Erie Times-News (Erie, PA) articles from July 2001

Erie Times-News (Erie, PA) archives from July 2001

Rent-Way Stock Falls 16.6 Percent after Company Files its 2000 Annual Report.
July 3, 2001... Byline: Peter Panepento Jul. 3--Rent-Way Inc. investors, buoyed by recent predictions that the company will return to its previous profit margins within the next year, were thrown a curve Monday when a company filing with the Securities...

Erie, Pa.-Area Tool Shop Owners Plans Efforts to Thwart Imports.
July 3, 2001... Byline: Jim Martin Jul. 3--Although competition from the Chinese is surging it's probably not the biggest challenge facing the region's tool-and-die industry, said Ralph Pontillo, president of Manufacturer's Association of Northwest...

US Airways Merger's Collapse Raises Concerns about Air Service to Erie, Pa.
July 3, 2001... Byline: JIM CARROLL Jul. 3--The airline merger that Erie International Airport officials hoped would expand air service for Erie -- maybe even add flights to Chicago and other hubs -- is collapsing. And arising from the rubble of...

Erie Times-News, Pa., People on the Move Column.
July 6, 2001... Jul. 6--RICHARD PELKOWSKI, an Erie native who has served as air traffic control tower manager at Erie International Airport for the past seven years, has been named air traffic manager and hub manager at Pittsburgh International Airport. ...

Consumers Flee from Electric Choice Program in Pennsylvania.
July 6, 2001... Byline: Peter Panepento Jul. 6--Consumers are fleeing Pennsylvania's Electric Choice program as higher wholesale costs are driving competing companies out of the market -- and driving up prices for those who remain. In GPU Inc.'s...

Mortgage Rates Not Affected by Federal Reserve Rate Cuts.
July 6, 2001... Byline: Peter Panepento Jul. 6--Each time the Federal Reserve Board cuts its federal funds rate, National City Corp. Vice President Beverly Washabaugh braces for another wave of the phone calls. Six times this year -- after each Fed...

Northwest Pennsylvania Manufacturers Hold Bleak Outlook for U.S. Toolmakers.
July 9, 2001... Byline: Jim Martin Jul. 9--Troubled tool companies will have to make painful changes -- cutting payroll and even buying from overseas rivals -- if they hope to survive in an era of global competition. That was the view Monday from an...

Power Plant Officials Review Erie, Pa.-Area for Possible Site.
July 11, 2001... Byline: John Bartlett Jul. 11--Union Township officials and some local residents believe FPL Energy is preparing to pull the plug on the township as a possible location for a 500-megawatt electric power plant. However, FPL officials...

Erie, Pa., Banks Could Benefit from Proposed Sale of Pittsburgh-Based Bank.
July 12, 2001... Byline: Jim Martin Jul. 12--Local banks could be the beneficiaries if the proposed sale of Pittsburgh-based Mellon Financial Corp. becomes a reality. And while the future of the bank's employees remains uncertain, local bank executives...

Erie, Pa., Hospital Expanding to Handle Full-Time Trauma Unit.
July 12, 2001... Byline: David Bruce Jul. 12--Hamot Medical Center will build a two-story addition to its emergency department this fall, about the same time the hospital plans to operate its trauma center full time. The addition will extend from the...

Developers Hope to Start Work on Erie, Pa.-Area Lowe's Before Winter.
July 12, 2001... Byline: Deborah McQuaid Jul. 12--Developers of a proposed Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse on Asbury Road hope to get the project under way before winter, Millcreek Township Engineer Rick Morris said. According to a plan presented to...

Erie, Pa., Zoning Board Approves Gas Station for Interchange.
July 12, 2001... Byline: Deborah McQuaid Jul. 12--The Millcreek Township Zoning Hearing Board voted 2-1 Wednesday to allow Sheetz Inc. to sell gasoline at a convenience store planned for the intersection of Interchange and Edinboro roads, just south of the...

Farmers' Co-Op in Erie, Pa., to Close.
July 17, 2001... Byline: John Guerriero Jul. 17--When farms skirted the city of Erie, the Erie-Crawford Cooperative at 1918 German St. was a hopping place where farmers bought feed and supplies. But sales at the eastside Erie mill have dropped in...

