What? You were too busy grilling hot dogs, planting flowers or traveling this weekend to keep up with the local news?

Consider this your formal excuse.

The Memorial Day weekend was waaaaayyy too nice to be cooped up indoors refreshing your computer.

But that doesn't mean you can't be informed about what happened locally over the weekend.

Here's your quick guide to the news that mattered during the holiday.

-- It looks like MTR Gaming Group Inc. will have enough cash to finish the massive job of building its $125 million Presque Isle Downs horse racing track and casino. Our own Ed Palattella broke news over the weekend that MTR has reached an agreement to borrow $125 million to pay for construction and for its $50 million slots license. With financing in place, the company hopes to have slot machines running in Summit Township by November.

-- Ed Palattella was also breaking news that fugitive Ted Ballew has turned himself over to the FBI. Ballew is considered a possible key witeness in the Brian Wells pizza bombing case. He has been on the run since August and is expected to be questioned by the FBI about the Wells case soon. Ballew has been linked to the Wells case because of his relationship to Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong (another key figure in the case).

-- The Memorial Day weekend provided a great start to the summer tourism season locally. The beaches were packed, upper Peach Street was mobbed with guests in town for the youth soccer tournament at Family First and hotels were presumably full.

-- Finally, if you were pulling for Mercyhurst's lacrosse team in the NCAA Division II tournament, be glad they were eliminated in the semifinals. They would have gotten pasted in the finals by the mighty Dolphins of LeMoyne College in the championship game. The boys from my alma mater wiped out Dowling 12-5 on Sunday to claim the title. Dowling had beaten Mercyhurst 16-4 for the rights to be blasted by the undefeated Dolphins.