Lancaster County is treasured by visitors and locals alike, for its rolling farmland, natural areas, and urban places. But with a growing population and more demands on its open spaces, what will it look like 25 years from now?

If current trends continue, county planners project the amount of undeveloped land will fall from about 8,300 acres today, to just 93 acres in 2040.

Scott Standish of the Lancaster County Planning Commission appears on the show to discuss its major initiative, Places 2040.

And December has arrived, which means holiday parties. Steve Wood of Luca will offer up holiday drink ideas and discuss the evolution of the local cocktail scene.

It's early December so it must be time for Smart Talk's annual show focusing on books as gifts for the holidays or books you would like to read during the holiday season.

Books have always been a thoughtful and treasured gift. Almost everyone enjoys and can appreciate a book as a present -- whether it is fiction, a novel, non-fiction, poetry, or a how-to book. Maybe one of the classics. We'll also have a few book suggestions for children or teenagers.

On Thursday's Smart Talk, we'll discuss the books that would make great gifts. They may or may not be new or on the bestseller lists, but our panel will recommend and describe several titles to think about.

Joining us will be Catherine Lawrence, co-owner of the Mid Town Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg and a writer herself and Todd Dickinson, co-owner of Aaron's Books in Lititz

We'd like to hear your suggestions as well. What books do you think your friends or loved-ones would enjoy or what books are on your wish list this year?

Twenty years ago, Pennsylvania enacted the Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act of 1996, shattering the long-held paradigm of monopolistic energy distribution.

The act allowed Pennsylvanians to shop for competitively priced electricity from the source, choosing how it is generated it and who supplies it, essentially creating a' la carte energy delivery rather than a prix fixe rate from a singular supplier.

Two decades on, supporters regard the act as a success. Power costs in Pennsylvania are 9.3% below the national average. That's a 25% decrease since 1996.

Critics are concerned about protecting low-income consumers from the predatory marketing techniques that can accompany marketplace competition, but properly regulated, they feel this trend will be successful.

We'll speak with John Hanger, a former Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and one of the architects of the Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act. We'll discuss the benefits to both the industry and consumers in the Commonwealth. We will also speak with Christina Simeone of the Kleinman Energy Center and co-author of a retrospective study of the affects the act.

In September of 1992, FBI Special Agent John W. Whiteside was summoned by his superiors at the Bureau's Philadelphia Field Office. He was told that a man code-named "Dan" was an agent for the KGB, selling over 200 top secret documents between 1965 and 1967. "Dan" was Robert Stephan Lipka, a former Army intelligence officer assigned to the National Security Agency, and he was living in Lancaster County.

Agent Whiteside's investigation led him across Amish Country and involved Soviet double agents, a fake KGB contact and a crack in the case that came from a game of chess.

Retired FBI Agent John Whiteside joins Smart Talk to discuss the case of Robert Lipka, the spy who lived in Lancaster. Whiteside chronicles the investigation in his book, Fool's Mate: The True Story of Espionage at the National Security Agency.

Also, last year more than 254,000 children visited America's emergency rooms with injuries caused by toys. The $25 billion industry has come a long way since fire-prone E-Z Bake Ovens and flesh-piercing lawn darts. But today's toys still can pose hazards to young children.

We'll talk with Michael Roles, Field Director of the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group and David Pollick, a personal injury lawyer and managing partner at Dale E. Anstine law firm of York. They'll tell us how to follow recalls, what types of toys never to buy second-hand and what to do if your child is injured by a well-intentioned holiday gift.

Two pipeline projects that run through the midstate have gotten a significant amount of attention. The Atlantic Sunrise project that will send natural gas from the shale fields of northeastern Pennsylvania to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions crossing ten counties along the way. The Mariner East 2 pipeline, that would located next to the Mariner 1 existing pipeline, could carry liquidfied natural gas from west to east to the Marcus Hook refinery south of Philadelphia.

There has been opposition to both pipelines from property owners who are concerned about property values, the environment and even the threat of eminent domain in some cases.

The protests in Central Pennsylvania have been somewhat mild compared to what's going on in North Dakota. There, the Dakota Access oil pipeline has drawn hundreds of protestors from across the country and have turned violent as police used water cannons in sub-freezing temperatures and rubber bullets to subdue protestors trying to get past a barricaded bridge. The biggest fear in North Dakota is water could be polluted and the pipeline is near the Standing Rock Sioux Native American reservation.

What Dakota Access has done is bring more attention to pipelines.

We'll look at the midstate projects and opposition on Monday's Smart Talk.

Appearing on the program are Chris Stockton, of Williams Partners -- the company building Atlantic Sunrise, Mark Clutterbuck of the group Lancaster Against Pipelines, landowner Susan Cappiello, Cumberland County farmer Ralph Blume, who may lose some of his land through eminent domain and Marie Cusick, WITF's StateImpact Pennsylvania reporter, who covers Pennsylvania's energy economy.

