Zachary Dunbar of Erie arrived in San Francisco and today will begin a 2 month cross county bike ride to raise money and awareness for the John Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation. You can follow him on his travels on his blog Cycling For A Cure. (It’s about 2,600 miles from San Francisco to Erie.)
The Community [...]

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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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The City of Erie School District preliminary budget calls for a spending increase of about $6 million to $129.3 million. All members of the school board are tax and spend Democrats. The figures don’t include money to rehab or rebuild Roosevelt Middle School which might not be funded until next year.
WSEE TV posted two video [...]

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Candidate for Congress Kathy Dahlkemper was to speak today at Gannon University. The engagement was canceled. An official with the school said that they didn’t want an individual candidate to speak as it might appear that they were supporting one candidate over another. Sounded reasonable. You still have to wonder if it had anything to [...]

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

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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 [...]

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Alcoa is the World’s largest aluminum company. The company’s first major success was an order from a company in Erie, PA. The shape and weight-related benefits of a teakettle was one of the first products made with Alcoa aluminum in 1895, when Arthur Vining Davis created the piece of cookware to display a new [...]

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

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

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If the opportunity for a number of good paying jobs falls out of the sky, do any Erie area economic development officials hear it?
In May 2007, Railpower Technologies announced that it was exploring the possibility of operating its own manufacturing facility. During the second quarter of 2007, an offer was made to purchase an existing [...]

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Erie County might have to reassess all properties and change how real estate is taxed due to a ruling by a Allegheny County judge. Judge R.Stanton Wettick, Jr of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas for Allegheny County ruled that the county’s use of a base year system to assess property values is unconstitutional and [...]

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The Erie Community Foundation will be receiving nearly $7 million at the late Margaret Spaeder. I just received a quick email about the gift so I don’t have the breakdown to which organization will benefit. The Erie Community Foundation is a collection of charitable endowments operating under the administrative umbrella of a single public charity. [...]

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Carol Senkalski of Erie won the 3rd annual Mothers of Invention Contest held by ABC’s Good Morning America. Her invention was a multi-cut cookie cutter. Senkalski won $10,000 and her invention will be marketed by Amazon.com. Here is the video of her explaining and demonstrating the cutter.
Edinboro University Presidential candidate interviews with the Pennsylvania State [...]

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The deal to take over ownership and operation of the Cottbus-Drewitz Airport in Germany is dead. Erie Aviation worked for years on the plan to purchase the former air force base and have direct cargo flights between Erie International Airport and Cottbus-Drewitz. Erie Aviation ships literally tons of aircraft parts a week to Europe. This [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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This area seems to have more than it’s fair share of teachers fooling around with kids. Yesterday, one teacher was sentenced to jail while another was arrested. Matthew Weaver, now a former French teacher at Seneca High School, was sentenced to 3-12 months, fined $1000 and must perform 100 hours of community service for soliciting [...]

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Erie County Council voted to approve a committee that will study and make recommendations on the Erie County Sheriff’s Department powers. The committee includes Judge Ernest DiSantis, DA Brad Foulk, both who rely on council to fund their offices, and three people that work for the county that council could fire. Don’t expect the committee [...]

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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. [...]

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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 [...]

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Temperatures of over 60 degrees made for better golfing than deer hunting. The bucks hunters harvested had good size racks but the numbers were low. There was one hunter death in the area. Kirk Miller had a heart attack and passed away. He was hunting in the woods near the EMSCO Group plant in Girard.
 
The [...]

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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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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 [...]

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Get your rear end downtown. Celebrate Erie 2006 runs through Sunday. This event was formerly known as “We Love Erie Days.”
The complete schedule of events and musical acts is too big to print here but here’s the Celebrate Erie music schedule for today:

South Stage at 11th and State: 5 pm Heather Rosso 6:30 pm Money [...]

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

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

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

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

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The blood supply dropped to the lowest levels of the year, endangering patients of all types at area hospitals. The Fourth of July holiday proved to be the worst holiday weekend in years for the blood supply with very heavy blood use at regional hospitals. Everyone is urged to take the 30 minutes out to [...]

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Today is the deadline for Invest Erie Community Development Corporation to come up with the financing for the grocery store plaza at 19th and Parade Streets. They’ve been working on it for 4 years and have only spent a ton of grant money so far. They do have some funding in place but not nearly [...]

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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. [...]

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In November 2004, Snow Contractor John Allin sold his Erie, Pa based Snow Management Group, one of the nation’s largest snow-removal firms at the time, to Symbiot. Symbiot has been a mess ever since. Allin stayed on with the company as corporate vice president of operations until December 2005, when he left to start his [...]

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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 [...]

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NanoLogix (OTC Pink Sheets: NNLX), a nanobiotechnology company engaged in the development and commercialization of technologies for the creation of hydrogen utilizing hydrogen bioreactors, announced that it has signed an agreement for the construction and operation of a prototype hydrogen bioreactor at the City of Erie wastewater treatment plant. This project will utilize the proprietary [...]

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Jason Dudjak will be returning to family in Erie on Wednesday after a 15 month tour of duty in Iraq. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a good story about him being reunited with his college class ring. He lost his clas ring from Virginia Military Institute that his father had given him. Shortly after that he [...]

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A 38 foot boat, a Donzi, slammed into 2 Jet Skis on Presque Isle Bay killing both riders. Killed were Andrew Miller and his girlfriend Amber Miller (no relation) both of Washington, PA. The boat was believed to have the right of way. I’m guessing the operator of the Sea Doo was inexperienced and veered [...]

