Christmas Price Index is Up for “12 Days” Shoppers

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If you actually wanted to give your “true love” all of the items in the holiday classic song “The 12 Days of Christmas”, it would cost you 3.5% more this year.   

The PNC Christmas Price Index shows the price of that partridge in a pear tree has gone up, as has the turtle doves, geese a laying and swans a swimming.    The price of swans a swimming rose 12.5%, turtle doves are up 25%, driving the higher costs.

Maids a milking, ladies dancing and lords a leaping saw no increase.  French hens held even.  Gold rings were down .8%.

Jim Dunigan, managing executive of investments for PNC Wealth Management, says the total cost of the items in the song has topped the 100 thousand dollar mark for the first time. Shopping for on line deals won’t help with this list; the total internet price is over 174 thousand, thanks mostly to shipping.

Dunigan says there is a correlation with the real consumer price index, and the Christmas Price Index can be used as an educational tool.  At pncchristmaspriceindex.com, there are interactive tools for educators to use to engage middle and high school students at this time of year in lessons about economic trends.

Dunigan says the slow recovery is showing up in this index as well. He says weak demand is keeping prices down, which is why they saw only a moderate increase. Wages were flat in the index and he says we see that in the economy as well with wages up overall by just 1.6%.

It’s the 28th year for the PNC holiday season index.

Ten Killed in Crashes Investigated by State Police Over Thanksgiving Holiday

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Pennsylvania State Police investigated fewer highway fatalities this Thanksgiving weekend than last year, but they were busy writing thousands of citations. 

Ten people were killed over the five day holiday weekend in crashes State Police investigated. Half were not wearing seatbelts according to spokeswoman Maria Finn.   Four of the fatal crashes were alcohol related.  Last year, 17 people died in Thanksgiving weekend crashes. Six of the crashes over Thanksgiving 2010 were alcohol-related and 11 of the victims were not wearing seatbelts.

State troopers issued 8,647 speeding citations this year, compared to 7,393 last year. 484 people were arrested for driving under the influence, compared to 417 last year. 994 were cited for not wearing seatbelts, compared to 932 last year. 94 were cited for failing to properly restrain children, compared to 70 last year.  There were 1,007 crashes with 10 deaths and 326 injuries this year.  Last year there were 1,091 crashes with 17 deaths and 343 injuries.

State Capitol Facing North Office Building

Words Do Matter

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Demonstrating that ‘words do matter,’ Governor Tom Corbett has signed legislation that updates Pennsylvania’s Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act of 1966.  The new law changes the words “mental retardation” to “intellectual disability.”  The bill passed both the state Senate and House with unanimous support.

This is the result of a self-advocate movement, according to Maureen Wescott, Public Policy Advocate at The ARC of Pennsylvania.  “This is what they choose to be called and identified by, and refuse to be identified by a negative terminology.” 

Executive Director of The ARC of Pennsylvania Maureen Cronin says Pennsylvania is joining the federal government and other states in striking ‘the R word’ from its statute.  “Because retarded, as you know, has turned into a derogatory, slang insult,” Cronin explains. 

The bill was sponsored by state Senator Andy Dinniman, a Chester County Democrat, who says it makes the language changes in all 34-pages of the act.  “Words do matter,” Dinniman said in a statement.  “They can either convey disrespect and ignorance or respect and understanding.” 

The new law takes effect immediately.

Holiday Mail for Heroes Program Underway until December 9th

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Would you like to help brighten up the holidays for a service member, veteran or their families?  The American Red Cross has kicked off its Holiday Mail for Heroes program.    They’re partnering with Pitney Bowes for the fifth annual program.

Pitney Bowes helps gather the cards and screen them for safety reasons.  Red Cross staff and volunteers around the world sort the cards and see that they’re delivered to military members, veterans and their families.

Red Cross spokesman Peter Macias says he recently spoke to a friend in the military who had just returned from the Middle East.  His friend received a stack of 25 cards last year wrapped in a red ribbon from the local Red Cross office.  Some of the cards were store bought and some were handmade by children.  He told Macias it was a great way to spend the holidays away from home.

You can make or buy a card and mail it to the Holiday Mail for Heroes post office box or you can make the  card on line.  You can fill out your message at mailforheroes.com. It just costs $1. A card will be generated and sent off to the troops. 

The deadline is December 9th. For more details on the program, go to redcross.org/holidaymail

The mailing address is:  

 Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD
20791
RadioPA Roundtable

Radio PA Roundtable 11.24.11

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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/Roundtable11-24-11.mp3]

Governor’s Office of Homeland Security will be Moving

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The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security will soon move its operations to State Police headquarters in Harrisburg.  Homeland Security was merged into the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency under the former Rendell administration, but a recent review determined that sharing the same building with state police would result in a better combination of intelligence gathering and sharing.   

State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan will serve as the Governor’s Homeland Security Advisor.   

Cory Angell   with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency says it makes sense to move the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security’s operations to State Police headquarters. He says it’s all about working with other state agencies more efficiently.

