News and Politics

Erie's favorite rascal is back at it.

Here?s a fact. The Earth is warming. The global temperature has risen about 1.3?F in the last 150 years, and two-thirds of that increase has occurred since the 1980s.

This is the 63rd week in a row that I?ve had the pleasure of addressing you, dear Reader readers. That?s roughly 63,000 words I?ve pushed out of this bully pulpit called ?Upfront,? the equivalent of a short novel. If you were to go back and read them all, just like a novel, you?d find recurring themes that permeate that novel as well as permeate our city, our region, and our culture. You?d also creep me out just a little bit, because, come on, who would do that?

Although the FBI reports that violent crime has dropped nationwide and overall crime has decreased in Erie by a whopping 12 percent over the same period of time, the 50 or so shooting victims from last year report that violent crime has increased at least 100 percent in their world. So why has Erie not been able to realize the gains that cities across the nation have been able to realize?

Introducing Bugs Beeman

Politicians have been bloviating hard about the virtues of the free market since the crash of 2008, which destroyed between $10 and $13 trillion of citizens? purchasing power. These for the most part were completely blameless citizens.

As we watched Jerry Sandusky sit impassively through court proceedings while tale after tale of horror was spun before us all, actions of the man perpetrated under the very noses of his friends and family and employers, innumerable questions come to mind.

The bill, if passed, would allow payday lenders to operate in the state, charging as much as 369 percent in annual rates to consumers for 2-week loans. Even the bill?s ?protections? are dubious.

In the fall of 2011, Bryan got his chance to help out; he would begin to practice the most hazardous profession in the world in the most volatile part of the most dangerous country in the world ? Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

An Op-Ed by Senator Joe Scarnati President Pro Tempore (R-Jefferson)

Ships and passengers, like the Titanic and those aboard, sometimes represent whole societies. Their wrecks represent apocalypses often caused in part by human moral failings.

Expert on Afghanistan politics and policy to speak at the Jefferson Educational Society

Prepare for Perrymania!

Upfront is 83 percent right some of the time, and that's 100 percent okay with us.

Upfront looks back at the Erie Reader 2012 Primary Debates