Erie PA Today News, Events and Info for today, Friday, September 19, 2008

One semi crashed into the back of another slowed semi on I-90 near Girard. Richard Peelman of Jamestown, NY was killed in the accident when his truck burst into flames. The accident shut down I-90 for around 6 hours and caused a massive traffic cluster____ in Girard and Fairview.

City of Erie Chief of Police Steve Franklin was kicked out of Fraternal Order of Police Erie Lodge Number 7. Hope Chief Franklin has a dog because that would be the only friend he has. I don't expect the chief and the officers to be buddy-buddy but it's a horrible relationship. They should work together to fight crime, not fight each other.

Frank Kartesz II was sentenced to three years and seven months in state prison for his role in the Erie mortgage fraud scam. Kartesz was also fined fined $30,000 and ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution. Kartesz and his partners would buy run down places and sell them for many times what they were worth.


Stace blogged about the birthday party for her cousin Austin who was celebrating his 5ht birthday. They went to Bounce A Lot Playland located at the All Seasons Market Place beside the Millcreek Mall in the Millcreek Pavilion. I don't think many people know about the place. Nice option to try and wear kids out.

Erie based newline Creations posted a couple of job openings on their blog - Web Designer / Project Manager and Sales/IT Consultant.

Under the Clock Bar and Grill (site not yet live), located in the first floor of the Boston Store at 8th and State Streets, will be opening on Monday, September 22.

This weekend Mercyhurst College marks the first major reunion of its Irish alumni in the more than 25 years since students from Ireland began attending the college. Forty percent of the 87 Irish alumni are expected to arrive in Erie this weekend for the festivities.

The Pennsylvania state Republican Party celebrates its 150th birthday this weekend in Harrisburg. A trio of former governors - Mark Schweiker, Dick Thornburgh and Tom Ridge of Erie - will all speak tonight at the birthday bash.

In Thursday night high school football, North East beat Northwestern 33-13.

In men's water polo, Mercyhurst beat Penn State Behrend 14-3. Jake Coin and Trevor McIlwaine each had four goals for the Lakers while Matt Pluta led the Lions with three goals.


The Erie Otters open their 13th season of competition in the Ontario Hockey League tonight when they travel to London to meet the Knights in a 7:30 pm game at the John Labatt Centre. The game can be heard live on FOX Sports Radio AM 1330 The FAN and on-line at www.ottershockey.com beginning with the pre-game show at 7:15 pm. Nick Palmieri and Jordan Skellett aren't with the team awaiting trades. Zack Torquato, Luke Gazdic, Justin Hodgman and Josh Kidd are in NHL camps and are also away from the team.
Yesterday, Erie Otters General Manager and Managing Partner Sherwood Bassin announced that E Shawn Waskiewicz was promoted to the position of Assistant General Manager, Administration. Waskiewicz has been involved as a member of the Erie’s sports administration community for the past 10 years. Following his graduation from Edinboro University the 32 year-old Harborcreek native joined the Erie SeaWolves where he was the team’s Director of Group Sales. In 2000, he joined the Otters organization, working in several capacities including corporate and ticket sales, community relations and marketing. Prior to the 2005 season Waskiewicz joined Comcast Spectacor and served as an Account Executive with the Philadelphia Flyers. Later that season, he was promoted to Director of Sales for the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League. In May, 2007, he returned to the Otters to accept the position of Director of Sales. As the Assistant General Manager, Administration Waskiewicz will oversee the day-to-day operation of the Otters organization.

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Trombone Shorty perform at the Mercyhurst College Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center tonight Friday, September 19 at 8 pm. Details and to purchase tickets.


All An Act Theatre Productions presents the classic courtroom thriller "Twelve Angry Men." The play runs through September 27.


The Mel Brooks wacky, award-winning musical, The Producers heralds the opening of the 92nd season at the Erie Playhouse - the first community theater in the nation to secure the rights to perform Mel Brooks' runaway hit. Mr Brooks has taken the sum total of all the best bits, styles of songs, and a complete collection of what makes us laugh and jam-packed them into this gigantic and entertaining two and a half hour musical. This show runs through September 27.

