October is Hispanic Heritage Month. Carlos Graupera is the CEO of Tec Centro Workforce Center and spent 50 years as the CEO of the Spanish American Civic Association. He joined The Spark to share the importance of highlighting Hispanic Heritage month.

“It is appropriate that Latinos and Latinos in Pennsylvania, because that's where we're at, that community is celebrated because it's roughly 8% of the state population. It is not an insignificant group of people, and it's continues to grow and it's making its presence in some very important urban areas. Allentown, Bethlehem. Redding, of course, Philadelphia, Lancaster and beyond. Those city centers are being revitalized by the influx of Latinos, setting up businesses, buying homes and really providing the energy so that these cities are able to rethink themselves.”

Tec Centro in Lancaster offers bilingual education and skill training in Lancaster. Throughout the month, the organization will highlight the impact of investing in diverse workforce development.

“We're busy training people day in and day out so that they can climb out of poverty. And that's important because among Latinos, the poverty rate is 32% compared to all Pennsylvanians, about 14%. So, we have a lot of work to do. And we try to train people as best we can so that they can, one at a time, overcome poverty, become part of the economic mainstream, become homeowners. And that's our celebration of the Hispanic Heritage Month. Just keep doing what we're doing over and over again.”

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The joro spider has been discovered in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in September. The Joro Spider is about four inches long according to Michael Skvarla, Assistant Research Professor of Arthropod Identification at Penn State University.

"They're kind of gray and green stripes. The males look. So that's the adult females. The males look a little bit different. They're much smaller and kind of a reddish, reddish brown color. And they're all weaver. So they build a large orb web and they sit in the middle of it. There's a similar species of related species in the same genus golden orb weavers or golden silk orb weavers that live in Florida, parts of southern Georgia, if I recall correctly. And they're similar in size and shape. They have a different color pattern to them, but they kind of do the same thing. They make a big web. They sit in that web. They don't really move from it. So draw spiders are similar, but differently colored and from a different part of the world, "said Skvarla.

Joro Spiders does have venom, however, Skavarla believes it is not medically important.

"They don't leave their web. And so to get bit, you have to physically go up to the web and touch or grab them. Most people aren't going to be doing that. If you do that. They're reluctant biters because most orb weavers are like, you have to really mess with them to get them to bite you. Most orb weaving spiders, if you pick it up in their web, they're going to curl their legs up and sit in your hand if you can make it bite you. The venom is weak because it's not evolved toward causing pain in mammals. It's evolved for subduing insect prey. And because of that, it doesn't elicit much of a pain response. It's maybe on par with a bee sting. There haven't been any reports of people having allergic reactions to it that. In theory could happen. People have allergic reactions to lots of things, but as far as we can tell, there's been no reports of that in their native range. So. Theoretically somebody might have an allergic reaction if they can make it bite them. But that is the only risk and it is a small one. So are they venomous? Yes. But does it matter? Not really. Not for people, at least, "said Skvarla.

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The American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania is working to support states in need impacted by Hurricane Milton and Helene. According to Laura Burke, Executive Director of the American Red Cross Central Pa Chapter, says their work begins before the first drop of rain.

“Our work actually began before that first drop of rain. And then with our partners, we're helping we'll be helping for weeks and months to come. So we're right now sheltering thousands of people in emergency shelters. And we have over 2100 Red Crossers on the ground supporting our partners, making sure we're supporting those relief efforts, “said Burke.

PPL has been assisting by restoring power in those areas hit hard by the hurricanes. Dana Burns, the Communications Director for PPL says have crews on the ground for hurricane relief efforts.

“ We've had troop I had crews on the ground helping to restore power for Hurricane Mountain. We sent down over 60 people, electric line workers and support personnel, along with 40 contractor line workers to help Florida Power and Light and aid in their restoration efforts. And, you know, I think it's just it's a really important way that we all support each other and give back to the regions that are hardest hit by this weather, “said Burns.

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Ted Czech spent 25 years as a journalist before he left the industry in 2021. He just published a book, Saving the Beast:  A recovering reporter reflects on America’s broken media and how to fix it.

Czech got his official start in news in 1996 in Rhode Island.

“There's a guy that he was a millionaire, Ernie, and he wanted to start up a newspaper. And because he didn't like his hometown newspaper that had been there for so long. And so, he started this newspaper. And five and a half months later, they think tank. But I got a great amount of experience out of that. And I already have a degree in criminal justice. So, I was able to parlay that into this job as a crime reporter. And I was also in school for journalism at the time. And so, I took a leave of absence from the University of Rhode Island to take this full-time job. And then when it was over, I just went right back to school.”

Five years before leaving his career behind, he realizes a shift in the media.

 I saw a lot of people who were upset at the media, and they were frustrated with the media, and they were taking there, as I say in the book, they were taking their time and their money, and they were going elsewhere with it other than the mainstream media. That's why I felt compelled to write the book.”

Czech is hoping that readers feel informed and entertained when reading the book.

“it’s a tremendous profession to be in. It's a burden in some ways. But I say that people have the right to know, and journalists have a duty to report. Or maybe it's the other way. Journalists have a duty to report, and the public has a right to know. I think that's the way that I put it. And I came to that phrase because at some point, this was another reason why I left journalism and wrote the book.

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Coming up on this week's edition of The Spark Weekly:

October 9 is commemorated as National Ageism Awareness Day. The National Center to Reframe Aging works to end ageism by advancing equitable and more complete story about aging in America according to the Executive Director, Trish D’Antonio.

