Outside Erie

During my visit this week to Erie, I had a chance to sit down with Press & Tower author Joel Natalie to record a podcast about Global Erie, philanthropy, social media, and more.
You can check it out here on Joel’s blog.
I’d love to hear what you think.

Lots of anger today over City Council’s decision last night to table a plan that would give the city $250,000 in upfront state money and up to $2 million more to help revitalize downtown.
Fellow GlobalErie blogger Jim Berlin (who has invested heavily in the redevelopment of Union Station) has a rant over on Berlin’s Wall.
And […]

We often hear complaints that Erie is bereft of investigative journalism.
Then we come across stories like Ed Palattella’s Sunday Erie Times-News piece on a payment from developer Greg Rubino to a former Erie Zoning Board member and are reminded that there are still some good reporters out there minding the shop.
As we’ve come to expect, […]

Thanks to Julio Reyes for pointing out the Erie Times-News story on the departure of Monica Brower.
Brower, as many of you might know, has been working for the Economic Development Corp. of Erie County for the past 10 years — most recently as its chief executive officer. She is leaving the organization to take a […]

My weekend visit to Miami for the Investigative Reporters and Editors annual conference has me thinking quite a bit about the future of journalism — and whether the Fourth Estate will be better or worse off after the seismic shifts that are transforming the industry are over.
It shouldn’t surprise you that I’m a firm believer […]

The Erie Times-News’ George Miller offers some interesting analysis of the city of Erie’s loan program for businesses.
The story points out, quite correctly, the problems with big loans to the IFP juice plant and Koehler Brewery Square. In both cases, the city floated big loans for projects that weren’t backed with much by the way […]

Nice work by Erie Times-News photographer Rob Engelhardt, who captured a point-of-view video of the new Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer.
Of course, you can’t ride the coaster just yet. But the GoErie video gives a virtual preview of what it’s like. The views look fantastic.
Here it is:

If you’re looking for info about Barack Obama’s visit to Erie today, GoErie.com is live blogging the event.
And they’re doing a nice job of giving the flavor of the visit.

The Erie Times-News’ three-part series on General Electric Co.’s grant to the school system in Louisville is worth checking out if you care about Erie and its future.
The series, which kicks off today and runs through Tuesday, shows how the company’s grant has impacted students in Louisville.
Why does this matter to Erie?
The reason is simple. […]

The Erie Times-News today has its annual list of the Top 10 stories of the year.
The newspaper clearly had a lot to choose from in 2007 — with the opening of several new projects, the biggest philanthropic gift in Erie’s history, charges in the Brian Wells case, and the publication of results of tests on […]