The Directors Circle Theatre kicks off its 14th season with "Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean!" written by former Erie resident Ed Graczyk. The production, directed by Michael Weiss, will play Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM through October 4. Check the reservation line for possible matinee performances. Directors Circle is located at 1001 State Street on the 2nd floor of the Renaissance Centre. Reservations can be made by calling the box office at (814) 451-1153.

Erie non-profit group Therapy Dogs United, in conjunction with the American Kennel Club, will host the area's only Responsible Dog Ownership Day at Frontier Park (north side) on Saturday, September 20, from 12-4 pm. Admission is FREE, rain or shine. Event highlights include a Blessing of the Dogs, Parade of Breeds, agility demonstrations, special appearance by search and rescue dogs, K9 police units, and therapy dogs. Other activities include Canine CPR, Pet First Aid, dog rescue groups, animal safety demonstrations, live acoustic music, contests, prizes, chinese auction, animal-related vendors.

Pull out your finest and join us for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Second Chance Prom to benefit the non-profit foundation. The event will be held Saturday, September 20 at the Siebenbuerger Club, from 7-11 pm. $15 per person Includes: buffet dinner, DJ, fun and games. Dinner starts at 8 p.m. and there is a cash bar. Please contact Amy Bement at the JDRF Office for more information and tickets at (814) 452-0635.


The Goodell Gardens and Homestead 3rd Annual Homegrown Harvest Festival will be held noon - 5 pm on Sunday, September 21. FREE admission. 1 pm - 'Growing Yesterday's Gardens: Heirloom Seeds and the Pennsylvania German Tradition' by Dr Irwin Richman, a PHC Commonwealth Speaker.Highlighting how the conservation of antique seed varieties, and distribution of high-quality seed, preserves an important part of Pennsylvanian German cultural heritage. It will also describe the use of heirloom flowers and vegetables in traditional gardens and how they can be adapted to modern use. Dr Richman is a Professor Emeritus of American Studies and History at Penn State - Harrisburg and is Director of Research and Development for the Heirloom Seed Project of the Landis Valley Museum. 3-5 pm - Barn Dance in the restored Goodell Barn. The 2008 Harvest Festival will also include: crafts, a quilt display, food, kid's activity, garden tours (12:30 and 2:30 pm) and a Farmer's market with organic produce and pumpkins, baked goods, honey products, maple products, goat milk products and demos, plant and spring bulb sale. Quilt display, Crafts (painted furniture, quilted items and pressed flower art. Raffles for great items, food and more.

The Erie Civic Music Association presents the Alexandria Harmonizers who will be performing at the Warner Theatre on Sunday, Septmeber 21. Tickets.

As health costs continue to rise, American families and employers across the country are all too often forced to direct even more of their scarce household resources toward health care coverage or choose between keeping health coverage or employees. Clearly, the American health care system is facing a financial crisis and the time has come for Congress to tackle these challenges and build a health care system that not only meets the demands of the 21st century but guarantees universal access to affordable, quality care for every American at every stage of life. Please join US Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.) and U.S. Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) at the 2008 Congressional Health Care Summit in Erie, Pennsylvania for a robust discussion on the challenges we face in health care today and a range of proposals to provide sound solutions.This Congress, English and Bennett have teamed up to introduce the Healthy Americans Act. The breakthrough legislation, which does not alter or eliminate Medicare or Veterans Administration healthcare programs, marks the first bipartisan, bicameral comprehensive healthcare reform bill to cover every American in more than a decade. Specifically, the Healthy Americans Act will provide affordable, private health care for all Americans while maintaining quality care throughout the system. Although not perfect, the Healthy Americans Act will go a long way in laying the groundwork for Congress to overhaul the American health care system. Join us to discuss the complex and multifaceted challenges currently straining the system and all Americans as well as to discuss new and innovative proposals to a crisis long overdue for a solution. The Congressional Health Care Summit 2008 will be held 11 am -12:30 pm on Monday, September 22 at the Hamot Heart Institute, 120 East 2nd St in Erie. To attend, please RSVP to Bridget Nolan.

The Gannon University Small Business Development Center will sponsor a Business Plan Workshop 6-8 pm on Tuesday, September 23 and Tuesday, September 30. You must attend both sessions. Cost is $35. To register, call (814) 871-7232 or click here.

