According to National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, more than four times as many people died from drug overdose than from homicide in the first month of 2021. There were over 96,000 drug overdose deaths that were reported from March 2020 to March of last year.

Opioids kill more than 136 Americans every day, according to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics.

International Overdose Awareness Day is on Wednesday and Dr. Bonnie Milas, Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine for the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and Dr. Patti Anewalt, Director of Pathways Center for Grief & Loss joined us on Tuesday's Smart Talk to spread awareness of the drug overdose epidemic and provide resources that for victims and families.

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Airdate: Monday, August 29, 2022

A new report finds that those living with a disability faced bigger challenges and hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report – “COVID-19 Health Care Barriers Among People with Disabilities – is the first part of a multi-year effort funded by the CDC’s COVID-19 Health Disparities Grant to improve health equity.”

The ARC of Pennsylvania provides services and advocates for Pennsylvanians living with disabilities. We’re joined today by The Arc’s Executive Director Sherri Landis and Emma Nolan, the manager of health initiatives.

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Last week President Joe Biden took action to cancel up to 20 thousand dollars of debt for those who took out loans to pay for their college educations. Since then, much of the national conversation has been what it will mean for the middle class to not be burdened with as much debt, the fairness of the debt relief and the cost of higher education. But what do students and their families hear about the financial aspects of college even before they start classes? We discuss preparing and planning financially for higher education on today’s program with Emiyaril Alvarez, Director of Financial Aid, Millersville University and Dr. Stacy Mastriola, Associate Professor of Accounting ,Bucknell University.

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We all climbed trees as kids. Often, our parents would warn “get down from there, you’re going to fall.” They probably didn’t know there are proper and safe ways to climb trees and that one could make a career out of climbing trees. Penn State University has a one-of-it’s kind tree climbing school that trains would-be climbers in safety and the fundamentals of tree maintenance. It is in Harrisburg for the first time. Jim Savage, an Assistant Professor of Arboriculture at Penn State has been teaching tree climbing for 28 years and is with us on today’s Smart Talk.

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Pennsylvania is in line to receive $17.8 billion dollars as part of the $110 billion dollar Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden last November. Most of that money will go toward upgrading or repairing roads and bridges, but public transportation, safe drinking water, electric vehicle charging stations and expansion of broadband also have been earmarked for funding. Since an infrastructure package was approved after years of debate, the public hasn’t heard much about it. Joining us today is Mitch Landrieu, Senior Adviser to the President and Coordinator of the Infrastructure and Jobs Act and former Mayor of New Orleans.

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According to the American Kennel Club there are a total of 200 dog breeds; with so many options many people don’t know which breed to pick that will be the best fit for their family. After purchasing their animal owners tend to struggle with the training process.

According to Pet356 94% of respondents to their survey reported that they do at least some training with their dog at home and only 6% believed their dog to be perfectly trained.

Janet Edwards, Owner of Stateline Canine and Brianna Fair Veterinary Technician at Manheim Pike Veterinary Hospital provided some tips on dog training and suggestions for dog owners and breeders on Thursday's Smart Talk.

Here are some of the tips that were provided:

Create a clear communication with your dog.
Establish a clear picture of what's good behavior.
Reward good behavior and don't reward bad behavior.
Develop a schedule for bathroom breaks and consistency in where you take your dog to the bathroom.
Use crates properly and moderately. (It ensures that they don't get into anything dangerous and helps to get rid of separation anxiety.)
Use crates as a potty training tool.
Use training tools properly and moderately
Use place training methods
Use slip leads
Don't get training items or buy dogs because they're cheap
Bring you pet to the veterinary for "Happy Visits"
Pay attention to irregular behavior and go to the vet to determine if there's a behavioral or medical issues
Normalize social experiences with other people and dogs
Do your research on breeders and make sure they have proper certifications
Ask adoption clinics and breeders what dog is best for your family type
For breeders, make sure the parents don't have genetical or social problems

Edwards, said if a trainer is working with a dog they take about 4 to 6 weeks to train them.

