The Gazette of Really Small News

 A limited number of tickets are available for Erie PAL's first Police Athletic League Ball on Saturday, February 25. Tickets for the event, to be held at the Ambassador Banquet & Conference Center, 7794 Peach Street, are $100 per person. Featured guest speaker will be Rasheda Ali-Walsh, daughter of late boxing great Mohammed Ali, who will speak about her father's life and his PAL experience. If you want to go, send an email to eriepal@erie.pa.us no later than noon Thursday, February 16, with your name, address, phone number and number of tickets you would like to purchase. You will be notified of ticket availability no later than Monday, February 20. If tickets are available, you will receive a link to make payment. The Erie Police Department says that, with your support, Erie PAL can continue to build relationships between law enforcement and the city's young people. If you can't attend the ball but would like to support Erie PAL, click  here  to make a donation.

  . . .  and nobody hears it, does the tree really fall?" The riff on the old Philosophy 101 question in Erie Cemetery might have been inevitable, but was it inexcusable? (Photo: The Gazette of Really Small News)

 The Erie County Historical Society-Hagen History Center, 363 W 6th Street, will host a Community Day Sunday, February 12, from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Visitors can tour the exhibit buildings and learn more about Erie County's history. Among the sights: the Story of Us exhibit, Frank Lloyd Wright's San Francisco office, and the restored Wood-Morrison House. The Watson-Curtze Mansion is closed through February for maintenance. 

 Erie's Downtown Community Skating Rink will be closed this evening because of the wind chill advisory, Erie Downtown Partnership said on social media. The advisory issued by the National Weather Service in Cleveland is in effect until 9 a.m. tomorrow. Overnight wind chills are expected to go as low as 6 below zero, with air temperature reaching a low of 11. The brutal cold won't last long. Tomorrow's high could reach 31, according to NWS Cleveland. Erie Downtown Partnership said the skating rink will be open this weekend at regular hours: noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Northwest PA CareerLink will hold its 2023 Spring Job Fair Thursday, February 9, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Booker T. Washington Center, 1720 Holland Street.  Industries represented will include manufacturing, office, construction, health care, hospitality, customer service, and EMTA (Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority). The fair will offer resume assistance, on-site interviews, work-experience opportunities, and internship and apprentice opportunities. For more information, call (814) 455-9966/TTY (814) 871-4610/Toll-free 1-844-333-5248.

 The National Weather Service in Cleveland has issued a heavy freezing spray warning for the nearshore waters of Lake Erie, effective until 10 this evening. "Mariners should prepare for dangerous accumulation of ice on their vessel" and remain in port, the NWS said in an urgent marine message. Freezing spray could stop mechanical and electrical components from working, while rapid accumulation of ice could lead to what the NWS called "catastrophic loss of stability" on decks and superstructures. "Inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller vessels, should avoid navigating in hazardous conditions," NWS Cleveland said.

 Get ready for a dark and really chilly, slightly stormy night. The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for this evening until 11 a.m. tomorrow. Snow showers with patches of blowing snow could result in total accumulation of three inches overnight. Expect a low of around 9 with wind chills of around minus 5. A wind chill advisory will go into effect at 4 a.m. and last until 9 a.m. Saturday with wind chills of around minus 10. Image: Screengrab of National Weather Service Cleveland graphic

 The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill advisory for 4 a.m. Friday until 9 a.m. Saturday. Friday's daytime high is expected to reach 12, with a night time low of 10. Wind will be north, 11 mph to 18 mph, with wind chills dipping to 7 below zero. Chance of precipitation will be 80 percent during the day, with possible accumulation of up to an inch of snow, and 50 percent at night, with up to half an inch of snow possible. The Arctic immersion won't last: the NWS projects a daytime high of 32 on Saturday.

 EMTA asks users of their Token Transit app to make sure they're using the latest version of the app to avoid fare payment issues on the "e." The latest version is 4.5.2 and is available for both Apple and Android phones.  For the Apple version, click  here . For the Android version, click  here .

 The public has until tomorrow, February 3, to submit a comment about the city's ActiveErie Bikeways project . The first two bikeways projects are Greengarden Boulevard on the west and French street on the east, with bike lanes going north and south from 6th to 38th streets. You can submit comments and feedback by way of  this page .  Image: City of Erie Government

EMTA's bus-tracking app myStop is down this morning because of an internet outage, the authority reported by way of social media. Some LIFT rides may also be affected.  EMTA says they're working to correct the matter as soon as possible and apologizes for the delay.

Interlake Steamship Company's Kaye E. Barker is wintering at Donjon Shipbuilding & Repair at Presque Isle Bay, next to the Erie Maritime Museum. According to the steamship company's website, the Kaye E. Barker is 767 feet long, has a hull depth of 36 feet and a 70-foot beam, and runs on an 8,000-horsepower engine. The freighter was built in 1952. Photo: The Gazette of Really Small News