The Northwest Pennsylvania Regional College Fair will be held on Tuesday, September 23, from 6:30 to 8 pm in the Mercyhurst College Rec Center. The event is sponsored by PACAC (Pennsylvania Association of College Admissions Counselors) and will include representatives from more than 80 colleges, universities and trade schools from Pennsylvania and surrounding states. It's FREE and open to the public.

The Bass Federation 2008 Mid-Atlantic Divisional Championship will be held on Lake Erie in Presque Isle Bay at Erie, PA, September 24-26. As many as 84 competitors representing seven Mid-Atlantic Division areas - Delaware, Maryland, Nation's Capitol, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia - are expected to compete in the tournament. The public is invited to the Marina Launch at Presque State Park in Erie, PA, to watch the takeoffs and weigh-ins at 6:30 am and 2:30 pm, respectively. Admission is FREE. Official practice for the TBF Mid-Atlantic Divisional Championship begins at daylight Sept 21 and continues through 2 pm Sept 23.

Erie native and essayist Dinty W Moore will open the 2008-09 Creative Writer’s Speaker Series at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, with a reading on Thursday, September 25. A reception for Moore will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the first-floor living room of the college’s Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel. The reading will take place at 6 pm in the chapel worship space. Both events are free and open to the public. Moore grew up near West Ninth Street and Weschler Avenue and attended Saint Andrew School. During high school at Cathedral Prep he worked at the Erie Zoo, and later, at Erie’s Morning News. He taught creative writing at Penn State Altoona for many years, and currently is a professor of English at Ohio University in Athens. Moore blogs at dintywmoore.com.


Music at Noon: The Logan Series kicks off its 19th season at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, with a lunchtime performance by Boston Brass. The performance takes place at noon on Thursday, September 25, in the McGarvey Commons of the Reed Union Building. Admission is FREE and open to the public. While in Erie, Boston Brass will also give two mini-classes at Diehl Elementary, Penn State Behrend's Adopt A School partner.

The largest, most expensive, and most far-reaching physics experiment ever attempted will be the subject of the next Open House Night in Astronomy at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. "The Large Hadron Collider: Searching for Dark Matter and Dark Energy” will be presented by Roger Knacke, professor of physics and astronomy at Penn State Behrend, on Thursday, September 25. His talk begins at 7:30 pm in 101 Otto Behrend Science Building, and will be followed by astronomical observation from Mehalso Observatory, weather permitting. Both portions of the evening are FREE, open to the public, and intended for a non-technical audience.

The Great Lakes Independent Film Festival runs Thursday, September 25 through Sunday, September 28.


The 27th annual Wine Country Harvest Festival will be held September 26-28 in North East, PA. You will find 5 wineries in the wine tent this year, serving more than 40 varieties of wine. Dance to some of the regions best music and browse through the fine arts and crafts. You might even try your skill as a grape stomper – a festival tradition.

On Saturday, September 27, the Erie Art Museum will participate in the fourth annual Museum Day, presented by Smithsonian magazine. Museum Day is a day when museums and cultural institutions nationwide open their doors free of charge to Smithsonian magazine readers and Smithsonian.com visitors.


Courtney E Martin, author of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body, a searingly honest look at the spectrum of physical obsessions undertaken in the name of unattainable perfection, will speak at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, on Tuesday, September 30. Her discussion, “Perfect Girls: How a Generation Was Told They Could Be Anything and Heard They Had to be Everything” begins at 7:30 pm in the worship space of the college’s Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel. Admission is FREE and open to the public, and a reception for Martin will follow the presentation.

The Inaugural Lindsay Graygo Memorial 5k Run/Walk will be held at Presque Isle State Park, Beach 1 on October 4. ALL proceeds from this non-competitive event will go directly toward the Lindsay Graygo Empowerment Scholarship Fund. Registration form. For more info, please call (814) 461-7638 or send an e-mail to lindsaygraygorun@logisticsplus.net.

The Roadhouse Theatre’s 20th Anniversary Production, 'Buried Child', will be performed October 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18 with a special performance on October 19 for anyone who has ever performed in or worked on a Roadhouse Theatre production. Reservations will be required for this show and a reception will follow the performance. Tickets are $8 with special limited VIP seating available at $12. As usual BYOB with proper ID. Phone (814) 459-8215 for reservations and tickets.