Christman Blog: Cutting Through Cynicism with Facts

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(Brad Christman is the News Director for Radio PA and Co-Host of our monthly “Ask the Governor” series on PAMatters.com. He can be reached at brad_christman@radiopa.com)

    Ask any journalist and they’ll tell you that one of the fascinating aspects of our business involves the letters and comments we receive from people who are certain that they know exactly how things work in our industry. Case in point: a comment entered recently here at PAMatters.com regarding our Ask the Governor program, which is Governor Tom Corbett’s only regularly-scheduled statewide access program.

    Dennis (who didn’t tell us where he’s from or give us his email address) wrote:

I would appreciate it if you would stop announcing/advertising the pamatters.com as a “conversation,” with the Governor. It is not a conversation. The questions or comments are cherry picked and he has reviewed them before air time. This is another attempt by a politician to appear to be open and pretend that he is giving access to the people of PA.

    My, oh, my…where to begin.

    First, Dennis, I thank you for listening to the show. We value every single listener & web viewer, and I appreciate hearing from them any time. Unfortunately, despite your emphatic statements of fact, you couldn’t be more wrong in your analysis of the show.

    We worked hard to convince Governor Corbett to do this monthly program with Radio PA and PAMatters.com, and he accepted as a way to give you the very open access you seem to deny exists. There’s no “pretending” here. Send in a good, brief email that isn’t poisoned with sarcasm, cynicism and pessimism and you stand a good chance of having it addressed on the air. As I have stated on the program before, which emails get on the air is my call, and mine alone. The governor has never asked us to “cherry pick” questions and he has never tried to restrict the topics.

    Second, yes, we do share the listener-emailed questions with the governor’s office in advance, but that’s because these are the most important questions on the show (YOUR questions) and we want him to be able to provide an informative answer during the taping of the program. That sometimes requires some research on his part. All other questions asked by the hosts, which make up a majority of the program, are not required to be screened or shared in advance. Radio PA and PAMatters.com maintain complete editorial control over the program and its content. We wouldn’t do the show otherwise. I also don’t mind pointing out that Governor Corbett has never asked it to be any other way. This IS very much a conversation with the governor, and these policies have been in place since the days our program featured Governor Rendell and Governor Casey (programs that obviously pre-dated the launch of the web component here at PAMatters.com).

    I realize that the politically divisive mood in the Commonwealth and the nation right now makes it difficult to accept that something can be as it appears at face value. It’s sad, but I get it. However, I’m confident that a vast majority of our listeners and web followers do appreciate the opportunity afforded them to interact directly with the Governor of Pennsylvania. It’s a rare and valuable thing and I appreciate the many of you who have thanked us for providing that pipeline.

    As for our friend Dennis, I hope he has a Happy Thanksgiving and when the time comes to break that wishbone in the Dennis household, there’s no need to wish for a way to contact your governor. We’ve already given you that here at PAMatters.com.

    A Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

Despite Improvements, there is still “Trouble in Toyland”

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The annual “Trouble in Toyland” report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group shows there are still toxic toys on the shelves, despite improvements.   

PennPIRG program associate Alana Miller says when they started doing the report 26 years ago,   hazardous toys littered the shelves.  Every year, they find fewer and fewer that pose such hazards. 

However, Miller says there are still dangerous toys being sold, including ones  that violate lead limits, toys that pose choking hazards for small children, toys with unacceptable noise levels and toys with high levels of phthalates.  She adds choking on small parts, balls and balloon pieces continues to be the leading cause of children’s deaths from playing with toys.

Miller says any toy that would fit inside an empty toilet paper roll is too small for a child under three.

Miller says they found a little toddler book with lead at levels of 720 parts per million, which is more than twice the current limit.  She adds it’s 10 times the limit recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.  She says because many parents wouldn’t even think to check the lead content of a book, that’s why it’s important to have oversight of regulations so kids aren’t getting sick from books. She says parents can find toy incident reports and recall notices at saferproducts.gov.

You can get the full list of problems found during the annual “Trouble in Toyland” survey at pennpirg.org/report. You can also use the mobile site, toysafety.mobi to report unsafe toys or learn more about the report.

PennDOT, Turnpike Unveil New Plow

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Winter is almost here, and state transportation officials have a new weapon in the battle against snow and ice. New, 30-foot long tow plows can clear two, 12-foot wide highway lanes at once.  “We plow it with the operator driving the truck into the passing lane, then checking for traffic and pulling a lever to steer the tow plow into the other lane,” says PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch. 

The tow plows have been tested at 55 – 60-miles an hour and will only be used on multi-lane expressways.  They can also help to reduce costs at PennDOT.  “With one vehicle we can now do what two trucks were doing, which means that one of the other trucks can go out to one of the other roads and get it cleared more quickly,” Schoch explains.  12 tow plows will be in use statewide this winter; PennDOT will deploy eight of them and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission will have four of its own.

About 40-times a year motorists will crash into one of PennDOT’s plows, and officials are using this opportunity to stress winter driving safety too.  They say to keep at least six car lengths behind an operating snow plow and to never pass one.  Failure to heed these warnings can get you caught in a truck’s blind spot, pummel your car with heavy flying snow or lead to an unwanted encounter with the plow itself, which is wider than the truck.    

Tow Plow

By pulling a lever, plow truck operators will be able to swing this tow plow into action. NEVER try to pass one of these on the right.