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Program Collects Excess Halloween Candy for Care Packages for Troops

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When the kids go trick or treating, there’s a chance they’ll come home with more candy than they can eat.  You can turn that excess candy into a “thank you” for the troops.

Operation Gratitude has several programs to thank America’s men and women in uniform.  One collects Halloween candy and puts in care packages. A number of members of the Pennsylvania Dental Association are taking part in the Halloween Candy Buyback program.

If you can’t find a participating dentist or community group, you can donate directly. Operation Gratitude Founder Carolyn Blashek says go to the website operationgratitude.com for more information.

Blashek says the program is a great way for children to give back to the troops, but that’s not the only ones they’re helping. She says the troops in the war zones often share the candy with children in those areas and it’s a way of establishing a rapport, winning the hearts and minds of people in the war zones.

Blashek says Operation Gratitude is not only collecting candy for the troops. They’re also encouraging donations of toothbrush and toothpaste kits for the care packages.  She says they also like to send a handmade scarf this time of year and welcome donations from people who can knit or crochet. She also asks that any child donating candy include a letter with the candy.

Blashek says care packages also go to wounded warriors who are back home  recuperating from their injuries.

The program started out with a few hundred dentists and several thousand pounds of candy.  It grew last year to well over a thousand dentists last year, when they received well over 250 thousand pounds of candy.

Casinos Impact More than PA Economy

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Since Pennsylvania’s first casino opened its doors in Nov. 2006, the tax revenue from slot machines has topped $4.6-billion.  Today, Pennsylvania’s ten operating casinos employ more than 15,000 people.  Most will attest to the economic success of the industry in the Keystone State. 

However, casino gambling has also taken a toll on some Pennsylvania families.  The evidence can be found at the Council on Compulsive Gambling of Pennsylvania call center.  “Prior to 2006, our helpline calls averaged around 300 calls per month,” says president and executive director Jim Pappas.  “Since the first casino opened… our monthly helpline activity has increased to the point we now average over 1,800 calls per month from within the state.” 

Pappas says the helpline activity comes predominantly from areas surrounding Pennsylvania’s casinos. “Years ago we didn’t get a lot of calls from northwestern PA, from Erie County, now we do,” Pappas explains.  “Because there is a casino opened, and racetrack, in Erie, Pennsylvania.” 

Of the 1,800 calls they receive per month, Pappas says 150 – 200 are from gamblers – or their significant others – in crisis.  Between 80 – 130 of them are referred to trained therapists to treat the issue, and Pappas says all of the callers are at least given the information of a Gamblers Anonymous support group in their area.    

The council’s call center answers four different gambler helpline numbers, but Pappas says the easiest to remember is 1-800-GAMBLER.  The state Department of Health has also launched a problem gambling website where you can assess your own risk of problem gambling.

Movie About Pennsylvania College Hits The Big Screen

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Katie Hayek

The “little movie that could” chugs to the big screen – telling the story of the team from a small Pennsylvania college that won the first national women’s collegiate basketball title in 1972.    The Immaculata College  (now Immaculata University) team faced many challenges- no home gym and no money for travel.  It would take years after they won the first women’s college basketball title for the right person to tell their story, and a few more years to find the right distributor for the independent film.

Katie Hayek, who played basketball at Lancaster Catholic and the University of Miami, landed a key role in the movie as she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She says director Tim Chambers was so great about it.  He kept her on board and pushed the basketball scenes toward the beginning of filming. Hayek completed the film, her first movie role, while undergoing treatments. She says Chambers was first and foremost concerned about her health, and she knew she was in good hands.

Hayek plays Trish Sharkey in the movie  “The Mighty Macs“, a character based on Immaculata Basketball player Theresa Shank. She says Shank recently told her a story about some of the other challenges faced by the players. Shank had to catch a bus and walk to get to school. The team only lost two games in four years and Shank told Hayek she is still mad about it, because she wasn’t about to walk that far to lose.

Hayek played Division 1 basketball, where she had team gear, sneakers, and travel expenses paid, compared to the Immaculata players, who barely had enough money to get to the championship game. She says taking part in the movie gave her a chance to see where it all started for women’s sports. She says the movie shows how appreciative we should be, for how far collegiate sports have come.

Parts of the movie were filmed in Pennsylvania. The director and writer, Tim Chambers, was head of the Pennsylvania Film Office under Governor Ridge.  He’s a University of Pennsylvania grad. Co-writer Anthony Gargano is a Philadelphia radio personality and went to Temple University.  Executive Producer Pat Croce is the former President of the Philadelphia 76ers.

