Author: julrich

What to look for on Smart Talk Thursday, March 8, 2018:

How a flute made from the bones of extinct animals can be traced to the invention of the programmable computer?  It’s just one story from best-selling popular science author and media theorist Steven Johnson, who appears on Thursday’s Smart Talk.

Johnson is considered one of the world’s best thinkers when it comes to innovation.  One of his most popular books was Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation.  In the book, Johnson describes “the slow hunch” and how ideas and creativity are often the product of a slow process rather than an “eureka” moment.

His latest book is Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World where he provides examples of where the adage “necessity is the mother of invention” by pointing out that many innovations occurred in science, technology, politics and society when someone was at play or doing something thye enjoy rather than working on a project.

Steven Johnson appears at Penn State/Harrisburg Tuesday, March 13 at 11:30 a.m. as part of PNC’s Thought Leaders Lecture Series.  PNC’s Regional President for Central Pennsylvania Jim Hoehn will explain the series on Smart Talk.

Also, spinal celebrospinal fluid (brain-spinal fluid) leak is a little known medical condition that can cause severe headaches when one stands up or is upright.  What actually happens is the fluid that supports the brain and spinal cord leaks through a hole or tear.

Camp Hill Dr. Connie Deline is vice president and chair of the Medical Advisory Board of the Spinal CSF Leak Foundation.  and she’ll be on Thursday’s program.

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What to look for on Smart Talk Wednesday, March 7, 2018:

Insects that aren’t native to Pennsylvania have invaded the state’s forests, farm fields and homes and new ones appear every few years.

Recently, the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug made its way from Asia. This nuisance pest was first spotted in Allentown in 1998 and has now spread throughout most of eastern and western North America. The stink bug is a serious threat to fruit and vegetable crops and will likely be found continent-wide within a few years.  It also is a real pest inside homes, although it isn’t destructive inside a house.

The Emerald Ash Borer was first confirmed in Pennsylvania in 2007.  The Ash Borer has killed an estimated 40 million trees across the country and the infestation is spreading. As just one example, there are a lot fewer baseball bats made of ash.

Now, growers are sounding the alarm over the Spotted Lanternfly. This bug was first found in Pennsylvania in 2014. The Lanternfly is a potential threat to several important crops, including fruit trees and timber.

From area farms to your backyard, what can be done about the growing threat of invasive bug species?

To answer that question on Wednesday’s Smart Talk is Dr. Michael Skvarla, a Penn State Extension Insect Identification Lab Director.

Also, the Chesapeake Bay Program released a report earlier this year indicating improvements in the health of the bay.  The Bay Barometer: Health and Restoration in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed 2016 – 2017 used twenty different metrics to record the cleanliness and sustainability of the bay, including the viability of underwater flora, water-life populations and pollution content.

Many targets were met; the blue crab population is thriving; nitrogen and phosphorus levels are dropping significantly and water quality in the bay and its tributaries are meeting standards.  The CBP report also recorded civic engagement in the preservation of the Chesapeake; “Environmental Literacy and Planning, Student Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences and Citizen Stewardship” were all factors in considering the bay’s health.

On Wednesday’s Smart Talk, we discuss the findings of the report, what this means for recreation and commerce on the bay and what aspects of the Chesapeake’s sustainability still need to be addressed with Harry Campbell Executive Director Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Alison Prost, Interim Vice President of Environmental Protection & Restoration for the Bay Foundation.

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What to look for on Smart Talk Tuesday, March 6, 2018:

Drive through areas of Pennsylvania where natural gas has been successfully drilled over the past 10 years and you’ll see new barns, farm equipment, or other items like boats or pick-up trucks that indicate new wealth.  Some landowners in the Marcellus Shale region have made a lot of money by leasing their land to gas companies.

But others haven’t — even though gas is being recovered under their land.  According to StateImpact Pennsylvania, a project that includes WITF and reports on Pennsylvania’s energy economy, the disparity in how royalties are paid to landowners “stems from a complex web of laws, court rulings and legal jargon that determines how money is distributed to property owners who allow energy companies to tap the minerals below their land.”

Often, landowners who don’t get big royalty checks because gas companies take “post-production costs” out of the royalties.

Tuesday’s Smart Talk explains the royalty controversy with State Impact Pennsylvania’s Marie Cusick and Amy Sisk.

Also, Forbes.com has named Lancaster as one of the nation’s “coolest cities to visit.”  The accompanying article said the city had a bustling food scene and is becoming a cultural hotbed, citing Lancaster art galleries and the Fulton Theatre.

