The Spark

President-elect Joe Biden says he wants to bring the nation together and break down its divisions. That will be quite a challenge for the new president after winning a close, bitterly fought election. Biden will have around four million more votes than incumbent President Donald Trump, but it was much tighter when it came to … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Your thoughts on the Biden win"

Pennsylvania set a record in the 24-hour period that ended Thursday at midnight with 2,900 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Nationally, there were almost 108,000 cases reported – another record. Clearly the fall surge has arrived. What’s driving it and what is being done to slow it down? Also, the Pennsylvania Department of Health has a … Continue reading "Smart Talk: What’s driving record COVID cases in Pa.?"

We may know today whether President Trump will win a second term in office or if Joe Biden has been elected the nation’s next president. Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes may be who determines who wins the election or it may not, depending on the votes being tabulated in other states, like Arizona and Nevada. Electoral … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Will Pennsylvania decide the presidency?"

While reporting and analysis of Tuesday’s election results are unprecedented, so is the day after the election discussion. With possibly close to three million mail-in ballots to count. the Pennsylvania Department of State has said it could be Friday before we know which presidential candidate won the state’s 20 electoral votes. The same goes for … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Election 2020 — the day after"

Federal Government agencies issued a joint cybersecurity advisory last week warning of an imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. Hospitals and other healthcare providers. The warning states that criminal elements are targeting healthcare organizations with malware. Malware is any type of software that is intentionally designed to cause damage to computer networks. Viruses, worms, spyware, and … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Cyberattacks target healthcare computer networks"

On the eve of the 2020 General Election Smart Talk will wrap-up pre-election coverage with a conversation with WITF Reporter Emily Previti. VotesPA is the official site for the Commonwealth Department of State and for questions and voting information, follow this link. Results of the Nov. 3 election in Pennsylvania, and across the country, won’t … Continue reading "Smart Talk: Election Day updates"

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.”   The General Election is days away and PBS will air an hour-long Washington Week special Friday at 8pm on WITF-TV. … Continue reading "Smart Talk: PBS’ Washington Week moderator Robert Costa"

Coronavirus cases are rising across the country and the case numbers in Pennsylvania are spiking, as well. On Tuesday, the state set a new single-day high of 2,751 new positive cases. Health officials warn that this is the predicted fall surge and that the numbers will likely continue to rise. Attention is now focused on … Continue reading "Sec of Health Levine talks COVID; Pre-existing conditions raise mortality risk; F&M poll"

Analyzing the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic comes down to the numbers. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reports the numbers daily: the number of positives, hospitalized, tested, deaths and so on. Data is driving our understanding of the impact and the government’s response. In April, Carnegie Mellon University’s Delphi Research Group began collecting real-time expanded … Continue reading "Smart Talk Wednesday; COVID survey collects extensive data; Swing state Wisconsin look-in; Trusting News"

Achieving, or at the very least improving, equity in education is the goal set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education when they set to work to create an equity toolkit for schools, teachers, and families. The Equitable Practices Hub was two years in the making and began with the premise that equity in Pennsylvania’s education … Continue reading "Smart Talk Tuesday; Striving for equity in education and all eyes on Florida race"