If you are a regular listener for WITF or NPR, you may have heard of State Impact Pennsylvania, or the Allegheny Front. Reporters from the inatitve Reid Fraizer and Rachel McDevitt joined this weeks discussion. Both talked about the importance of reporting on the environment, the fracking industry in Pennsylvania, and the reopening of Three-Mile Island reopening.

If you are a regular listener for WITF or NPR, you may have heard of State Impact Pennsylvania, or the Allegheny Front. Reporters from the inatitve Reid Fraizer and Rachel McDevitt joined this weeks discussion. Both talked about the importance of reporting on the environment, the fracking industry in Pennsylvania, and the reopening of Three-Mile Island reopening.

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at https://witf.org/programs/the-spark.

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from <a href="https://www.witf.org">WITF</a>, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

The Spark

When people come together and talk about really interesting topics, great questions spark better understanding and opportunities for new ideas to form. On The Spark from WITF, hosts Scott LaMar and Aniya Faulcon start the conversations about what’s happening in the world and at home. Share your ideas at <a href="https://witf.org/programs/the-spark">https://witf.org/programs/the-spark</a>.

Journalist Roundtable: Environmental Reporting

Cooler temperatures are expected in Pennsylvania soon, and that means another season of respiratory illnesses. The CDC is recommending the updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccines and the updated 2024-25 flu vaccines to protect against severe COVID-19 and flu this fall and winter. Dr. John Goldman, UPMC Infectious Disease Specialist seconds the vaccine recommendations from the CDC.

"So you can definitely get the Covid shot and the flu shot at the same time? Because all of these shots have side effects, I tend to try to have people space them out by a week or two apart. But one of the things that I really want to stress is the most important part isn't the timing. The most important part is getting the shot here. So if you have the choice, spaced them out a little bit because you might have fewer side effects. But but if you think, well, I'm not going to come to the pharmacy next week, my doctor's office isn't going to be able to get them next week and get them at the same time."

There's currently a new COVID-19 vaccine called Novavax and it's a standard DNA vaccine. If you already gad the vaccine, Dr. Goldman recommends getting a booster shot.

 "This virus mutates so rapidly that if you had Covid a couple of years ago, or you had a vaccine a couple of years ago, you were vaccinated against older strains, the so-called legacy strains, the ones that came out originally. And this virus of value, has evolved a lot since then. And so the newer vaccines are tailored to the to be much closer to the variants that are currently circulating and will provide you with a lot better protection and, natural infection and vaccination, just for whatever reason, tend to fade out with time."

Covid is a virus, and being vaccinated will protect against severe disease and hospitalization.

 "Covid is a virus. So Covid in most people you have you're going to fight it off. You're going to be cured of it because it will leave your system. There are a lot of people who have long Covid, so they will have side effects of Covid, but we think those side effects are more damage that the virus did before it left in damage, possibly from your immune response to the virus than the virus still being in your body. In addition, there are things mono, for example, that you get once and you never get again. Covid because it mutates so rapidly. You clearly. And because your immunity fades out, you can clearly get multiple times. Now, the vaccines, provide probably about 50% protection about from getting any Covid. Meaning if you get Covid, if you get the vaccine, your chances of getting any infection go down by roughly half. But they provide, great protection against severe disease and hospitalization."

Cooler temperatures are expected in Pennsylvania soon, and that means another season of respiratory illnesses. The <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s-t0627-vaccine-recommendations.html">CDC</a> is recommending the updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccines and the updated 2024-25 flu vaccines to protect against severe COVID-19 and flu this fall and winter. Dr. John Goldman, UPMC Infectious Disease Specialist seconds the vaccine recommendations from the CDC.
"So you can definitely get the Covid shot and the flu shot at the same time? Because all of these shots have side effects, I tend to try to have people space them out by a week or two apart. But one of the things that I really want to stress is the most important part isn't the timing. The most important part is getting the shot here. So if you have the choice, spaced them out a little bit because you might have fewer side effects. But but if you think, well, I'm not going to come to the pharmacy next week, my doctor's office isn't going to be able to get them next week and get them at the same time."
There's currently a new COVID-19 vaccine called Novavax and it's a standard DNA vaccine. If you already gad the vaccine, Dr. Goldman recommends getting a booster shot.
 "This virus mutates so rapidly that if you had Covid a couple of years ago, or you had a vaccine a couple of years ago, you were vaccinated against older strains, the so-called legacy strains, the ones that came out originally. And this virus of value, has evolved a lot since then. And so the newer vaccines are tailored to the to be much closer to the variants that are currently circulating and will provide you with a lot better protection and, natural infection and vaccination, just for whatever reason, tend to fade out with time."
Covid is a virus, and being vaccinated will protect against severe disease and hospitalization.
 "Covid is a virus. So Covid in most people you have you're going to fight it off. You're going to be cured of it because it will leave your system. There are a lot of people who have long Covid, so they will have side effects of Covid, but we think those side effects are more damage that the virus did before it left in damage, possibly from your immune response to the virus than the virus still being in your body. In addition, there are things mono, for example, that you get once and you never get again. Covid because it mutates so rapidly. You clearly. And because your immunity fades out, you can clearly get multiple times. Now, the vaccines, provide probably about 50% protection about from getting any Covid. Meaning if you get Covid, if you get the vaccine, your chances of getting any infection go down by roughly half. But they provide, great protection against severe disease and hospitalization."

