Number one

A reader pointed out to me that the Cambridge Springs High School boys volleyball team is ranked No. 1 in the latest Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association's statewide poll for class AA schools. That's quite an honor for the Blue Devils. District 10 is well represented in the poll, with Meadville, Maplewood and Saegertown holding the third, fourth and fifth spots respectively.

Suspicious in origin

If there's one word to describe the Hotel Evergreen in recent years (and the fire that destroyed it), I think "suspicious" is it. Photo courtesy of Laura Tysiachney of ERA Richmond Real Estate. Click on photo for a larger version.

It's elementary

If you need to register your child for Kindergarten in the fall at Cambridge Springs Elementary School, don't follow the instructions listed on the Penncrest Web site, which say to register your child as soon as possible at the school he or she will be attending. Those instructions are dead wrong, as I found out this morning when visiting the elementary school. The office staff said that they've asked Penncrest to change the information on the Web—but I think it's been there for at least two weeks.

At CSES, Kindergarten registration is on Friday, April 18 from 9 to 10 a.m. or 2 to 3 p.m. More info on what to bring with you is here.

In sort of related news, you can look up the 2006-07 salary of most any public school teacher/official in Pennsylvania on this site, provided by the Asbury Park Press newspaper in New Jersey. For example, CSES principal Patty Fiely made $74,886 last year, while Cambridge Springs Jr./Sr. High School principal David Nuhfer made $91,246. Happy searching!

Not in my town?

I was a little surprised to see this item in the police blotter on Friday:

Feb. 28, Cambridge Springs Elementary School. Staff member assaulted by a student. In a separate incident, a boy, 12, was charged with harassment after he tried to punch a staff member.


I don't have any further information than that, but I would be really interested to hear the details of this situation. It just doesn't sound like the kind of thing that happens in Cambridge Springs, but, then again, neither did that pipe bomb scare.

I've been converted

I picked up a government-subsidized digital television converter box at Wal-Mart in Meadville today. As was expected, the cashier initially wasn't quite sure what to do with the $40 government-issued card/coupon. A manager-type person came over and cleared things up as to how to handle the card, and the net price after discount was $9.87 plus tax. It's a Magnavox—the only brand that Wal-Mart had.

Setup was simple: coaxial cable to my set of amplified rabbit ears, composite audio/video (red, white and yellow) to the home theater receiver, and power cord to an outlet. A power switch on the side and one on the remote (batteries included) brought the unit to life, and a set-up guide appeared on the screen. After a few questions about audio output and screen format, the unit auto scanned for available channels.

As expected, I was only able to pick up the stations from WSEE (16.1 aka channel 35, and 16.2, WBEP.) That makes sense since WSEE is the only area station broadcasting its digital signal at full power. The good news is that reception is simply fantastic. Once I adjusted the antenna, I ended up with a sharp picture (far better than the analog WSEE signal) without any stuttering or pixels dropping out (which Coaxial Cable's digital cable service suffered from quite a bit in my experience.)

Now these Erie stations just need to get moving on ramping up their digital signals.

Don't bully me

Yesterday marked the start of an anti-bullying program at Cambridge Springs Elementary School. (More information in this article from a few weeks ago in the Neighbors section of the Erie Times-News. By the way, it looks like the Times Publishing Co. won't be mailing the Neighbors sections to non-subscribers after this week. My guess is they won't gain very many subscriptions off of that move, unless they decide to cut off online access to the section as well.)

The article notes that the program works by encouraging "bystanders"—other children who witness the bullying—to confront the bully about their actions and stand up for the victim. It's not mentioned in the article whether these children get to administer an old-fashioned beatdown on the bully (I'm picturing the ancient Israelites gathering to stone a sinner), but I'm guessing that's probably not part of this innovative solution, which has proven effective in Norway.

Off to states

Congratulations to Lady Blue Devils, who advanced to the PIAA basketball playoffs with a victory over Reynolds on Saturday. The Meadville Tribune has a story and a slideshow recounting the win.