The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is moving forward with a 30 month program to kick-start a major solar energy initiative called "Finding Pennsylvania's Solar Future."

Though less than 1% of the state's energy generation is derived from solar, DEP Acting Secretary Patrick McDonnell wants to use this to "lead in solar energy development" and would like to "position the Commonwealth as a solar energy leader by 2030."

The first stakeholder's meeting took place in Harrisburg last week; it included "state and local government leaders, consumer advocates, utility and business leaders, academics, solar industry experts, and others interested in solar energy."

Acting DEP Secretary McDonnell will join Smart Talk in studio to discuss the $550,000 program, funded by the US Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative and other issues involving energy and the environment of Pennsylvania.

Also, in March of 1681, King Charles II of England granted a charter for a large tract of land to William Penn. The king insisted on naming the land for the young man raised in a family with a deep military heritage. Penn, who by then had converted to Quakerism, was aghast at the hubris associated with the name, and expressed his concern in a letter to a close friend.

Fast forward 336 years to 2017, when officials from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania stumbled upon this very letter. It gives great insight to the very early days of our Commonwealth's development and a glimpse into the ethos of our state's namesake.

Beth Twiss Houting, Senior Director of Programs and Services at the Historical Society, was one of the people who discovered this artifact, and she will join Smart Talk to talk about the find and how it helps our historical perspective of William Penn and the origins of Pennsylvania.

Human trafficking forces people -- usually young women -- into the commercial sex trade or labor. It is widespread throughout the world, in the U.S. and in Pennsylvania.

Just last week, a Berks County man was arrested on charges related to trafficking a young woman.

Police and the justice system have re-evaluated their approach to dealing with victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Instead of punishment and prison, many cities are using rehabilitative measures to re-integrate the victims into communities.

Because of the evolving nature of the approach to trafficking and exploitation, there is a lack of continuity in the enforcement, prosecution and rehabilitation of the perpetrators and their victims.

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation Institute of the Villanova Law Institute is sponsoring a symposium Thursday, March 9th to address these disparities and promote ideas to improve the relationships between attorneys, lawmakers, social workers and law enforcement agencies and aid in combating commercial sexual exploitation.

Shea M. Rhodes is the Director of Villanova's CSE Institute and she will join us on Tuesday's Smart Talk to discuss the scope of human trafficking and forced prostitution and society's approach to aiding those victims. Dr. Susan Mapp, Professor of Social Work at Elizabethtown College will be in studio to describe the impact these crimes have in Central Pennsylvania.

Twenty years ago, PBS debuted Antiques Roadshow - a seemingly simple production where people brought arts, family heirlooms and pieces of folk, sports and cultural memorabilia to be appraised.

But the production of Antiques Roadshow is anything but simple. Its a carefully choreographed event where people's belongings are categorized and they are trafficked towards specific experts in a variety of fields. Sometimes they find valuable treasures from the attic, sometimes they find the only value an object has is sentimental.

Antiques Roadshow is coming to Harrisburg, June 3rd, for three episodes. Executive Producer Marsha Bemko joins us on Smart Talk to discuss the show from behind the scenes and offer some tips about which relics and bric-a-brac to bring.

Also, for ten years, Kelly Withum served as executive director of Venture Lititz, the economic development agency that drove that town's successful re-development. Withum facilitated events such as Taste of Lititz and the Lititz Beer Fest as well as attracting new, locally-owned businesses to Lititz's downtown corridor.

Withum is now hoping to help the City of Lebanon revitalize its downtown with new businesses and development. She appears on Monday's Smart Talk to talk about what worked for Lititz and what could work for other cities and towns.

Smart Talk is a daily, live, interactive program featuring conversations with newsmakers and experts in a variety of fields and exploring a wide range of issues and ideas, including the economy, politics, health care, education, culture, and the environment. Smart Talk airs live every week day at 9 a.m. on WITF's 89.5 and 93.3.

A healthy community requires more than simply getting medical attention. Other factors contribute to the overall health of people.

Financial stress causes people to put off paying for health care in favor of more pressing responsibilities: food, shelter, utilities. Gaps in public health programming leave those reliant on such services waiting for care. And often health care resources are geographically inaccessible for those seeking treatment.

A 2016 report commissioned by First Family Health determined that the poverty levels in the city of York are beyond national and state averages, and there are direct correlations between socio-economy and health care. Transportation, adequate health education and awareness of nutrition are lacking in York communities.

Smart Talk addresses the obstacles that stand between Pennsylvanians and quality healthcare with First Family Community Health CEO Jenny Englerth.

Also, committees in the Pennsylvania General Assembly are holding budget hearings. The news that often comes out of these hearings often isn't directly related to dollars and cents.