Doctors say the time is now to get fall shots

September is marked National Recovery Month. Kristin Primus is the Deputy Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol programs. Primus says this month is special to her, because she is also a woman in long term recovery.

I've been in recovery since September 2nd, 2005. And, you know, when I first started hearing about National Recovery Month, I used to work for, an RCO, which is a recovery community organization. And, you know, I always thought it was very fitting that it was like, the same month as my, recovery date, but, you know, it's just a month that me and all the individuals that I'm in recovery with get to celebrate the fact that, you know, we've accomplished, being in recovery, how far we've gone, "said Primus.

Kristin Varner is the Administrator of the Dauphin County Drug and Alcohol Services. Varner says the months observance acknowledges the individuals in recovery and celebrates how far they've come in the recovery process.

 "When we think about recovery, especially every from addiction, whether it's substance use or problem gambling or any of the other types of addiction, but mostly substance use disorders, we were talking about, it's recovery is a different process for everyone. It's individualized, and it's a way that individuals kind of decide, make a conscious decision to improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential. And that's the definition that the federal Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration uses and, and that we use here at the state, "said Varner.

Substance misuse is an issue in Pennsylvania.

"It doesn't discriminate, by race, by socioeconomic, by gender, by age. We see people throughout the life span in every corner with addiction issues. We see mostly that when we look at the numbers and the data that the the largest number of people that we see are treated for alcohol use disorders. However, we hear a lot, at least right now, about opioid use disorders. It's it's, a crisis in, in this state as well. And, and so and then there's everything in between. So it's, it's definitely something that impacts young people, through adults, through even older people. We've seen, through the Department of Health and some of their data, the overdoses, opioid overdoses, we've seen a rise. And then the percentage of people 65 and older with an overdose. And so we also see throughout the lifespan and trying to look at going upstream and prevention activities to, help identify risk factors as well as things that will help youth, to prosper and, and be able to avoid substance use disorder, "said Primus.

This month is also an opportunity to break stigmas associated with substance misuse while educating people about the subject.

"We have found that personal stories and stirring storytelling is really a good way to sort of normalize the conversation. So when you can relate to another person, regardless of their illness or where they've been, it's just an easier way to understand. We see that all the time. And so what we're going to what we've done with life unites us is we focused on different stories, and this is basically on social media and online, and then they record different people's stories. We've focused on family members. We focused on people in recovery. We focused on emergency service workers and, and trying to get different people's perspectives on substance use disorders, kind of do some of that myth busting for people. And, and we want to be able to show that, you know, there are people behind the numbers that we see, and and they're your neighbors. It's not of the others. It's it's people in your neighborhood. It could be people in your family, friends of your children. As I said, it's it's an equal opportunity illness. And almost everybody probably knows somebody with some addiction issues. So. So we need to stop. We need to bring it out of the darkness into the light and discuss it like we would at any other illness. And life unites us is just one way that we are working and working towards that to show that these these people, these people with addiction, these people in recovery are just very similar from to the rest of us. They just have something going on at that that they're going to work on for the rest of their life, but they can work on it and they can come out on the other side. And that's really important. The message of hope as well, "said Primus.