Janet and Brianna thank you both for being with us today.

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By a large margin, Pennsylvania voters support abortion rights according to the latest Franklin and Marshall College poll that was released today. 52% say abortion should legal under certain circumstances while 37% say it should be legal under any circumstances. 59% opposed amending the state Constitution to say there is no constitutional right to an abortion.

This is the first F&M poll taken since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade – the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationally. It is now up to the states to decide on their own abortion laws.

The poll also shows the economy is the most important issue to voters, President Joe Biden is unpopular, Democrat John Fetterman leads Republican Mehmet Oz in the U.S. Senate race and Democrat Josh Shapiro is in the lead against Republican Doug Mastriano for governor.

Those are some of the findings in the poll that we discuss on Thursday's Smart Talk with Berwood Yost, Director of the Floyd Institute of Public Policy Center for Opinion Research at Franklin and Marshall College.

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Points on one’s driving record go to those who have violated certain motor vehicle laws in Pennsylvania. A driver who accumulates a level of points can have their driver’s license suspended. The Pennsylvania department of Transportation is giving some of the those drivers a reprieve and an opportunity to get their licenses back. Penndot’s Press Officer, Driver and Vehicle Services, Diego Sandino tells us about it.

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The tiger, has always been a well known beast of the jungle. It’s the largest living cat species and is ranked as one of the top five deadliest mammals because of their immense physical strength.

Until recently, when talk of a new scientific experiment began to trend, most didn’t know that there was once another tiger breed that walked the face of the earth, the Thylacine, which is commonly known as the Tasmanian Tiger.

This animal is known for having dark stripes across its back, like the tiger we all know, but is quite different as it is described by National Geographic, to look like a slim dog with a stiff, thin tail and was a marsupial, the type of Australian mammal that raises its young in a pouch.

According to Australian Geographic, the last known Tasmanian Tiger died on September 7th 1936 in a Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.

According to a National Geographic Editor, the Tasmanian Tiger was most likely nocturnal and hunted at night; they would ambush smaller marsupials, as their prey, and had a jump in a way that was similar to a kangaroo when launching onto their prey.

Researchers in Australia and the United States are embarking on a multi-million dollar project to bring the Tasmanian tiger back from extinction.

Jay Bennett, National Geographic Senior Science Editor, said the Tasmanian Tiger existed in Australia and Niugini for millions of years and then thousands of years ago likely a combination of changing climates and human hunting.

Bennet also said, scientists' plan to de-extinct the Tasmanian Tiger is similar to the movie Jurassic Park; they are going to take the closest living relative to the animal, the numbat, and try to sequence the tiger's genome using preserved biological material.

"So they have sequenced the genome but it has gaps in it and they can fill those gaps using the genome of the nombat."

He said it could take five to ten years at the earliest and scientists may run into complications that make it much longer than that and the species that they would bring into existence wouldn't be a hybrid of the Tasmanian Tiger.

Scientists are unclear on how they will prevent the animal from going extinct again and how they will adapt to the environment successfully.

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Middletown’s football program has been one of the most successful in the state over the last few years. The Dauphin County borough takes a lot of pride in their Friday night football games. But Middletown has been shaken and many Central Pennsylvanians appalled by an alleged hazing on the football team.

Middletown School District Superintendent Chelton Hunter said in a written statement: “Cell phone video, taken by players, shows a group of students restraining two of their teammates and using a muscle therapy gun and another piece of athletic equipment to poke the buttock areas of the students who were on the ground,”  “The video shows players fully clothed. It did not appear that any student’s body was physically penetrated..”

Hazing to initiate new or younger people into fraternal organizations, clubs or onto sports teams is sometimes thought to be a relic of the past that is most often outlawed. But it isn’t.

Our guests today are national experts on hazing. Dr. Susan Lipkins, Psychologist and author of Preventing Hazing: How Parents, Teachers and Coaches Can Stop the Violence, Harassment and Humiliation, and Douglas Fierberg, an attorney and expert on legal issues involving school law, hazing, and sexual assault.

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