Even though money was behind the layoffs of unemployment compensation workers in December, the big story out of a hearing this week is that unemployed Pennsylvanians are waiting for hours to get service when they apply.

Frank Brogan, the Chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education reiterated what he told us on Smart Talk last week that fewer students and tight budgets for the 14 state-owned universities may result in one or more schools closing or mergers of institutions.

WITF's Capitol Bureau Chief Katie Meyer joins us on Smart Talk with more insight.

Vandals desecrated nearly 100 headstones in a Philadelphia cemetery last weekend. As communities rallied to fix the damage on Monday, bomb threats led to the evacuation of Jewish Community Centers in Harrisburg, York and in New Jersey and Delaware. A total of twenty bomb threats were made against Jewish Centers in twelve states.

The Southern Poverty Law Center identified 1,034 hate incidents since the beginning of the year. "A lot were anti-Semitic" said Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the SLPC. This is in contrast to 2014 when the FBI reported 609 anti-Jewish crimes for the entire year.

While no bombs were found and no people were physically harmed, the vandalism and threats have Jewish communities across the country on edge.

Governor Wolf released a statement assuring support for Jewish Pennsylvanians: "Any anti-Semitic act or act of intimidation aimed at Jewish institutions and people in Pennsylvania is truly reprehensible, and we must find those responsible and hold them accountable. This is not who we are as Americans or Pennsylvanians."

Wednesday's Smart Talk addresses the uptick in anti-Semitic incidents with leaders of the Jewish community including Rabbi Carl Choper, Jennifer Ross, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg; Nancy Baron-Baer, Executive Director of the Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia, Geoffrey Biringer, Director of Education and Outreach with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and Democratic State Senator Daylin Leach.

The number of in-state students enrolled at five of Pennsylvania's major research universities plus the 14 universities that constitute the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education dropped by 5% between the 2012 and 2016 fall semesters.

At the same time, the number of international students increased by 34% to 31,000.

It's one of the reasons colleges and universities opposed President Trump's temporary restrictions on travel from seven mostly Muslim countries earlier this month.

As the Allentown Morning Call reported this week, academic freedom certainly was one factor why the institutions came out in opposition to the executive order but the schools also would suffer financially with fewer foreign-born students enrolled.

Morning Call Contact reporter Steve Esack investigated the story and appears on Tuesday's Smart Talk.

Also, Krista Tippett is a best-selling author and Peabody Award winning broadcaster, who host the program "On Being" which can heard every Sunday morning on WITF-89.5 and 93.3 FM. The program is described as it examines what it calls the "animating questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live? Ms. Tippett speaks at Lancaster Mennonite School this Saturday, March 4th at 7.

Smart Talk is a daily, live, interactive program featuring conversations with newsmakers and experts in a variety of fields and exploring a wide range of issues and ideas, including the economy, politics, health care, education, culture, and the environment. Smart Talk airs live every week day at 9 a.m. on WITF's 89.5 and 93.3.

The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare is perhaps the most controversial issue of the past decade. After surviving a U.S. Supreme Court decision and a rocky start, the ACA has changed healthcare as we knew it.

For years, Republicans in Congress and Republican candidates for office called Obamacare a disaster for the nation -- often criticizing the part of the law that required Americans to have health insurance and the rising premiums. Democrats pointed to the millions of people who were uninsured who now have health insurance or those with pre-existing conditions who were able to obtain insurance.

Now that there is a Republican president and majorities in the U.S. House and Senate, moves are underway to repeal the Affordable Care Act and possibly replace it.

WITF's Transforming Health reporter Ben Allen has produced a series that examines the winners under Obamacare and those who didn't make out so well. It's called Healing and Hurting: Obama's Healthcare Legacy. Ben Allen appears on Monday's Smart Talk to tell us more about the series and the future of healthcare.

The first Franklin and Marshall College Poll since last November's election shows registered voters polled in Pennsylvania are not impressed with President Donald Trump's job performance so far but the majority of those polled are confident in the president's ability to handle the economy.

FM political analyst and pollster Dr. G. Terry Madonna appears on Friday's Smart Talk to analyze the poll results.

The poll found 32% of registered voters believe Trump is doing an excellent or good job as president. Two in three said the U.S. is on the wrong track.

Meanwhile, 52% of registered voters say Pennsylvania as a state is moving in the wrong direction. Six in ten favor an increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $12 an hour as proposed by Gov. Tom Wolf.

Also, the Central Pennsylvania Spelling Bee is set for this weekend at WITF's Public Media Center. On Friday's Smart Talk, Host Scott LaMar, News Director Tim Lambert and Transforming Health reporter Ben Allen take our annual shot at spelling and show just how smart the young spellers are.