School kids rally for Erie pubstation

About 150 students, waving photos of Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Clifford the Big Red Dog, gathered today on the steps of Lincoln Elementary School in Erie, Pa., to support local pubstation WQLN. It stands to lose some $800,000 in state funding if Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed budget is approved. The budget would eliminate state funding for all eight of Pennsylvania's public television stations. "If the budget passes, we would also lose another $70,000 in federal matching funds," Tom New, WQLN's director of creative services, told the Erie Times-News. "That's 25 percent of our total revenue."