame to go around. The city raised their property taxes over 12 percent. The Erie Schoold District will probably raise their portion [...]

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Dev Enterprises of Erie PA bought a plot of land in Springfield Township, near the Prime Outlets at Grove City PA, to build a hotel which includes an indoor water park. Springfield Township supervisors have approved final plans. I guess I have some digging to do to figure out who is associated with Dev [...]

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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. [...]

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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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Presque Isle Downs received a slot machine operating license from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Let’s see if I can write about this without getting a phone call at work like I did at the end of September because of this post. It took me a week to get over the apprehension of starting my [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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Alcor, the Erie Zoo polar bear, died yesterday just hours after surgery to help stablize his broken wrist. The bear spend over 2 hours in recovery and was just minutes into the trip from the University of Pennsylvania New Bolton Center near Philadelphia to the Cleveland Zoo for rehab when his heart stopped.
A 93 ton [...]

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Today is the final day for Celebrate Erie 2006 which ends with a massive fireworks display at 10 pm. The fireworks will be set off from Dobbins Landing.
Here’s the entertainment schedule for today:
Main stage at 4th and State:
1 pm Dance Connection
2:30 pm Litte’s Dance
3:45 pm Next of Kin
5:45 pm Train of Love
7:30 Spotlight Dance
8 pm [...]

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General Electric Corporation (NYSE: GE) announced that it is preparing to ship its 1,000th Evolution Series locomotive out of Erie PA. The milestone will be achieved just 17 months after GE began commercial production of Evolution locomotives. The 1000th unit, which bears road number 5972, will be delivered to BNSF Railway. Evolution Series locomotives achieve [...]

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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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Erie City Council will work on the 2006 City of Erie budget this week. There are reports that the mayor’s proposed budget call for over 60 more layoffs. Interesting how it calls cuts to the Streets Department, Parks Department, Bureau of Police and the Fire Department but few at city hall.
A week ago, Mike Machuga [...]

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