From the Newsroom: Go Erie

Lawrence T. Persico, 71, was installed as the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Erie on Oct. 1, 2012. In an interview with the Erie Times-News on Oct. 17, 2022, Persico discusses his decade-long tenure, including his handling of the clergy sex abuse crisis, and his hopes for the diocese over the next four years. Persico must submit his retirement papers to the Vatican when he turns 75.

Don Stroz talks about testing positive for HIV in 1990 and how he has lived a healthy life for more than three decades since. 

In a July 22, 2022 news conference in Erie that he called, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, of Butler, R-16th Dist., challenged reporters and pushed back on issues including his acceptance of the 2020 election results, his opponent in his 2022 re-election race and allegations about presidential pardons.

Shamila Samiahmady, a 32-year-old refugee from Kabul, Afghanistan, speaks in her Arabic language about resettling in Erie as another refugee, Abdul Bashir Masood, interprets. The interview was conducted March 15 with Erie Times-News reporter Matthew Rink at the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants Erie field office.

Hear audio of multiple shots being fired in a west Erie neighborhood on July 1, 2021. Police say the shooting led to the death of a man in a home in the 500 block of West 29th Street just before 4 a.m. on July 1. The audio was taken from nearby surveillance video, of the fatal shooting incident.

Hear from Eric Trump, son of President Donald Trump, toured Presque Isle State Park on Sept. 21, 2020 before holding a rally in support of his father outside the bayfront convention center in Erie, Pennsylvania. He stopped at Perry Monument at Presque Isle State Park and spoke with Erie Times-News reporter Matthew Rink. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mercyhurst University President Michael T. Victor talks on July 28, 2020 about his first five years at the helm of the Catholic-affiliated university in Erie, Pennsylvania.  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Listen to a conference call with Pedro Rivera, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, talk about what's next now that Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered all schools to stay closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the new coronavirus.

North East resident Leslie Reed Hurst discusses testing positive for COVID-19 with Erie Times-News reporter Matthew Rink on April 1, 2020.

Listen to a Q & A with Joan Martin, 79, who founded the Erie County Rape Crisis Center in 1973 and served as the first president of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.

Listen as John Petro, owner of Moose Head Pottery in Waterford Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, talks, Feb. 25, 2020, about what is special about the beer growlers he creates. Audio by CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/Erie Times-News

Charlotte Berringer, R.N., director of community services for the Erie County Department of Health, and GoErie.com | Erie Times-News health reporter David Bruce get you up to date about the COVID-19 strain of the coronavirus in this audio, which was recorded on March 10, 2020.

Linda Fink, 64, of Saegertown, was one of the fourth generation of women in her family to sell flowers and produce at the Meadville Market House. Her great-grandmother started the tradition in the early 1900s. She talks about her experiences and memories of helping them. She mentions several photographs included in the attached gallery. 

Erie artist Susie Hosterman will be displaying photographs and acrylic paintings at the quarterly Gallery Night event, Feb. 28, 2020, sponsored by the Erie Art Museum. Listen as she speaks, Feb. 11, 2020, about process, inspiration and what's next for her work. Audio by CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/Erie Times-News

Hear from Bill Brady Jr., a metal artist who lives near Centerville in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Brady, 77, lives and works in a 1963 Chevrolet school bus, creating whimsical, eclectic mobiles and other metal sculptures out of tin roofing metal. Audio by CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/Erie Times-News

Ken Nickson, the Erie School District's first coordinator of diversity, equity and inclusion, discusses his role and strategies.

Listen as Erie Times-News reporter Madeleine O'Neill checks in, Jan. 27, 2020, on the day-long grand opening of the Diaper Depot at the Erie Family Center in Erie, Pa. This diaper giveaway program is expected to provide 5,000 diapers to about 150 needy families. Officials at the EFC hoped to distribute 5,000 diapers to 150 families who signed up for Monday’s event. The Erie Family Center is a nonprofit that offers parenting classes and other resources to local families. They plan to continue the Diaper Depot on a monthly basis. For information about registering for the next Diaper Depot, call 520-8214 or go to www.ErieFamilyCenter.org. Audio by CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/Erie Times-News

Claire Nelson, a freshman 3D animation student from Gettysburg, and art professor Malcolm Chrishilf explain what they like about the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania's art program, and why it's important. The program is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2020 with a series of Art100 gallery shows and lectures. Audio by CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE, Erie Times-News

Michelle Jaggi, Erie County census outreach coordinator, explains how the 2020 census will proceed in Erie County.

In a conversation about Erie County's new voting machines on Jan. 14, 2020, Erie Times-News reporter Kevin Flowers and Doug Smith, clerk of elections for Erie County, run down all the new information. The machines will be in use for the 2020 primary election in April.

District Attorney Jack Daneri reflects on his first decade in office in a Q & A with Lisa Thompson.