Vending Industry Hits Speed Bump in Slower Economy.
July 17, 2001... Byline: Jim Carroll Jul. 17--Steve Porter reached up and pushed a dollar bill into the soda pop machine, then hit a button and waited for a Dr Pepper to rumble and clank down the chute. "I buy them once in a while, I guess pretty...

Natural Gas Prices Decline in Northwest Pennsylvania.
July 18, 2001... Byline: Jim Martin Jul. 18--After record-high prices last winter, the wholesale and futures prices of natural gas has tumbled in recent weeks to its lowest level in more than a year. That's likely to mean lower prices this winter for...

PNC Launches Effort to Enlist Mellon Customers.
July 19, 2001... Jul. 19--PNC Financial Services Group wasted little time in its effort to woo Mellon Bank customers in the wake of Tuesday's announcement that Mellon Financial Corp. is selling its consumer banking operations to Rhode Island-based Citizens...

Financial Firm to Put Area Headquarters in Pennsylvania to Deal with Merger.
July 20, 2001... Byline: Peter Panepento Jul. 20--Citizens Financial Corp. will set up a regional headquarters in Pennsylvania to manage the bank branch network it is acquiring from Pittsburgh-based Mellon Financial Corp. Though Erie at first blush...

Erie Times-News, Pa., People on the Move Column.
July 20, 2001... Jul. 20--National City Bank recently announced several staff changes that affect customers in northwestern Pennsylvania. STEPHEN C. FINDLAY, DONAL DAMON and JAMES GEHRLEIN have been named to a senior management team to lead National City's...

Erie County, Pa., Produces Enough to Rank as World Economy.
July 20, 2001... Byline: Peter Panepento Jul. 20--Erie created a gross product of $9.8 billion in 2000, according to a recent study by the United States Conference of Mayors, making it the world's 250th largest economy. That means County Executive Judy...

A Month Later, Former Erie, Pa.-Area Workers Still Adjust to Life After EMI.
July 21, 2001... Byline: Jim Martin Jul. 21--On June 22, Michael Bogart idled down the EMI melt furnace for the last time, marking the end of a 120-year chapter in local history and the close of his own 28-year career. The furnace has long since...

International Paper to Return to Full Operation, Add Jobs at Erie, Pa., Mill.
July 21, 2001... Byline: Peter Panepento Jul. 21--International Paper Co. is returning its Erie paper mill to full operation for the first time in nearly two years, company officials said Friday. The decision, which will create about 50 new operations...

Citizens Financial Courts Its Mellon Customers.
July 24, 2001... Byline: Peter Panepento Jul. 24--Citizens Financial Corp. paints itself as a customer-friendly corporate citizen. Citizens has grown from a small chain of community banks to a major player in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut...

GE Transportation Systems Buys Part of Locomotive Services Firm.
July 27, 2001... Byline: Peter Panepento Jul. 27--GE Transportation Systems Inc. is buying a piece of locomotive manufacturing and services company Wabtec Corp. for $240 million -- a deal that GE officials say will help the company expand its service...

Oil Well, $3,000 in Gas at Stake in Erie, Pa.-Area Contest.
July 28, 2001... Byline: Jim Martin Jul. 28--In the earliest days of the oil industry, Oil City controlled the prize that everyone seemed to want. Today, more than a hundred years later, Oil City, or at least a trip there, is part of the prize...

Small Tavern in Erie, Pa., Area to Close After 55 Years.
July 28, 2001... Byline: Jim Martin Jul. 28--The young couple gazed with a certain awe at the long wooden bar that stretched across the tavern on West 11th Street. They'd like one just like it, Andrew Hohol said. But the proprietor had another idea....

Erie, Pa., Jeweler's 122-Year-Old Family Business Is Closing Today.
July 31, 2001... Byline: Peter Panepento Jul. 31--He doesn't remember the exact year, but Bill Beyer can still recall the December afternoon when a young Army enlistee home on leave came into Beyer's Peach Street jewelry store looking for a diamond ring....

Lenders to Erie, Pa.-Based Rent-Way Extend Credit Agreements.
July 31, 2001... Byline: Peter Panepento Jul. 31--Rent-Way Inc. and its lenders reached an agreement Tuesday to extend the company's credit agreement while it continues to sort out its financial status in the wake of its internal investigation into...