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There was a high speed chase through the city on Wednesday involving a man who exposed himself. A shooting, yeah, chase the suspect. But for a lewd act? It was just luck that not kids riding bikes or playing in the street were seriously hurt. Here is the Erie newspaper story on the incident. And [...]

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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 [...]

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The Erie newspaper did a story the other day on the pay phones in front of Bradley’s Shur-Fine Food Mart on West 8th Street. Nobody knows who owns them so they could tell them they are in such disrepair – broken glass, graffiti. I went past them yesterday and there are now stickers on them [...]

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Yesterday marked the first direct flight from Erie International Airport Tom Ridge Field to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Delta is offering one daily flight to and from Atlanta. While this is great for the pleasure traveller, this is huge for the business community.
The Erie Art Museum announced a $9 million expansion and a renovation of [...]

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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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Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott, City Controller Casimir Kwitowski, Councilman Jim Thompson and city Economic Development Director Kim Green are on a two week trip to Germany and Poland. In Germany, they will visit the Cottbus-Drewitz Airport. and in Poland, the group meets with government and business leaders in Lublin, sister city of Erie.
Israel L Gaither [...]

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The Greater Erie Industrial Development Corporation was awarded $450,000 to restore rail service to the 120-acre industrial park that once was home to Hammermill and IP, initially servicing two businesses of the Erie Management Group, a multi-million-dollar bio-diesel manufacturing company and a paint/ solvent production facility. Groundbreaking on those two businesses will be held in [...]

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NanoLogix (Pink Sheets: NNLX) announced that hydrogen has been generated at its first commercial scaled-up hydrogen bioreactor facility at the Welch Food’s plant in North East, Pennsylvania. The technology behind the hydrogen bioreactor, developed and proprietary to NanoLogix, is intended to enable manufacturing facilities to convert their waste stream into hydrogen. The alternative energy source [...]

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The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, who represent 4,500 sisters, announced a press conference yesterday at which the presidents of 25 regional communities of the order would call on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The Erie, Pa., regional community of the Sisters of Mercy set May 4 as a day of prayer and [...]

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Erie City Council has given Invest Erie until July 1 to get financing for the grocery store project at 19th and Parade Streets. Attorney Billl Sessler wants to take over the project from the group that hasn’t done anything in the past four years.
Erie Indemnity Company (Erie Insurance) announced results for the first quarter. Net [...]

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The immature little children of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania are holding a one day boycott of Edinboro businesses because the borough passed a noise ordinance aimed at cutting down on loud music coming from vehicles. Most cities have a noise ordinance but Edinboro students are likely ignorant of that fact. Even the Edinboro Student Government [...]

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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, [...]

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Three more guys from Erie could be playing in the NFL next year. None of the three were chosen in the NFL Draft but have signed free agent contracts. CB Jovon Johnson signed a deal with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, WR Ed Hinkel has signed with the Baltimore Ravens and Wisconsin CB Levonne [...]

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On Monday, the Holyoke (Massachusets) Redevelopment Committee will get an update on negotiations between the city and Mandalay Sports Entertainment of Los Angeles. The company has proposed relocating its Double-A baseball team from Erie, Pa and investing $110 million to build a 6,500-seat stadium, housing, offices and retail space. Mandalay, owner of the Erie SeaWolves, [...]

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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 [...]

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Here is the complete press release by Steris of the company closing down the Erie manufacturing operations. It sucks that 450 families are affected. The company cited the high cost of doing business in Erie. Steris has over 5,000 employees in 17 states and in Canada, Australia, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. The cost of [...]

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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 [...]

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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. [...]

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I saw on WSEE that the Erie Times-News is laying-off 24 employees. For those of you under age 45, the Times-News publishes a newspaper, a daily publication on folded sheets that contains news and articles and advertisements. There was a mention of a press release but I haven’t seen one yet. They must have sent [...]

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Republican Dale McBrier has conceded the Erie County Executive race. He will not ask for a recount nor persue any court challenges. Pretty smart move since the writing was on the wall already. Democrat Mark DiVecchio has leading in the official count by 122 votes. McBrier had the lead at the end of election night [...]

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Michael McQuillen, interim president of Mercyhurst College, said he will not change the name of Garvey Park. The faculty senate recommended changing the name because former president, Dr William Garvey, has been accused of inappropriate sexual contact with children whe Garvey was a basketall coach. McQuillen and Garvey are buddies and wrote a book [...]

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The story about Mercyhurst College President Dr William (Bill) Garvey (allegedly) molesting children will just not go away. The actions of the college are just as disguesting as what Garvey was accused of doing. They tried to cover it up. They tried to hus it up. They backed Garvey up. Their public relation mess seems [...]

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The Board of Directors of Erie Indemnity Company (Nasdaq: ERIE) approved the extension of employment contracts for the Company’s seven principal executive officers. The amended contracts will become effective on December 12, 2005 upon the expiration of current contracts for president and chief executive officer Jeffrey A Ludrof; senior executive vice president Jan R Van [...]

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The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced they are now accepting applications for slot machine licenses and could begin issuing the licenses by March of 2006. One of the applicants for a racetrack and slot machine only casino gambling license will be Presque Isle Downs in Summit Township, southeast of the City of Erie.
Two Erie residents [...]

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Welch’s has begun accepting Niagara grapes from growers. Niagara are the known as the white grapes, even though the color is more of a light green or yellow. The air along the North Coast smells great with the sweet smell of grapes. You can see people taking deep breathes, like in the Febreze commercials.
And in [...]

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