Artist and mostly retired Erie architect Herm Weber, 80, spoke with us, Nov. 13, 2019, in the studio in his Millcreek Township home. Weber's work will be featured as part of the Dec. 6, 2019 Erie Art Museum Gallery Night event. Audio by CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/Erie Times-News

Zachary Webb, director of development for Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania, discusses what hunger looks like in the region, some of the programs the organization offers and how you can help this holiday season. 

Paul Vojtek, Erie Water Works CEO, discussed the organization's $90 million upfront lease payment to the city of Erie used to balance the 2020 budget.

The coworking space on the ninth floor of the Renaissance Centre in downtown Erie continues to grow as it approaches its fifth year. Hear from one of its founders, 33-year-old Sean Fedorko. 

Hear from Nancy Russo, 50, of Fairview Township, who, with her dog Murphy, a five-year-old male poodle/cavalier King Charles spaniel mix, were recently named the 2019 volunteers of the year by Therapy Dogs United of Erie, Pa. Audio by CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/Erie Times-News

Erie Mayor Joe Schember joined Erie Times-News reporter Kevin Flowers to discuss the city's 2020 budget proposal after taking a proposed property tax increase off the table.

Timothy Bruno, chief of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of the Great Lakes, discusses Lake Erie water levels and climate change at Presque Isle with editorial writer Lisa Thompson during a live discussion on Oct. 31.

North East High School social studies teacher Jennifer Wilson discusses her work instructing students about ethnic conflict, genocide and the Holocaust.

John Persinger, of the Erie Downtown Development Corporation, detailed plans to invest between $18 million and $25 million to build a five-story, 83,000-square-foot building on what’s now the closed McDonalds restaurant and parking lot at the corner of West Fifth and State streets. Erie Times-News reporter Jim Martin hosted the discussion on Oct. 23.

The League of Women Voters Erie County Chapter visited the Erie Times-News for a live discussion on the organization, its goals and future. Lucy Krupicz and Christal Lepak joined Erie Times-News reporter Sarah Grabski for the conversation.

Stephanie Wincik, of Candlelight Ghost Walks, and online reporter Sarah Grabski discussed Erie's haunted history during a Facebook live conversation on Oct. 10.

A press conference featuring Erie County Council members Carl Anderson and Andre Horton, Director of Administration Gary Lee and Empower Erie board member Ron DiNicola Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019, at Blasco Library. Committee unveils a $300,000 plan to market county's community college application. 

Becky Messinger, co-owner of Pot O Gold Dairy in Warren County, discusses the operation closing. 

Erie Times-News reporters Sarah Grabski and David Bruce sit down to discuss cancer in Erie County and the special Cancer Awareness Section included in the Erie Times-News on Oct. 3

Matt Greene, Presque Isle State Park operations manager, and Timothy Bruno, chief of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Office of the Great Lakes, discuss the causes and consequences of Lake Erie's high water levels and how the state is planning for the future.

Listen as John & Lorena Ozog discuss their journey to United States citizenship. John Ozog, 52, is a Canadian citizen who came to Erie for his job as a chemist and technical director at a manufacturing facility, in Erie, Pa. Lorena Ozog, 46, is a native of Colombia. Both were expected to become U.S. citizens at a ceremony at the federal courthouse in Erie, Pa., on Sept. 27, 2019. Audio by MATT RINK/Erie Times-News | GoErie.com

Erie Times-News reporter Jim Martin interviews RJ Messenger, a key figure in the Discovery Channel show "Undercover Billionaire" and at Underdog BBQ, during a live interview on Sept. 25.

Charter schools are again dominating debate in Harrisburg. Nick Viglione, CEO of Erie’s Perseus House Charter School of Excellence, joined Erie Times-News reporter Ed Palattella to discuss Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed charter reforms from the perspective of a charter school for a live discussion on Facebook on Sept. 16.   The GoErie Live broadcast series is made possible by the sponsorship of Gannon University.

We discuss Athena Erie, a women's empowerment organization in Erie, and address how it helps women with its Athena PowerLink program and discuss the upcoming luncheon. 

Artist Nathaniel Hale Garnon is a modern/classical music cellist as well as an artist and writer of non-fiction. Currently, he's working on oil paintings in studio space he has created at his family's business, Garnon Truck Equipment, 1617 Peninsula Dr. in Millcreek Township. Garnon, 36, a Girard native, will have some of his work featured in the Erie Art Museum's Gallery Night on Sept. 27, 2019. he was interviewed by GoErie.com | Erie Times-News photography supervisor on Aug. 21, 2019. 

The 82nd Waterford Community Fair is Sept. 2-7 at the Waterford Fairgrounds in Waterford, Pa. Fair president John Burawa joined Erie Times-News reporter Jennie Geisler to discuss the 2019 event.