(Hershey) -- A former state attorney general has announced his retirement from two boards associated with The Hershey Company. LeRoy Zimmerman will retire as chairman of the board of both the Milton Hershey School and Hershey Trust Company. The Milton Hershey School is the largest residential school for impoverished children in the country, while the Hershey Trust Company oversees the board that funds the school. The 77-year-old Zimmerman says his age was a factor in his decision not to seek re-election to the boards. Under Zimmerman's tenure, the enrollment at the school grew from about 1,250 students in 2002 to more than 1,850 students today. The state Attorney General's office is investigating the trust that runs the Milton Hershey School amid questions over how much it paid for a golf course bought to serve as a buffer zone for the school.

Is that stranger a suicide bomber? Is traffic slowing for an ambush ahead? Is that an ordinary dead deer on the roadside — or is the carcass loaded with explosives?

Soldiers in war zones are trained to a heightened level of awareness, keen to spot signs of danger. And while most returning soldiers readjust to the everyday demands of civilian life, some can't turn off the hyper-vigilant switch, says Thomas Murray, readjustment counseling therapist for the Harrisburg Vet Center, a Veterans Administration counseling facility.

Natural gas drilling beneath the Marcellus Shale affects the land under which the drilling and extraction takes place, but also the community that surrounds it. While much has been stated about the potential economic benefits of a company moving into town to drill for natural gas, according to local and county governments, gas drilling creates higher costs in infrastructure, law enforcement and environmental protection.

Gas companies cite efforts to work with local governments to mitigate such costs, but some would still like to see funds developed and designated for local communities to address this impact.

We'll explore the local impact of natural gas extraction beneath the Marcellus Shale as part of our continuing Real Life | Real Issues series for May.

Researchers from Duke University released results of a study last week that found higher than normal amounts of methane gas in water wells located near Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling sites in northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New York.  The gas industry refuted the study saying that it only surveyed 86 sites that weren't at random.  The Duke study did not find fluids or chemicals used in the hydraulic fracking process that releases natural gas in well water.

It's just the latest salvo in the ever-growing controversy over what impact drilling has on the environment and specifically water supplies.

Monday's Radio Smart Talk will feature Dr. David Yoxtheimer, a hydrogeologist/extension associate with The Pennsylvania State University's Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research.

Also, The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is recommending some 50 changes to Pennsylvania's Oil and Gas Act to strengthen state law regulating gas drilling.  We'll hear from that group as well. 

(Undated) -- In his budget address two months ago, Governor Corbett pledged to make Pennsylvania the Texas of the natural gas boom. "Let's make Pennsylvania the hub of this boom," he said. "Just as the oil companies decided to headquarter in one of a dozen states with oil, let's make Pennsylvania the Texas of the natural gas boom." That's because most of the state sits on a potential gold mine of natural gas reserves located in the Marcellus Shale formation. Drillers have flocked to rural communities across the commonwealth to set up shop and start extracting the gas from deep underground. Those boroughs and townships suddenly find themselves face to face with the positives and negatives that come with the industry. witf's Real Life | Real Issues multimedia series, looks at the impact natural gas drilling has had on two communities in the northcentral part of Pennsylvania.

Radio Smart Talk for Wednesday, May 11:The issues surrounding Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling could have more impact on Pennsylvania's future than any other before the public and decision-makers today.  The state's economy, environment, and infrastructure all could be altered forever.  It is that significant.

There seems to be new revelations about Marcellus Shale in the media everyday, but what do those who don't live where wells are being drilled and gas extracted really know about about the process and it's repercussions.

On Wednesday's program, we'll get the observations of David Thompson of the Williams Sun Gazette who has reported on Marcellus Shale for the past four years.  What questions do you have?

Since Colonial Times, Pennsylvania's vast natural resources helped to build a nation.  Whether it be iron ore that made cannons in the Revolution or steel that went into the construction of railroads as we moved westward, timber that made the state the country's number one lumber producer in the early 1900s or the mining of anthracite and bituminous coal for heating homes or providing electricity, Pennsylvania's natural resources were an essential ingredient to the nation's growth.

How those natural resources were harvested is not always a positive story though.  Many times what was left behind were depleted landscapes and polluted streams and rivers.  Often, it took decades to recover.

Today, as drillers use hydraulic fracturing of shale rock beneath the Marcellus formation to find natural gas in Pennsylvania, many are pointing out the lessons learned in the past as they caution against damage to the environment.

We'll look at what we have learned from past on Tuesday's Radio Smart Talk.

(Undated) -- Natural Gas drilling companies in the Marcellus Shale formation are required by Pennsylvania to provide information about what chemicals are used in the hydraulic fracturing process. Fracking, as it's called, involves pumping chemical-laced water deep into the earth. Matt Pitzarella, with Range Resources, speaking on this morning's Radio Smart Talk, said the concerns over the fracking process have been blown out of proportion and he blames the gas industry. "Anyone can see what Range uses. It's on our website. We use about four chemical additives. They collectively make up about 8 one-hundredths of one percent of what it is we inject. The rest of it is water and sand," he says. But Barbara in York called in to voice her skepticism of what she's been told about the fracking process. "I'm very concerned about these gas companies," she says. "They seem very reticent to name the chemicals that they put into the wells." All this month, witf's Real Life Real Issues will focus on the issues surrounding drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Pennsylvania has the fortune (whether it's good or bad depends on your frame of mind) of sitting atop what some have called the Saudi Arabia of natural gas.  The Marcellus Shale is a rock formation that extends from southern New York state, through western Pennsylvania,  into Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia.  About a mile beneath that rock, is a treasure trove, a veritable mother lode of natural gas.

Naturally, gas companies are flocking to Pennsylvania to tap that gas using a technology known as hydraulic fracking.  By driving high-pressure water, sand and a mix of chemicals onto the rock, drillers break it apart, releasing and then trapping the gas for use to power homes and industry.  And also, naturally, there is a great deal of controversy swirling around that fracking practice and the property rights and money derived from using this vital natural resource.

Radio Smart Talk for Thursday, May 5:

You have questions. We'll try to provide answers.

As part of WITF's Real Life | Real Issues project for May, Thursday's show will afford you an opportunity to ask anything at all about natural gas extraction underneath the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. From the science to the industry, from environmental to economic impacts, the hour is yours.

We'll have two guests with us: David Yoxtheimer is a hydrogeologist and extension associate with Penn State's Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research. He has expertise in water supply development, geophysical surveying, environmental permitting, natural gas geology, and integrated water resource management. We'll also be joined by Matt Pitzarella, Director of Public Affairs for Range Resources, one of the largest natural gas drillers in the state.

We'll welcome any and all questions. I hope you can join us.