Category: Uncategorized

What to look for on Smart Talk Thursday, February 7, 2019:

Before 1995, criminal homicide was the only charge (other than traffic violation’s) that required a person under 18 appear in an adult court.

Then came Act 33, which was passed by the Pennsylvania Legislature and elevated certain felonies, committed under specified conditions and by people between the ages of 15 and 17, to adult court.

Act 33 made a significant impact on how the Commonwealth charges and adjudicates juvenile crime. In 2017 alone, more than 400 children aged 14 to 17 were charged with criminal offenses in adult court.

Adult courts can mean sentencing to adult jails, alongside adult offenders. The problems created for juveniles in this system are exponential.

The Carlisle Sentinel recently published an investigative series looking into how juveniles are treated within the adult criminal process.

Appearing on Smart Talk to discuss the series’ findings is Sentinel reporter Joshua Vaughn.

Also, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled last year that the Congressional district boundaries were unconstitutional. The Court asked the state legislators to offer an alternative map, but when they failed to do so, the Court adopted its own boundaries.

Before the most recent election there were 13 Republicans and five Democrats representing Pennsylvania in Congress. After the election, there was an even split of nine Republicans and nine Democrats.

What would the results have been if the election was held using the old boundaries?

Keystone Crossroads reporter Emily Previti analyzed the data and joins Smart Talk to discuss those results.

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What to look for on Smart Talk Wednesday, January 30, 2019:

The Pennsylvania Game Commission gave preliminary approval Tuesday to starting the firearm deer-hunting season on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. If adopted, the move would break a long-standing tradition of starting deer season on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Game Commission spokesman Travis Lau joins us on Wednesday’s Smart Talk to provide details.

The Reconstruction period after the Civil War is generally thought to be from 1865 to 1877. It’s a time that doesn’t get much attention in the history books, yet it’s a time when decisions were made that still are being felt today. Many of those decisions didn’t have a positive impact.

On Wednesday’s program, we’re joined by Dr. Allen Guelzo, author of the new book Reconstruction: A Concise History. Dr. Guelzo is the Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era and Director, Civil War Era Studies Program at Gettysburg College.

Events at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) typically include living-history activities. These feature individuals dressed in period clothing, reenacting the lives of soldiers from different time periods in the Army’s history.

Reenactment events allow visitors the opportunity to see how soldiers lived, and to gain an understanding of the complexity of military operations during the different wars.

On Saturday, February 9th from 10am to 4pm, the USAHEC Visitor and Education Center will host a free public event that will feature many living history organizations, along with hundreds of reenactors from all periods of U.S. Army and world military history.

Appearing on Smart Talk to discuss the event is Karl Warner, an educator with the USAHEC.

Also, the Bethesda Mission in Harrisburg recently launched the #iheartHBG campaign, a partnership with 14 local coffee shops. Their goal is to build greater community pride, bolster local business, and raise awareness for a new Community Center on Herr Street in Harrisburg.

Coffee shop patrons will receive a #iheartHBG cup sleeve when they purchase a cup of coffee at the participating businesses.

Appearing on Smart Talk to discuss the initiative is Katie Andreano, Communications Manager, Bethesda Mission and Rick Hawtry, owner of Capital Joe, with locations in both Harrisburg and Mechanicsburg.

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It’s a Smart Talk Road Trip to the Phillips Museum at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. A new exhibit at the museum, titled Hostile Terrain, is a timely art expression on migration and border crossing between Mexico and the United States.

Hostile Terrain is a multi-media installation that utilizes material drawn from the Undocumented Migration Project (UMP), which is a long-term research, education and art collective. The UMP employs a combination of archaeological, forensic, ethnographic, archival, and visual approaches to document and understand the often-secretive migration between Latin America and the United States. The art installations focus on sensory expression to illuminate the world of clandestine migration.

The Hostile Terrain exhibit is a collaboration between curator Jason De León, artist Lucy Cahill, and founding UMP photographer Michael Wells. They appear on Smart Talk to discuss the exhibit and its inspiration.

Also appearing on the program are Amy Moorefield, Director of the Philips Museum of Art and Kourelis, an Associate Professor of Art History and Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at F and M about how the exhibit can be used as a teaching tool.

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More than 50 years have passed since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4^th, 1968. His murder sent shock waves around the world and became an accelerant thrown onto the fire of the civil rights movement.

Today, as Americans celebrate his life, it is also an opportunity to examine the status of race relations in our communities.

In the past year, Pennsylvanians have experienced, firsthand, multiple high-profile cases of discrimination, bias and hate.

An incident at a York County Golf course drew national attention when a white owner called police on a group of black golfers for a seemingly minor disagreement. Then, KKK fliers were distributed in York County on three separate occasions, over a four-month period. And the murder at an area bar of a 25-year-old man for defending a black man who was being called racial slurs.

Appearing on Smart Talk to discuss racial justice and race relations are Chad Dion Lassiter, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and Dr. Amanda Kemp, a visiting scholar of Africana Studies at Franklin and Marshall College and racial justice and mindfulness mentor.

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What to look for on Smart Talk Friday, January 18, 2019:

The Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) is under new leadership.

