The Spark

The 10th annual Harrisburg Book Festival returns to the Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg this week. It runs Wednesday through Sunday.

The Harrisburg Book Festival is the largest event centering on books and authors of books in the region.

The book festival also includes a tent sale for used books and a special day for kids too.

On Monday’s Smart Talk, Alex Brubaker, the new book buyer and program coordinator for Midtown Scholar Bookstore discussed a couple of the big name authors who will appear at the festival,"I think the event I'm most excited about is poet Ross Gay. He's delivering the closing keynote address. He has a new book of essays called Inciting Joy. So it's about compassion, curiosity and joy. And so it's going to be a great closing keynote with Ross Gay. But of course, we've got other authors. Pulitzer Prize finalist Joshua Prager has written a new book called The Family Row An American Story, which is about the history of Roe versus Wade. So we'll kind of talk about that event. Joshua Prager will be in conversation with Shippensburg University professor Alison Dagnes."

This year, a building adjacent to the bookstore will open where antique books and collectibles will be on sale. Brubaker talked about it,"It's a brand new building full of ephemera. We've got Victorian era maps, we've got vintage postcards and we've got really cool old books. And so if you're a book lover, if you're just a reader, you're really going to want to get in that room and browse."

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Pennsylvania native singer-songwriter, Olivia Farabaugh, is not a stranger to the limelight, as she was a contestant on Season 10 of NBC’s “The Voice,” opened for major musical artists like Rodney Atkin and Chris Janson, was nominated for several awards, won several competitions, and was named 2019 and 2020’s Best Solo Artist by the Central Pennsylvania Music Hall of Fame.

But through her journey of success, she faced health and identity challenges that she fought through to continue producing music that was true to her.

Olivia, is here today to discuss her powerful story and upcoming album, “Transparent”.

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It’s estimated that 54 million tons of food or almost a quarter of all food in the U.S. is wasted. That translates to 90 billion meals.

Food waste is not just an issue of food that could go to those who are food insecure or hungry, but it is an environmental issue as well.

How are we wasting so much food and what can be done to stop it?

With us today on Smart Talk is Jackie Suggitt, Director of Capital, Innovation & Engagement, with ReFED, which describes itself as a national nonprofit dedicated to ending food loss and waste across the U.S. food system.

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Pennsylvania Demographic Outlook report released last week by Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office – “Over time, there will be relatively fewer working-age residents to support the needs of rapidly expanding retiree and elderly populations. Stated differently, the burden of support will fall on a smaller group of taxpayers.”

That is not good news for the future of Pennsylvania and it create some real challenges for policymakers and taxpayers alike.

Matthew Knittel, the director of Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office told Thursday's Smart Talk,"These are really very long term trends that have been occurring and have become much more noticeable due to COVID in part. And two trends are really at work here. One is a large wave of retirements from baby boomers, so moving out of the working age cohort to the retiree cohort. And the second one is declining fertility rates. And that's not true just for Pennsylvania, but nationwide as well. So both of these combined. Moreover, when you have folks who are exiting the workforce for various reasons and we're getting results that are concerning, as you noted, our taxpaying population is shrinking, whereas the folks on the upper end of the age distribution who require services are expanding rapidly."

Knittel said the demographics will impact Pennsylvania's economic growth,"It really affects everything. And in particular, the the underlying economy. You can't see it because it's always there. And it just takes a long time to show up. And I do think we we saw it this last year or two when COVID hit. And we have folks who are departing the labor force that reinforce the underlying demographic trends that are always operating in the background. And of course, we care about that, not only for the number of taxpayers and those who require services, but this ties directly into economic growth. And economic growth is simply the number of folks working times how productive they are. And, of course, economic growth is what drives standards of living."

The IFO produces population trend reports every year.

Some of the other findings include the 0-19 age cohort is expected to decline by almost 1% in the near and long term, while the working age cohort ages 20-64 will decline by half a percent or 200,000 workers.

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According to the World Health Organization, every day about 810 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy or childbirth and women of color are disproportionately affected by this issue.

The estimated national maternal mortality rate in the United States is about 17 per 100,000 live births––but it is about 43 per 100,000 live births for Black women.

Rae Johnson-Bundy, CEO of DoulaRightThing and Certified Doula, Madu mitha Raja kittu, Certified Doula and CEO of Guiding Hand Doula, and Dr. Sharee Livingston, Ob-gyn Chair at UPMC Lititz and co-founder of Diversifying Doulas Initiative, joins us to talk about maternal healthcare and how doulas are a vital part in making it better.

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What are the health needs of Central Pennsylvanians and other nearby residents? UPMC recently published its 2022 Community Health Needs Assessments and Implementation Plans. The assessment identified the four most pressing health needs in all the communities served by UPMC. It may not be a surprise – especially after the past two and half years of the COVID-19 pandemic – but behavioral health was identified as the number priority or health need. We’ll talk about that and the other three on the list on today’s Smart Talk with Tina Nixon, vice president, Mission Effectiveness and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, UPMC in Central Pa. and Christine Rapp, Manager, Public Relations, UPMC in Central Pa.

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According to Census data, the official poverty rate in 2021 was over 11%, with almost 38 mil­lion people in poverty. Neither the rate nor the number in pov­erty was significantly different from 2020.

Recent data shows, almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.

Robin Rohrbaugh, president of the Community Progress Council joined us on Tuesday's Smart Talk to discuss the poverty crises and resources to support families on their path toward self-sufficiency.

Rohrbaugh said people experiencing poverty face challenges with employment, income, housing, transportation, health insurance, education, childcare, and food and nutrition.

To combat these challenges the Community Progress Council offers a Self-Sufficiency program, which aims to empower and coach low-income families to attain a family sustaining wage in order to achieve and maintain economic self-sufficiency and live free of public assistance.

Rohrbaugh said she doesn't believe poverty is too large of an issue to try to eliminate.

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For more information about the Self-Sufficiency program visit yorkcpc.org/self-sufficiency-program.

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The Pennsylvania Municipal League and Pennsylvania Economy League have published a new study that they say demonstrate how the current local taxation structure developed in 1965 does not meet today’s municipal revenue needs.

This not a new request – municipalities have been lobbying for new sources of revenue for years. But so far the only municipalities that have been given approval to use other sources are those in financial distress.

Municipalities would like to explore earned income taxes or a tax or alcoholic drinks.

Joining us on Tuesday’s Smart Talk was John Brenner, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Municipal League and former mayor of York.

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A big change is coming in the city of Harrisburg later this week. One of Harrisburg’s main thoroughfares – Second Street – will switching from one-way to two-way traffic in a two mile stretch.

Second Street will be two-way between Division and Forster Streets. There will be roundabouts at Verbeke, Reily and Kelker Streets.

Matt Maisel, the city’s Director of Communications, told Tuesday's Smart Talk that the switch to two-way was done in the name of safety.

Second Street has been a one-way street since 1956.

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Studies have shown that a lack of support for breastfeeding and a lack of education about it can act as a breastfeeding barrier.

Many say that it’s important for not only mothers to be informed about breastfeeding but their entire family, as it can make for a better and more inclusive experience.

Dr. Uhmaka N namani, author of “Ziora’s Quest: Mommy’s Milk Rocks!”, Pediatrician and Chapter Breastfeeding Coordinator for Pennsylvania American Academy of Pediatrics, and her daughters Amara and Uhla who were involved in the creation of her book join us to talk about their book and the importance of children’s literacy around breastfeeding.

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