September is marked National Recovery Month. Kristin Primus is the Deputy Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol programs. Primus says this month is special to her, because she is also a woman in long term recovery.
 I've been in recovery since September 2nd, 2005. And, you know, when I first started hearing about National Recovery Month, I used to work for, an RCO, which is a recovery community organization. And, you know, I always thought it was very fitting that it was like, the same month as my, recovery date, but, you know, it's just a month that me and all the individuals that I'm in recovery with get to celebrate the fact that, you know, we've accomplished, being in recovery, how far we've gone, "said Primus.
Kristin Varner is the Administrator of the Dauphin County Drug and Alcohol Services. Varner says the months observance acknowledges the individuals in recovery and celebrates how far they've come in the recovery process.
 "When we think about recovery, especially every from addiction, whether it's substance use or problem gambling or any of the other types of addiction, but mostly substance use disorders, we were talking about, it's recovery is a different process for everyone. It's individualized, and it's a way that individuals kind of decide, make a conscious decision to improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential. And that's the definition that the federal Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration uses and, and that we use here at the state, "said Varner.
Substance misuse is an issue in Pennsylvania.
"It doesn't discriminate, by race, by socioeconomic, by gender, by age. We see people throughout the life span in every corner with addiction issues. We see mostly that when we look at the numbers and the data that the the largest number of people that we see are treated for alcohol use disorders. However, we hear a lot, at least right now, about opioid use disorders. It's it's, a crisis in, in this state as well. And, and so and then there's everything in between. So it's, it's definitely something that impacts young people, through adults, through even older people. We've seen, through the Department of Health and some of their data, the overdoses, opioid overdoses, we've seen a rise. And then the percentage of people 65 and older with an overdose. And so we also see throughout the lifespan and trying to look at going upstream and prevention activities to, help identify risk factors as well as things that will help youth, to prosper and, and be able to avoid substance use disorder, "said Primus.
This month is also an opportunity to break stigmas associated with substance misuse while educating people about the subject.
"We have found that personal stories and stirring storytelling is really a good way to sort of normalize the conversation. So when you can relate to another person, regardless of their illness or where they've been, it's just an easier way to understand. We see that all the time. And so what we're going to what we've done with life unites us is we focused on different stories, and this is basically on social media and online, and then they record different people's stories. We've focused on family members. We focused on people in recovery. We focused on emergency service workers and, and trying to get different people's perspectives on substance use disorders, kind of do some of that myth busting for people. And, and we want to be able to show that, you know, there are people behind the numbers that we see, and and they're your neighbors. It's not of the others. It's it's people in your neighborhood. It could be people in your family, friends of your children. As I said, it's it's an equal opportunity illness. And almost everybody probably knows somebody with some addiction issues. So. So we need to stop. We need to bring it out of the darkness into the light and discuss it like we would at any other illness. And life unites us is just one way that we are working and working towards that to show that these these people, these people with addiction, these people in recovery are just very similar from to the rest of us. They just have something going on at that that they're going to work on for the rest of their life, but they can work on it and they can come out on the other side. And that's really important. The message of hope as well, "said Primus.

September is National Recovery Month

ABC 27 Meteorologist Dan Tomaso joined The Spark to discuss the latest weather pattern and Hurricane Helene.

"We go from this area of low pressure today. That's to our north and northeast, and that's going to clear. However, as that clears, it leaves a window for Hurricane Helene. Make landfall later tonight along the Big Bend of Florida, still in the Gulf Coast of Florida. And that storm is going to stall and pivot just to our southwest. And it's close enough that by Friday afternoon evening, we're starting to get more areas of rain from the remnants of clean up of that. Saturday looks cloudy, somewhat resilient, damp, and then more showers as the leftovers from Helene sit over top of us Sunday and some of that rain can linger into Monday. So we still have more days of damp, somewhat dreary weather, even if it's not raining the entire time, I think it would be very hard to clear out."

ABC 27 Meteorologist Dan Tomaso joined The Spark to discuss the latest weather pattern and Hurricane Helene.
"We go from this area of low pressure today. That's to our north and northeast, and that's going to clear. However, as that clears, it leaves a window for Hurricane Helene. Make landfall later tonight along the Big Bend of Florida, still in the Gulf Coast of Florida. And that storm is going to stall and pivot just to our southwest. And it's close enough that by Friday afternoon evening, we're starting to get more areas of rain from the remnants of clean up of that. Saturday looks cloudy, somewhat resilient, damp, and then more showers as the leftovers from Helene sit over top of us Sunday and some of that rain can linger into Monday. So we still have more days of damp, somewhat dreary weather, even if it's not raining the entire time, I think it would be very hard to clear out."

Journalist Roundtable: Environmental Reporting

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