Dr. Dan Greenstein officially became the fifth Chancellor this week before presenting his vision at the quarterly meeting of the Board of Governors.

He said that to steer the State System through these times of “challenge and opportunity” it will have to undergo a “fundamental transformation and redesign.”

Greenstein has been on the job since September and recently completed a campus tour of all 14 State System universities.

“We are facing significant challenges – challenges that are present across U.S. public higher education, and that are concentrated in super-high doses here in Pennsylvania,” Greenstein said.

Chancellor Dan Greenstein appears on Smart Talk to discuss the way ahead for the Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education universities.

• BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY
• CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY
• CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY
• CLARION UNIVERSITY
• EAST STROUDSBURG UNIVERSITY
• EDINBORO UNIVERSITY
• INDIANA UNIVERSITY
• KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY
• LOCK HAVEN UNIVERSITY
• MANSFIELD UNIVERSITY
• MILLERSVILLE UNIVERSITY
• SHIPPENSBURG UNIVERSITY
• SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY
• WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY

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What to look for on Smart Talk Thursday, January 17, 2019:

There’s good news and bad news in a recent report on the Chesapeake Bay’s health.

First the bad news. Record regional rainfall last year in the watershed area washed an enormous amount of debris and pollutants into the Bay, significantly affecting the water quality.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation recently released their State of the Bay report card, awarding an overall D+ due to increased pollution and poor water clarity. This is a downgrade from the previous report issued two years ago.

The Foundation also tracks the progress of states in the watershed toward achieving goals set to reduce pollution in local creeks and rivers. Pennsylvania continues to fall short of meeting its goals.

The good news? Pollution causing dead zones in the Bay are decreasing and the important bay grasses are intact; an important component of the ecosystem.

Appearing on Smart Talk to discuss the report is Will Baker, Chesapeake Bay Foundation President and Harry Campbell, Pennsylvania Executive Director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

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What to look for on Smart Talk Wednesday, January 16, 2019:

There are more than 40-thousand people incarcerated in Pennsylvania prisons. That is roughly 725 out of 100-thousand residents.

The Wolf administration recently released updated figures showing the state prison population is in decline. They say that legislative changes and efforts by the Corrections Department and the Board of Probation and Parole are helping drive the change.

Criminal justice reform has a national spotlight now, also.

State and federal legislators are progressing toward tangible criminal justice reform.

At the end of 2018, President Trump signed the First Step Act, which is being called a “small but necessary step toward addressing the deep-rooted issues in our country’s criminal justice system.”

In Pennsylvania, lawmakers approved the Clean Slate law in summer 2018. The law expands criminal record sealing to include more types of offenses, including some first-degree misdemeanors.

Appearing on Wednesday’s Smart Talk to discuss these and other criminal justice reform initiatives is Pennsylvania Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel.

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What to look for on Smart Talk Tuesday, January 15, 2019:

Gov. Tom Wolf is being sworn in for his second term Tuesday. So, what’s changed in Pennsylvania during the governor’s first four years in office, in terms of taxes and revenue?

PA Post reporter Ed Mahon looked back this week at what Wolf wanted in his first term and what he got from the legislature. Increased funding for education, higher taxes on cigarettes and tobacco, digital downloads and lottery winnings were all part of Wolf’s first term achievements. The governor didn’t get a severance tax on natural gas drillers.

Mahon appears on Tuesday’s Smart Talk to provide details and discuss what Gov. Wolf may pursue over the next four years.

Also, the partial shutdown of the federal government has worried many Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients about paying for food. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services says what used to be called food stamps will come earlier than usual for February. In fact, the benefit will be dispersed Friday.

Secretary of the Department of Human Services Teresa Miller joins us on Smart Talk to explain.

Finally, Thomas Morris, author of the book The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth and Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine is with us.

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What to look for on Smart Talk Monday, January 14, 2019:

January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month; an opportunity to raise awareness of the often-hidden crime.

It may not be in plain sight, but human trafficking happens everywhere; in communities around the country and in our own backyards. If left unchecked, traffickers will recruit and exploit victims with profit as their motivation.

Pennsylvania legislators and advocacy organizations are part of the fight to combat modern-day slavery.

The Buyer Beware Act, also known as House Bill 12 and Senate Bill 60, rolled out in January and will double prison time for traffickers and patrons, if signed into law.

In April, the Federal government signed into law the Fight Online Sex Trafficking act to fight the trafficking of children and adults on the internet.

There is a great deal of attention and initiative focused on the problem. Is it helping?

Appearing on Smart Talk Monday to examine the issues are Jennifer Storm, Commonwealth Victim Advocate, Rhonda Hendrickson, VP of programs, Division of Residential and Violence Intervention & Prevention Services, YWCA of Greater Harrisburg and Shea Rhodes, director of the Villanova University Law Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation.

Also joining the conversation is Rep. Seth Grove (R-York), co-author of the Buyer Beware Act, which is current legislation in the House and Senate to increase penalties on criminals convicted of certain human trafficking offenses.

To report a tip, receive information or seek help from trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text “HELP” or “INFO” to BeFree (233733)

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