Tonight is the last Erie Block Party of the summer, which will be held at Scully's Pub with performer Money Shot. The theme of the party is "80's on State" with the designated charity SafeNet. As expected, Kenneth Barnes has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and aiding and abetting in the Brian Wells case. Some other facts about the case have been announced. From the wire story: According to Barnes, Wells got cold feet on the day of the robbery, refusing to put on the collar bomb after realizing it was real. Another plotter then fired a single shot from a gun, scaring him into putting it around his neck. Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong is also suspected to be part of the plot but has been deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. Barnes will be sentenced on December 3. Former Erie School District teacher Erica Baker, of Corry, pled guilty to corruption of a minor. In exchange, two other corruption charges were dropped and she agreed to give up her teaching license (wasn't that a given?). Baker is accused of having consensual sex with a 16 year old student from Strong Vincent High School last summer. Baker is scheduled to be sentenced on October 23 and could spend up to five years in prison. 210 businesses listed in a new feature on the PA Department of Revenue's website owe the commonwealth more then $6.3 million in sales and/or employer withholding taxes. There are three business in the Erie area included on the list. One is Erie Mill and Press Co. (doing business as EMPCO), which owes the state $10,289.29. Second is Klimek Molding Corporation in Girard, which owes $5,342.30. Finally, Richard Lawlor (doing business as Water Rite of Erie) of Fairview owes $48,785.80. The United Way of Erie County kicked off it's 2008...

John Bartlett is a Field Representative for Friends of Allegheny Wilderness, a Warren-based nonprofit that seeks to foster an appreciation of wilderness values and benefits and work with local communities to ensure that increased wilderness protection is a priority of the stewardship of the Allegheny National Forest. In this op-ed, he shares the mission of Friends of Allegheny Wilderness and some of the programs they are working on. The week of Sept. 7 is Wilderness Week. It is a time to celebrate the Wilderness Act of 1964, the lands already forever protected under the Act, and the ongoing efforts to save the best of our remaining wild and most natural places. And some of those remaining wild areas are in the Allegheny National Forest. Friends of Allegheny Wilderness and its supporters from throughout the region and across the state are leading a campaign for Congressional wilderness designation of an additional eight tracts totaling 54,460 acres in the ANF. Wilderness designation is the highest level of protection that can be given federal lands. Wilderness areas are forever set aside in the National Wilderness Preservation System as lands where nature reigns and man is just a visitor....

This week's Erie YouTube of the Week provides an inside look at the Brewerie at Union Station with Brewmaster Gary Burleigh. There's some salty language near the end....

There will be only two candidates on the ballot this fall for the 3rd Congressional District. Judge James R. Kelley ruled that over 1,500 signatures that independent candidate Steve Porter weren't valid. Without those signatures, he didn't have enough to get himself on the ballot. That leaves incumbent Phil English and challenger Kathy Dahlkemper. Lucas Hull, 24, who escaped from a Chautauqua County prison work detail last week has been caught in West Virginia. He can expect a few more years tacked onto his sentence. Erie County is planning to appeal Judge Michael Dunlavey's ruling regarding the distribution of gaming revenue. In early August Judge Dunlavey interpreted state law to give half of the $11 million in tax revenue collected to Summit Township along with Millcreek, McKean, and Greene townships and McKean Borough, instead of the entire amount to Erie County government. GAF has filed paperwork with the DEP discussing how it plans to clean up the site of its former factory on the bayfront (northwest corner of State Street and Bayfront Highway). There are currently no plans for the site, but there will be wells drilled on the property to see if there was any contamination to the soil and water. John Mizner must complete five years of probation and continue with his mental health treatment. He admitted to taking nearly $70,000 from the law firm where he worked and then re-paying it. He claims to be obsessive-compulsive and says he spent nearly $100,000 on landscaping his property. The good news for Mizner is that he can keep his law license. Mizner was formerly chairman of the Erie County Republican party. On the heels of the announcement that superintendent James Barker plans to retire in the next 12-15 months, the Erie School District has filed suit to try to...

The fourth annual Erie Heritage Festival takes place on Saturday, September 6, 2008 at Liberty Park. Known as the "last blast of the summer," the festival is a day full of culture, shopping, historical re-enactments and let's not forget, great music. The highlight of the festival is the Erie Philharmonic Pops concert featuring the 1812 Overture - complete with real live cannons, bells and fireworks. Fireworks will be shot off on the bay and can be seen from as far away as Summit Township. Also featured will be military re-enactors including French and Indian War, Civil War and WWII re-enactors. The Harry T. Burleigh Society's Underground Railroad Interactive Classroom will give visitors a chance to experience "living in Jerusalem" before the Civil War. Jerusalem, or New Jerusalem, was the city's first African-American neighborhood. New to the 2008 festival is the Ethnic Erie Marketplace. Erie, city and county, has welcomed immigrants and refugees from every populated continent. The foods, music, dance, language and traditions brought by these cultural groups have contributed to the political history, social history and art heritage of Erie. Erie's Heritage Festival pays tribute to these old and new immigrant and refugee groups in a marketplace where event visitors find traditional foods, music, dancing and crafts....