Month: November 2021

Republican candidates dominated Tuesday’s elections across the country.

Republicans won the highly contentious Virginia race for governor, and New Jersey’s gubernatorial contest was unexpectedly close and, in fact, too close to call this morning.

Republican Kevin Brobson won the open Pennsylvania Supreme Court seat and Republican candidates did well in the others judicial contests as well.

Why were Republicans so successful and what does it mean for mid-term Congressional elections next year? Fletcher McClellan, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science at Elizabethtown College appears on Smart Talk Wednesday to share his analysis.

WITF’s Election coverage is supported by the law firm of Saul Ewing, Arnstein and Lehr

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Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity is critical of Governor’s Wolf’s plan to offer five days off or a lump payment to state employees under his jurisdiction who are vaccinated.

Garrity says it could cost taxpayers $100 million dollars. The governor disputes that, saying no new money is allocated for the plan. Garrity is on Tuesday’s Smart Talk to discuss the vaccination incentives and unclaimed property in the treasury.

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Election Day on November 2, may not be for a presidential vote or the much anticipated mid-term Congressional contest, but there are still candidates and measures on the ballot that will make a big impact.

Local school board races are garnering a lot of attention, particularly in places experiencing debates on contentious issues like masking and Critical Race Theory (CRT). A typical school board meeting in the past will have one or two people in attendance, unless a tax increase or budget was being considered by the board. Not so for this school year. Dozens and sometimes hundreds of parents and school district residents have shown up — often to protest mask or vaccine mandates, books in the school curriculum or library or how racial history is taught.

As a result, much more money has been spent on campaigns for the unpaid position on school boards.

WHYY in Philadelphia’s Katie Meyer joins us on Tuesday’s Smart Talk to discuss school boards and Sam Dunklau, WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief for WITF appears to layout Election Day coverage.

WITF’s Election coverage is supported by the law firm of Saul Ewing, Arnstein and Lehr

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WITF and StateImpact Pennsylvania are partnering with four other media organizations, two institutions of higher learning and a theater company to inform a broad Central Pennsylvania audience and help find solutions to climate change.

This new collaboration is called “Climate Solutions.”

It’s designed “to report on what’s working — or could work — to help us meet the challenges climate change presents and whether these solutions could be used in other communities.”

Learn more about the project on Monday’s Smart Talk. Appearing on the program are Scott Blanchard, Senior Editor, WITF News and StateImpact Pennsylvania, Amaury Abreu, founder Q’Hubo News, a Spanish language news organization in Lebanon, and Sharia Benn of Sankofa African-American Theater Company, Harrisburg.

 

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Three years ago last Wednesday, 11 men and women were killed while attending a prayer meeting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. It was the deadliest act of anti-Semitism in American history and allegedly carried out by a man with reported white supremacist views.

Dickinson College interim President and former Federal Judge John E. Jones III was a panelist at the inaugural ‘Eradicate Hate’ global summit in Pittsburgh. The panel discussed how the judicial system can be improved to address extremism, the barriers to bringing hate crime charges, and the difficult search for simple solutions for reform.

Judge Jones will join us on Smart Talk Monday to share his perspective and background from the panel event.

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