The Spark traveled to the Annual Festival for Nature and Art at MYO Park in Millersburg, Dauphin County. The festival is staged by the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art – one of the gems of Central Pennsylvania.

We learned about reptiles and snakes, and how they help the land inside and around the nature preserve.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Pennsylvania State Police are three weeks into a pilot program for state troopers in Troop H, in Carlisle to wear body cameras.

The proposed plan is for troopers at all 87 patrol stations statewide to wear body cameras.

This is new for the state police but not in law enforcement where many local police officers have been wearing body cameras for years. Lt. Adam Reed, Director, Communications Office, Pennsylvania State Police said on Monday's The Spark that cost if the reason state police have not implemented body cameras up until now. He added that $21 million has been budgeted over the next five years for the cameras and infrastructure.

Reed indicated the pilot program in Carlisle is expected to last from 60 to 90 days. After that, some 4,700 troopers may be using the body cameras for investigations, training or in the case when a citizen makes a complaint against police.

On another topic, nine people were killed in three separate crashes on Interstate 81 last week. Accidents on I-81 occur on a daily basis. Lt. was asked why there are so many,"A lot of it has to do with sheer volume on that roadway. Anyone that has traveled or travels that on a regular basis could really attest to just the volume of traffic that seems to be there at all hours of the day."

Reed said most of the crashes are due to speed or motorists driving too fast for conditions.

I-81 has a lot of truck traffic which adds to the volume, but Reed said drivers just have to be careful when they're on the road,"If you travel those interstates here in the area on a regular basis, be mindful of trucks. Don't make sudden lane changes and be sure that the driver could see you if you're changing lanes. If you're following the truck, increase your following distance behind the truck -- certainly don't tailgate because the driver of that tractor trailer probably can't see you if you're too close to that truck and certainly slow down. Also, it's important, it seems like common sense, but common sense isn't so common sometimes. Limit distractions, put down your cell phone, really focus at the task at hand."

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does professional golf have to do with future gas prices? Why is the U.S. Senate concerned about the merger of the Professional Golf Association or PGA, the European Tour and the LIV Golf Tour?

The new entity would be controlled by the Public Investment Fund – the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia and it has raised suspicions of "sportwashing."

Fletcher McClellan (Ph.D.), professor emeritus of political science at Elizabethtown College recently wrote about the impact and possible repercussions of the merger in LNP and joined us on The Spark Monday where he defined sportwashing,"That refers to efforts by a country, a nation state, to try to improve their public image internationally by associating itself with with athletic events, stars, teams, typically by investing or buying, you know, into a franchise."

McClellan pointed out that sportwashing is not new and cited examples of said Hitler's propaganda attempts for Nazi Germany at the 1936 Olympics and Russia using the 2014 Olympics in Sochi to distract from annexing Crimea.

Why would the U.S. Senate have concerns about the PGA/LIV merger? "When this deal was announced in early June, there were senators, other politicians, that a number of them, for example, were responding to the cries from 911 families about the Saudi's role in 911. And they they interpreted this effort as kind of an effort to of the Saudis to improve their public image and the take over sport that Americans tend to think is one of their own. We're the largest golfing nation, just not just in terms of professionals, but the number of people who play golf. So kind of a foreign takeover of a dominant sport by a country which is regarded in many circles as a pariah."

McClellan also said some politicians may have considered the merger as a monopoly of professional golf. But he added he doubted the Biden Administration would pursue an anti-trust investigation,"The Biden Administration is negotiating pretty hard with the Saudis on a number of Middle East issues. And the Saudis basically are the major player in among oil producing nations. They determine in large part what oil prices will be depending on how much oil they and other petro states produce. So, we have an election coming up. Inflation, gas prices is sort of front and center in this election. And I don't think the Biden Administration is going to do a whole lot to interfere with this deal."

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Central Pennsylvania students will be returning school in a few weeks.

Nowadays, back-to-school usually focuses on new school clothes or what’s needed in the classroom like pencils, notebooks, and backpacks.

But what about children’s health as they go back to school? It’s getting more attention since theCOVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal classroom and learning activities in the last three years.

With us on The Spark Friday was Wellspan Health pediatrician Dr. Chris Russo,

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Central Pennsylvania is a hotbed for folk music. In fact, folk music can be heard at venues throughout the region every weekend and not just in the usual places for concerts and live music either. Much of the folk music scene is centered on the Susquehanna Folk Music Society that stages the Susquehanna Folk Festival. There won’t be a festival this year but there will be folk music and workshops this weekend. Joining us on The Spark is Peter Winter Lee, Executive Director of Susquehanna Folk Music Society.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The National Weather Service confirmed an EF1 tornado touched down in East Hopewell Township, in southern York County Monday evening. The tornado reached a top wind speed of 107 miles per hour and traveled under half a mile. When there is severe weather with unusually high winds, the weather service investigates to determine what caused damage from a storm. Why is important to confirm a tornado or not? Joining us on The Spark is John Bowen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many Pennsylvanians are cutting their pills in half, skipping a dose or don’t get their prescriptions filled because they can’t afford their medications. In the first half of last month alone, 59 drug manufacturers raised prices on 105 brands. The cost of prescription drugs is near the top of the list of healthcare concerns for many Americans. At the same time, Pfizer had revenues last year of $100.3 billion dollars and Johnson and Johnson brought in almost $95 billion dollars. So, what gives? John Conradi of The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing is with us today to discuss ways to reduce the cost of prescription medications.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

THC is the chemical found in marijuana plants that gets users high.

There are three strains of THC – Delta 8, Delta 9 and Delta 10. THC is contained in some legal products like hemp and CBP.

There seems to be some confusion as to what’s legal and what’s not as businesses that sell the products are getting mixed signals from the federal, state and county governments.

LNP’s breaking news reporter Jack Panyard recently wrote about that confusion and joined us on the Spark Wednesday.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.