“The Mighty Macs” is rated G.

Today, Immaculata University’s women’s basketball team competes in the Colonial State Athletic Conference in Division III.  While they’re no longer winning national titles, the 2010-11 team was ranked in the top 25 by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association for their 3.508 GPA and they were among those nominated for the NCAA sportsmanship award.  They also finished the last season with a 19-9 record.

**Photos Courtesy of “The Mighty Macs”, Quaker Media.

RadioPA Roundtable

Radio PA Roundtable 10.22.11

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Radio PA Roundtable is a 30-minute program featuring in-depth reporting on the top news stories of the week. Professionally produced and delivered every Friday, Roundtable includes commercial breaks for local sale and quarterly reports for affiliate files.

Click the audio player below to hear the full broadcast:

[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/witfaudio/radiopa/Roundtable10-21-11.mp3]

Paterno Nears Another Milestone

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In his 46th year as Penn State’s head coach, Joe Paterno has already won more football games than any coach in major (FBS) college football history.  A win tomorrow at Northwestern would tie Paterno with legendary Grambling coach Eddie Robinson for the Division I record with 408 wins.  “I got to know Eddie a little bit… and he was a delightful person and obviously did a fantastic job at Grambling,” Paterno says of the late Eddie Robinson.

The accolades may keep piling up for Penn State’s Hall of Fame coach, but Paterno likes to keep his focus on the field.  That mindset seems to have rubbed off on his team too.  “I don’t really think we think too much about the JoePa records,” says senior safety Drew Astorino of Edinboro, PA.  “We just try to go out and get a win every single week.”   

But even a win tomorrow wouldn’t get Paterno very close to the NCAA record for all divisions.  John Gagliardi of Division III Saint John’s University in Minnesota has 480 wins to his credit.  And Gagliardi, like Paterno, is still going.

Governor Signs Bill That Could Allow State Takeover of Harrisburg Finances

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The clock is ticking again on Harrisburg’s financial future.   Governor Corbett signed a bill Thursday morning giving him power to take control of the city’s finances if necessary.

Governor Corbett signed Senate Bill 1151 without fanfare and a spokeswoman declined to do an interview about his next step.  But she did tell us the Governor will declare a state of fiscal emergency for Harrisburg soon and won’t wait for a bankruptcy filing to play out in court. The state expects city council’s petition for municipal bankruptcy to be dismissed.  Harrisburg’s mayor is also challenging it, and a judge has set a hearing date for late November.

Once the Governor declares a state of fiscal emergency, the secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development would be granted emergency powers to draw up an Emergency Action plan in the distressed city to coordinate vital services and ensure public safety.  That could include police and fire, wastewater and water, trash collection, payroll, pension and debt payments.  The Governor could also petition Commonwealth Court to place the city in receivership. However, the city would still be given a final chance to draw up its own recovery plan that’s acceptable to the state.

Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson is asking City Council to come together in support of a financial recovery plan that averts a state takeover.  She says the taxpayers and voters of the city voted them in office to do their business. She’s telling council “Why would you work so hard to become elected officials and allow the Governor to take over your city?”

Advocates: PA Can End “REAL ID”

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Pennsylvania could become the 16th and largest state to enact a law that blocks implementation of the federal REAL ID Act.  “We believe that state resistance will lead to the demise of REAL ID, and that’s why it’s important for SB 354 to pass,” says ACLU of PA legislative director Andy Hoover.  He’s talking about a bill that has now earned unanimous approve in the state Senate. 

The federal REAL ID Act, if fully implemented, would place requirements on state driver’s licenses that critics say would essentially make them national ID cards.  It would also link all DMV databases across the country, potentially placing Americans’ personal information at risk.  “I believe it’s just one more encroachment on our individual liberty and freedom, which are slowly being taken from us in a very subtle way,” says Senator Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon), the bill’s prime sponsor. 

There are also financial concerns, as PennDOT estimates it will cost more than $100-million dollars to implement REAL ID.  “It’s one more mandate coming down from the federal government… and we all have our own economic scenarios going on as it is,” Folmer tells Radio PA. 

This has been a lingering issue under the state capitol dome.  The House passed an opt-out bill in 2008; the Senate passed one in 2010, but time ran out on both efforts.  “We’re hopeful this is the session we finally put REAL ID to bed,” Hoover says.  Folmer’s legislation passed the Senate 50 – 0, and is now awaiting action in the House State Government Committee.