Tuesday’s Smart Talk takes a look at the what makes Lancaster a cool place with Discover Lancaster President Kathleen Frankford.

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What to look for on Smart Talk Monday, March 5, 2018:

Last summer, white supremists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia chanting “Jews will not replace us.”  It’s a recent example of how Jewish people are still targeted for hate.

Unfortunately, Charlottesville wasn’t an isolated incident.  In Pennsylvania, last year, there were 96 incidents of anti-Semitism — a 43% increase over 2016.  Vandalism against Jewish people and institutions doubled in the state from the year before.  Many of the vandalisms included swastikas painted on Jewish homes or buildings.

Across the country, there was a 60% increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents.

The statistics come from a new report by the Anti-Defamation League in Philadelphia.  The ADL’s Regional Director Nancy Baron-Baer appears on Monday’s Smart Talk to discuss why the anti-Semitic incidents are growing and what can be done about it.

Also, WITF’s Transforming Health reporter Brett Sholtis recently rode along with a Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County EMS crew.  During the evening Brett was with the first responders, a call came in that a man had overdosed on opioids.  The man was revived and possibly saved from dying by Naloxone.  It turns out it was the second straight day the man overdosed.

On Monday’s program, we’ll hear Brett’s story of his ride-along and also he updates us on safety at Central York High School where classes were cancelled for three days two weeks ago after a threat was made.

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What to look for on Smart Talk Friday, March 2, 2018:

Each year nearly 800,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke. A stroke can happen to anyone, at any time and is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S.

Strokes occur when blood flow to an area of brain is cut off; brain cells are deprived of oxygen and begin to die. When brain cells die, abilities controlled by that area of the brain, such as memory and muscle control, are lost. How a person is affected depends on where the stroke occurs in the brain and how much of the brain is damaged.

Most strokes can be prevented, but research shows that too few people know how to recognize when a stroke is happening. While overall stroke rates are decreasing for the older population, rates are increasing for young and middle-aged people.

Joining us on Friday’s Smart Talk are  Dr. Ray Reichwein, neurologist, and Dr. Kevin Cockroft, neurosurgeon, co-directors of Penn State Health Stroke Center. Also with us is Lucy M Gnazzo, the mother of a 28-year-old woman who suffered a stroke last year and is recovering.

As basketball fans eagerly anticipate March Madness, much attention is now focused on allegations of recruiting improprieties that implicate some of the nation’s most esteemed programs. An FBI investigation alleges loans and payments for entertainment and travel expenses for prospects and their families.  A former Penn State player is one of the players alleged to having received a loan from the agent at the center of the investigation.

Author and Professor Gregory Kaliss, Ph.D, Visiting Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Towson University , joins us to discuss this developing scandal.

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What to look for on Smart Talk Thursday, March 1, 2018:

More than 78 hundred guns were stolen in a record-setting 577 burglaries at the nation’s gun stores last year.  Burglaries at gun shops have increased 70% since 2013 according to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

There have been a rash of burglaries at gun shops in Central Pennsylvania during the past four months.  Seventy-two guns were stolen from Kinsey’s Outdoors in Mount Joy Township, Lancaster County last November.  That was one of the largest number of firearms stolen in any one robbery anywhere in the nation.  There was another gun shop burglary in Mount Joy Township and others in Palmyra, Lebanon County and in Highland Township, Adams County.

On Thursday’s Smart Talk, we’re joined by Donald Robinson, Special Agent in Charge and Charlene Hennessy, Special Agent and Public Information Officer of ATF’s Philadelphia office.  We’ll discuss the burglaries, where the stolen guns end up and how stolen and guns possessed illegally are tracked.

Also, March 2^nd, 1962 – 56 years ago Friday, the Philadelphia Warriors’ Wilt Chamberlain scored 100-points against the New York Knicks in a game that was played at what was then called the Hershey Arena.  Chamberlain’s 100 point game set a pro basketball record that stands to this day.  Many people outside of Central Pennsylvania don’t realize the game was played in Hershey.  We speak with author Gary Pomerantz, who wrote the book Wilt 1962 and also a man who was there to witness Wilt’s record-setting effort and has a few stories to tell.

James Hayney was at Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game 56 years ago and now lives in Camp Hill.

Spring is only 20 days away and you can get in the spirit this weekend at the Pennsylvania Garden Show of York  at the York Expo Center, Memorial Hall at the York Fairgrounds.  Cher Condor with the Pennsylvania Garden Show of York has a few details about the event.