The PA Council of Aging provides advice to the governor and department on suggestions on how to plan and provide service for older adults. Velma Carter-Dryer is a member of the PA Council of Aging. She also is a retired social worker.

Also on the program,

Adam Zurn has always had a passion for history. He is the founder of Uncharted Lancaster, a website that offers self-guided scavenger hunts.

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RSV is a common infectious respiratory virus that usually causes cold-like symptoms but can lead to serious illness or even death. Sue Peschin, CEO and President of the Alliance for Aging Research and Dr. Robert Hopkins, Jr., Medical Director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases share information about the virus.

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Jaxon White of LNP | Lancaster Online, Jordan Wilke, WITF’s Democracy Reporter and Katelin Mentz, Program Manager for the civics education group Project Citizen discuss final report on the Franklin and Marshall College Deliberative Forum on Voting and Elections

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Asia Tabb interviews author Dr. Richard Smith, who tells us everything we need to know about coral reefs, sea creatures, and his new book "The World Beneath: The Life and Times of Unknown Sea Creatures and Coral Reefs"

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A new self-guided walking trail has opened at Gettysburg Historic Daniel Lady Farm. Chris Jones, Lady Farm Facilities Manager, and Lauren Wilmoth, Museum Curator says the trail has been in the works for years.

“When the idea was presented to Chris and I, we jumped at it because it gave us the opportunity to really do a lot of deep digging into what we knew about the farm, to get more information as far as the things that we didn't know to weed through the apocryphal versus the factual, “said Wilmoth.

The new trail has 14 markers with details of the property from the 1700’s when it was first settled.

“It covers about a quarter mile. And it can take somebody 30 to 60 minutes, depending on how in depth they want to read. There's also a a brochure that that Lauren and I made that you can get at the building by the front entrance. And that's kind of a walking trail companion. So that'll give you a little bit more information on each marker. So that tells you things like looking to your front in the field, you will see where and describing what happened around that specific spot, “said Jones.

The new walking trail adds a more informative experience at the Gettysburg Historic Daniel Lady Farm. Those looking to explore the trail can have the opportunity to visit on the weekends.

“Because we're not open during the week for the private tours, it gives any visitors and guests the opportunity to come anywhere between 10 and 5 any day and walk through the property to be able to see just how expansive the property is and to really be able to stand at these markers and notice the landmarks around them so they get a true feeling for what it was like, who was where at what time, and what the family went through, “said Jones.

The address to the Daniel Lady Farm is 1008 Hanover Rd, Gettysburg, PA.  The events at the Historic Daniel Lady Farm also includes house and barn tours, as well as enactments.

“I just hope it is a more in-depth understanding of what this family went through. And you have to remember, this is the tale of only one family that was affected by this enormous, basically catastrophe that happened all around their properties. You know, the town of Gettysburg had 2400 people at the time of the battle. That's the borough itself. That's not counting the hundreds of farms that surrounded that were used for hospitals. Whenever the armies left, they left behind, like 27,000 wounded men to be cared for by 2400 people. It's just an astronomical task. So for people to get a little more a little more acquainted with the family, you know, the Daniel Laney family is not a they're not somebody you read about in every history book. So this gives us an opportunity to introduce the family and talk about their struggle and what they endured and how they persevered through it, only the way that Americans can.”

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October 9 is commemorated as National Ageism Awareness Day. The National Center to Reframe Aging works to end ageism by advancing equitable and more complete story about aging in America according to the Executive Director, Trish D’Antonio.

“What's most important here is that we're raising awareness, because one of the things we've learned in our work, in our research, what we learn is that people aren't aware of ageism. It's one of those things that people just accept. And one of those things that it's not only how people we talk about how we define ageism, it's not only how people might interact with others, “said D’Antonio.

The PA Council of Aging provides advice to the governor and department on suggestions on how to plan and provide service for older adults. Velma Carter-Dryer is a member of the PA Council of Aging. She also is a retired social worker.

“There's always had always been a bias regarding older adults seeking help in a behavioral health field. Well, a lot of times they didn't hear about different treatment options. They weren't involved in clinical trials. I mean, there were a number of things that we could see. People were always didn't have always had access to even preventive care in that field. And I saw that in health care as well. So, I know that there are many things that we can be doing. And I think the work we're doing with the state plan, what aging the aging in our way, is one of those opportunities to really focus in on ageism and how we can do things better, “said Carter-Dryer.

Through experience and research, D’Antonio and Carter-Dryer also learned ageism can occur in every age group.

“people have heard comments like, she's too young to run that program. She just finished college. Yeah, well, that's not true either. She might be like a really great leader in a room, Right? And she can run that program just as much as we hear he's too old. He'll never pick up that technology. And it's like him. If you teach him, he will learn just like everybody else does. So like, think thinking about that and that intergenerational work. We know that that's a way to really combat ageism across the life course, “said D’Antonio.

“The students learned a lot about what life experiences have been for the older adults that they connected with and these students also. Many of them decided that they wanted to work in the field of gerontology because they had such a positive experience. That doesn't happen all the time, but we really need to capitalize on those opportunities because you will find what's unfortunate is one of those other ageism issues is that geriatrics, gerontology are not those areas where people get paid a lot of salary. They're not a specialty. So people drive too. But that's where we need more people working in the areas. Things will be different, “said Cater-Dryer.

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