The Thanksgiving weekend is the most traveled four-day period of the year. Families are going "over the river and through the woods" to enjoy and share their holiday dinners with loved ones. Friday has earned a reputation as the biggest shopping day of the year, so traffic will be heavy near shopping centers and malls and even some downtowns. Of course, in Pennsylvania, Monday is the start of the antlered deer season, so thousands of hunters will be on their way to deer camps throughout the state.

Against that backdrop, Smart Talk features a discussion and mostly a question and answer session on the rules of the road. Specifically, what's legal and what isn't?

Pennsylvania State Police Public Information Officer, Cpl. Adam Reed joins us to answer questions about who has the right-of-way and maybe a few less than obvious ones as well.

Do you have a question about a traffic law in Pennsylvania? Write it below or call 1-800-729-7532 between 9 and 10 a.m. Wednesday.

How we refer to people of different races, ethnicities, religions and age groups obviously is important. While there is consensus on most groups, there seems to be some confusion and no clear-cut answer to what to call an aging adult.

It's one of the reasons the York County Community Foundation's Embracing Aging initiative asked nearly 650 individuals that question as part of their "A Name for the Ages" survey.

We've heard most of the descriptions before -- elderly and senior citizen are two that have been used in the past and not used very often today.

Embracing Aging's Managing Director Cathy Bollinger appears on Tuesday's Smart Talk with the term that was most popular and it spawns a conversation many have about stereotypes.

Food, football, family, a nap, turkey, a chill in the air, newspapers bursting with holiday advertisements, which pie to eat for dessert, wine, the kids' table, the aroma of turkey in the oven and thoughts of what you and your family are thankful for and appreciate in life. These are all images that come to mind when thinking about Thanksgiving. Take one or two away and Thanksgiving may not be the same. But if there is one constant with Thanksgiving, it is the food and dinner with family. Maybe more so than any other holiday.

It's one of the reasons we always look forward to Chef Donna Marie Desfor's appearance on Smart Talk just before Thanksgiving.

If you're the kind of person who plans ahead, Chef Desfor may have an idea for something to add to the Thanksgiving menu. For those who like to wait until the last minute, she may change the direction your Thanksgiving dinner will be going in. Or maybe it's just a dessert or new holiday breakfast Chef Desfor will suggest.

Now That's A Mouthful--New Podcast Series!

Do you love to cook or bake? Join us as a recipe tester! WITF is seeking motivated volunteers to test out new recipes for a new podcast series that we are developing, "Now that's a Mouthful". Your experience testing out recipes may be included as content in this new series. Sign up today! https://www.witf.org/arts-life/now-thats-a-mouthful---recipe-testing-registration.php

Smart Talk is live Friday morning at Lancaster's historic Central Market for the fifth annual Extraordinary Give fundraising campaign.

The Lancaster County Community Foundation says "The 2016 Extraordinary Give is the region's largest day of online giving and will benefit more than 425 regional participating nonprofit organizations. For 24-hours only on November 18, individuals can visit www.ExtraGive.org and donate to an organization of their choice; from supporting kids, health and education to the environment, animals and the arts. Every dollar donated will be stretched by $350,000 from the Lancaster County Community Foundation and presenting sponsor Rodgers Associates." A full list of participating organizations from around Central PA (including witf) is here: https://extragive.org/leaderboard/

Last year's event raised more than $6 million. In fact, the total amount of money given by the community has increased every year since the first event in 2012.

Appearing on Smart Talk are Sam Bressi, President and CEO of the Lancaster County Community Foundation, Rick Rodgers of Rodgers and Associates, Sheila Mastropietro and Stephanie Gromek of Church World Services, Ben and Shirley Nolt from Capital Area Therapautic Riding Association, and Will Kiefer of the Bench Mark Program.

Be sure to give and stop by to say hello.

For the second time in sixteen years, the American popular vote favored one presidential candidate while the other candidate emerged victorious by winning the definitive electoral vote. Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is still counting individual votes - around a million more votes than the winner, Republican President-elect Donald Trump. But Trump won by capturing the minimum 270 Electoral College votes needed to take the White House.

Questions are beginning to arise about the value of the Electoral College. Originally formulated to afford small, rural states the same attention as larger states with urban centers, critics say that considering today's communications, technology and the evolution of the political process, the Electoral College is antiquated and doesn't reflect the will of the people. Advocates say it creates parity among the states - giving the vote of Montanans the same weight as Californians.

The question still remains - what is the fairest way to collate the votes of Americans? Apropos of last week's election results, many differing opinions are being heard.

Appearing on Thursday's Smart Talk to discuss the pros and cons of the Electoral College are Dr. Allen Guelzo, the Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era and Director of the Civil War Era Studies at Gettysburg College who believes in the integrity of the Electoral College, and Robert Speel, Associate Professor of Political Science at Penn State, Erie, who believes many of the pro-Electoral College arguments are myths.