Gannon University’s doctor of physical therapy students are asking the community to shoot for a cure on Saturday, October 4. The students will host the second annual “Shooting for a Cure” 3-on-3 basketball tournament, with all proceeds raised from the event benefitting the John Kanzius Cancer Research Foundation. Registration will begin at 8 am on Oct 4 at the University’s Carneval Athletic Pavilion, 130 West 4th Street. Tournament play will begin at 8:30 am in four brackets: ages 18-over; grades 9-12; grades 7-8; and grades 4-6. Prizes will be awarded to the first-place teams in each bracket. The cost is $30 per team, and entries should be submitted by Oct 1. For more information, contact Jessica Hamilton at (724) 822-5979.


The 13th annual Because You Care Walk will be held at Presque Isle State Park, Beach 11 on Sunday, October 5. The Annual Walk for Small Animals, as Because You Care's largest fundraiser, provides funds needed for the rescue and rehabilitation of abandoned and abused animals throughout BYC's operating year. The funds from this Walk help to provide the necessary veterinary care (including spaying and neutering) and food and supplies to animals all year around. In addition to working for the cause, the Walk has also become one of BYC's most fun and educational events. Walkers and dogs of all ages come out to partake in a carnival of pre- and post- walk events, stroll by educational stations, walk the beautiful Beach 11 area with dogs, and enjoy an after-walk lunch with door prizes and raffles. It's a great way to relax, meet new people (and dogs), and raise money for a great cause.


Dirty Looks performs at the Warner Theatre on Sunday, October 5. Tickets are $41.50 or $21.50. Harpo is the opening act.


The Halls of Fear is Erie's premiere Haunted House attraction presented annually to benefit the Wesleyville Hose Company. It features a brand new 4800 sq ft building at the intersection of Station and Shannon Roads, with new rooms, and new characters along with some of your traditional favorites. With live radio coverage, Auxiliary refreshment stand, The Tombstone Tent selling Halls of Fear books, tshirts, mugs and more, and Igor's Pumpkin Patch with $2 Pumpkins, the Halls of Fear promises to be better than ever in 2008! A Halloween tradition since 2001, the Halls of Fear was recently rated 67th of over 20,000 haunted house nationwide! It was also rated by Haunted House Online as having 46 out of 50 skulls for thrills and chills! Cost is $6 per adult and $3 for children under 12. Not normally recommended for children under the age of 8, or for those susceptible to strobes, heart conditions, or similar physical restrictions. You can also PreOrder your tickets and save money and time by picking up your tickets at the Will Call window. This event runs October 9-12, 17-19, 24-26, 30 and NOW OPEN HALLOWEEN NIGHT after Trick-or-Treating. They offer a special discount on tickets on Halloween Night for those that attend in costume, good only that night! Free trick-or-treating on location for everyone! Hours of operation are from 7 pm to 10 pm on weekdays, and 7 pm to 11 pm on weekends. On Halloween Night, the special hours will be from 9 pm to midnight, after Trick or Treating! Parking is located near the intersection of Station and Shannon Roads. For all the information you need to plan your visit, plus photos, multimedia, great links and more, visit www.wesleyvillehose.com/thehallsoffear/ or contact them at hallsoffear@wesleyvillehose.com.

Belle Valley Fire Department presents it's annual haunted house "Valley of the Ghouls" October 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, and 31. Time 7:30-11 pm. Cost is $5.

Jack Speer, an award-winning newscaster with National Public Radio, will discuss "Election 2008: Is the Economy Still the Essential Issue for the Candidates and the Voters?" at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania on Thursday, October 16, in the Frank G Pogue Student Center multipurpose room at 7:30 pm. Speer is a 1981 graduate of Edinboro University. Speer's lecture is FREE and open to the public.

ZooBoo is a spooky, but not too spooky, fun-filled event at the Erie Zoo featuring a variety of Halloween displays, costumed characters, a spooky train ride, our endangered species carousel, crafts, facepainting, games, and trick-or-treating for children 11 and under. Erie ZooBoo 2008 will run from Friday, October 17 through Tuesday, October 30. The gates are open to the public from 6 pm to 9 pm each night.

Cattle call auditions for CATS, THE GRADUATE and THE SPITFIRE GRILL, will be held at 6 pm on October 19 and 20 at the Erie Playhouse rehearsal hall at 1158 East 12th Street in Erie.