Friday, May 17 2013 12:33 PM EDT2013-05-17 16:33:20 GMT
There aren't many of us who think that drinking and driving is a good idea but finding the right place to draw that line is proving to be a tough choice in a country that zealously protects individualMore >>
A new initiative for stricter limits on drinking and driving makes for some tough choices for lawmakers.More >>
Friday, May 17 2013 4:34 PM EDT2013-05-17 20:34:30 GMT
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ended about a dozen legal challenges this week by okaying a revised 10-year plan to redraw the state's political boundaries. The first plan was considered to be too bizarreMore >>
Drawing political boundaries for personal gains makes it hard to say we support free and open elections.More >>
Friday, May 10 2013 5:03 PM EDT2013-05-10 21:03:20 GMT
You hear the word "potential" a lot when talking about the problems facing young people and their decisions of staying on the straight and narrow or veering off into life on the streets. Few lives showMore >>
The man with a once promising career now faces years in jail, raising more questions about how to keep young people focused on achievement.More >>
Friday, May 3 2013 11:47 AM EDT2013-05-03 15:47:51 GMT
A lot of the stories we cover aren't fun. Some days you're slogging through municipal budgets. Others require that we cover a tragedy in the community. But then there are those rare times when you hitMore >>
A story on the frustrations of Erie's red lights proves a unifying experience.More >>
Friday, April 26 2013 12:06 PM EDT2013-04-26 16:06:02 GMT
The chaotic and sad events in Boston this week are once again a reminder of the need to trust your source of information as well as a reminder that those who give out the information must double checkMore >>
The premature announcement of an arrest in Boston is a strict lesson in trusting sources especially over the Internet.More >>
Friday, April 19 2013 2:59 PM EDT2013-04-19 18:59:56 GMT
For Erie's unionized General Electric workers, leverage is something in short supply these days. The latest example of that is the company's announcement that one of its premier locomotive lines willMore >>
Erie has an uphill battle trying to make trains against leaner and newer competition.More >>
Friday, April 12 2013 2:24 PM EDT2013-04-12 18:24:31 GMT
It's becoming clear this week that there are a lot of moving parts as lawmakers try to decide how or if to change how alcohol is sold in Pennsylvania. What will be a boon for some can quickly become aMore >>
Sales for beer distributors could be going flat if the current proposal to change the state's alcohol monopoly is passed.More >>
Friday, April 5 2013 11:32 AM EDT2013-04-05 15:32:00 GMT
The WSEE family lost one of the pillars of its history this week with the passing of legendary investigative reporter Carol Pella. Carol came out of Penn State about the same time Watergate came out inMore >>
We lost a legendary investigative journalist with the passing of Carol Pella, but her lessons in tenacity and accurate reporting live on.More >>
Friday, March 29 2013 2:09 PM EDT2013-03-29 18:09:31 GMT
If there is anything good that can come from the recent loss of an Erie teenager, it's further proof that neighbors here can and do care about each other. I'm talking of course about the death of 17-yearMore >>
The tragic loss of an Erie teenager proves both the power of neighbors caring for each other and the power of the new ways in which we communicate.More >>
Friday, March 22 2013 5:02 PM EDT2013-03-22 21:02:35 GMT
It is the calm before the storm in the Vatican. A brand new Pope, fresh from a hectic two days that ended in a plume of white smoke, now meeting with cardinals for the first time since that historic voteMore >>
Pope Francis may have his last quiet weekend for a while, as the burdens of leadership settle in.More >>
It's been a pretty busy news week.
There were the primary elections, granted something of a bomb given the cold rain and the lackluster turnout.
There was the real blast and fire at a Harborcreek biodiesel fuel plant and the complaints from responders of lung and throat problems later.
But the real explosive announcement, the one that could detonate the entire area economy, is word that General Electric is looking to build another locomotive plant in Fort Worth Texas. Excuse us for feeling a little protective, but Erie workers have been building GE locomotives here for the past 100 years.
Like many communities, Fort Worth is rolling out the red carpet to the global giant by offering more than five million dollars in tax incentives to lure the 100 million dollar plant there. The company is promising to build high tech machines in its state of the art facility. Compare that to the aging, drafty industrial era buildings of the Erie campus and you begin to see why people are getting concerned. Add to that the fact that Texas is a right-to-work state, meaning that by law an employee is not required to join a union to work. Devastating does not begin to describe what losing GE would mean to Erie. One out of every 11 jobs here is tied one way or another to General Electric. The annual economic impact to the region is more than 2 billion dollars annually, and yes, friends, that's billion with a "B." County Executive Barry Grossman is doing the right thing in meeting with union leaders and company executives to ask what's happening and what might be done to keep the company happy here. We wish his efforts all the luck in the world. But there's another scenario no one wants to confront but may soon have to: What if it's already too late?
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