The Spark

If you were to conduct a web search on how to get a good nights sleep, you’ll get back literally millions of hits. There are tips and suggestions ranging from the proper temperature of the bedroom to limiting screen time, cutting mid-day naps and avoiding caffeine. There is certainly plenty of wide-ranging advice out there … Continue reading "Smart Talk: A fat tongue and its affect on sleep"

The 2020 Holiday season will be unlike any other before, with more families and individuals experiencing food insecurity. The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank points out that because hunger doesn’t take a holiday, neither will they. Since the pandemic began, the Food Bank has seen a more than 40 percent increase in food distribution over the … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Adapting to a Pandemic holiday brings new reasons to celebrate the season"

Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced the Law Enforcement Education and Accountability for People with Disabilities (LEAD) Initiative, seeking to bring about “racial justice and address the high incidence rate of police violence involving people with disabilities.” The LEAD Initiative is comprised of two bills – the Safe Interactions Act and the Human-services Emergency … Continue reading "Smart Talk: U.S. Senator Bob Casey introduces two bills to change police response"

Listen to Smart Talk every weekday at 9am and 7pm on WITF 89.5 & 93.3. You can also stream WITF radio live on our website or ask your smart speaker to “Play WITF Radio.” Plans for the 2021 Pennsylvania Farm Show are taking shape, although exhibits and the experience will look quite different this year. … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Pa Farm show goes virtual to highlight state’s agriculture industry"

Municipalities across the country are working to evaluate what policing will look like in their communities going forward. Harrisburg has taken the next step by proposing a Community Services Division within the Harrisburg Police Department. Mayor Eric Papenfuse had proposed a force of about a dozen community service officers that would aid in mental health … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Harrisburg commits to bridging gap between community and police"

In June, sewage testing found that Dauphin County may have had at least ten times more COVID-19 cases than reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. That was one of the findings in sewage tests taken by an MIT research firm — Biobot Analytics. Those findings were conducted by Capital Region Water, one of about … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Testing sewage for COVID-19 is another tool for disease monitoring"

The Pennsylvania Economy League, along with industry partners, recently surveyed state municipalities to ascertain the real-time effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Municipal Survey on the Effects of COVID-19 was sent to the associations’ memberships, which include cities, boroughs, first class townships, second class townships and home rule municipalities throughout Pennsylvania. The goal is to … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Municipalities facing COVID impact"

A yearlong PennLive and Spotlight PA investigation into the Magisterial District court system raises serious questions about how Pennsylvania tax dollars are spent. There are 512 magisterial district judges in Pennsylvania, each elected locally within their county. Generally speaking, they adjudicate minor criminal matters, traffic violations and small civil claims, among other things. The investigation … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Investigative report raises questions about the cost of the Magisterial court system"

This interview is an encore broadcast that originally aired in March 2020 Millions of Americans learned about The Negro Motorist Green Book when the motion picture Green Book played in theaters and went on to win the Best Picture Oscar last year. What the film depicted and what many white audiences saw for the first … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Author Gretchen Sorin and her book Driving While Black — African-American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights"

Listen to Smart Talk every weekday at 9am and 7pm on WITF 89.5 & 93.3. You can also stream WITF radio live on our website or ask your smart speaker to “Play WITF Radio.” Airdate: 12/10/20  While a virus-weary world waits expectantly for a coronavirus vaccine, military and industry planners begin launching the largest-scaled … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Adams County native planning Operation Warp Speed’s unprecedented vaccine roll-out"