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What to look for on Smart Talk Wednesday, February 28, 2018:

The debate over arming teachers has increased in intensity in the wake of the February 14th Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that took the lives of 17 students and teachers. President Trump stated that arming teachers would be a big deterrent to future attacks, but few educators agree.

Teachers and administrators in Pennsylvania are weighing in on school safety and agree that it is time to add their voices to the national debate. Many say the events in Florida feel like a “tipping point” in efforts to prevent school violence.

Organizations representing school boards, teachers, principals and administrators are among the professionals who publicly oppose arming teachers in the classroom.  So what can be done to stop school shootings and make students safer?  In Pennsylvania, those organizations are meeting and collaborating their efforts to find solutions to potential dangers in schools.

Wednesday’s Smart Talk brings four of them together.  Joining us to talk about school safety are John Callahan, Chief Advocacy Officer with the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Mark D. DiRocco, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, Paul M. Healey is Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Principals Association, and Dolores McCracken, President of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union.

 

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What to look for on Smart Talk Tuesday, February 27, 2017:

In a matter of a just a few weeks, the lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters charging that the state’s Congressional districts were gerrymandered by Republicans has turned into an all-out political showdown that involves the legislature, the governor, state and federal courts and now the U.S. Supreme Court.

After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the map drawn up in 2011 favored Republican candidates and ordered new districts from Republican legislators and Gov. Tom Wolf, the court decided to adopt a new map of its own.  Democrats elected to the Supreme Court are in the majority.

Republicans cried foul saying the court was partisan in favor of Democrats and a few even discussed impeaching justices because the court overstpped its authority by taking the redistricting process out of lawmakers’ hands.

It’s not the first time legislators have accused judges of deciding cases based on politics rather than the law, but it may be the loudest the case has ever been made.

Does it mean that more legislators are willing to consider changing how Pennsylvania selects its appellate court judges?  Currently, the state is one of only six that elects judges on all levels.

Will this latest controversy be the impetus for a move to appoint judges rather than elect them?

The non-partisan group Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts has long advocated for change.  The group’s President and CEO Maida Milone is on Tuesday’s Smart Talk to explain why.

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What to look for on SmartTalk Monday, February 26, 2018:

High school students across the country have been demanding stricter laws on guns after the shooting at a school in Parkland, Florida left 17 dead on February 14.

Since the attack, students across southern Flordia, Washington D.C. and other areas throughout the country have begun walking out of their classrooms as a form of protest. These massive protests seem to be just the beginning of the newly named “#NeverAgain” movement.

The student walk outs emulate similar demonstrations throughout U.S. history. During the mid-20th century, students used walk outs to protest civil rights issues, the Vietnam war and for better learning conditions. This tactic proved to be effective, as it forced Congress to act in order to have students return to the classroom.

However, because it’s been so long since having comparable protests, many wonder whether or not the protests will be as effective in inciting action.

Jonathan Zimmerman, education historian from the University of Pennsylvania, appears on Monday’s Smart Talk to discuss the effectiveness of wide scale protests.

White nationalist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and National Socialist Movement often used to be perceived as not much more than part of a disorganized counter culture.  However, membership in these organizations has been rising. Racially motivated violence seems to be more and more frequent too.

In the past few years, Vegas Tenold, an award-winning journalist and author, has spent time internally researching these groups and has written a book about his experience titled Everything You Love Will Burn. Tenold joins us on Monday’s Smart Talk discuss his in depth experiences of the dark underbelly of America.

Vegas Tenold will appear at Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg Tuesday at 7 p.m.

 

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What to look for on Smart Talk Friday, February 23, 2018:

According to NPR’s reporting, the number of threats of violence against schools across the country has increased since last week’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Educators School Safety Network says it recorded about 50 threats a day on average since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were killed.

Threats have been made against schools throughout Pennsylvania, including several in the midstate.  Schools in the Central York District in York County were closed most of this week after threats were made.  Harrisburg schools are closed Friday after a threat.  Rumors of threats spread in adjoining and other schools too.  Arrests have been made in a few of the cases.  Many worried parents have decided not to send their kids to school.

Are these threats the work of copycats or are educators, parents and police more focused on the threats since the Florida shooting?

WITF’s Brett Sholtis has reported on the threats made to schools this week and joins us on Friday’s Smart Talk.

Also, on a much happier note, the Central Pennsylvania Spelling Bee is set for this weekend at WITF’s Public Media Center.  On Friday’s Smart Talk, Host Scott LaMar, Witf’s Capitol Bureau Chief Katie Meyer, All things Considered host Rachel McDevitt and audio engineer and WITF Music producer Joe Ulrich take a shot at spelling and show just how smart the young spellers are.

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