Thank you for listening to WITF 89.5! witf is committed to serving our listeners and the community, and we value your support and opinions. Please take a moment to fill out this short survey.  Help us better serve radio listeners like you in Central PA!  At the end of the survey, you’ll have an opportunity to share your ideas and opinions about witf 89.5.  As always, we appreciate your feedback.

Click here to take the survey

(Lancaster) -- Pro football players will be taking up a different sport in Lancaster's baseball stadium next month.  The inaugural "LeSean McCoy Celebrity Softball Game" at Clipper Magazine Stadium pits its namesake and his Philadelphia Eagles teammates agains a team of NFL All Stars.  Harrisburg native McCoy is hosting the game to raise money for his foundation promoting research funds and awareness of ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.  McCoy lost his grandmother to the disease.  Other NFL stars expected at the game on June 23 at 7 p.m. include the Steelers' Mike Wallace and the Ravens' Ray Rice.

The Brickyard Sports Bar and Restaurant, Lancaster PA

(Lancaster) -- Some 30 people have been laid off by a midstate nonprofit, after the federal government cut down on its orders. The Lancaster-based Susquehanna Association for the Blind and Vision Impaired manufactures items, such as combat helmets, for the Department of Defense. But without orders to fill, the organization had to cut 20 percent of its workforce, including some employees at its Somerset and Philadelphia facilities. President and CEO Dennis Steiner says a couple reasons are behind the need for the cuts. "Troop drawdown may have an impact. I think another significant impact is just the uncertainty of what's going on in Washington with budgets," he says. "I also think it's a question of the Department of Defense struggling to manage inventory. I mean, last summer we were working overtime, you know. Now, we don't have any work." Steiner says 16 of the employees who've been let go are blind or visually-impaired. He adds he expects most workers to be brought back by mid-summer or early fall.

(Lancaster) -- When there's too much glue, glitter, paper, yarn and other crafting supplies, much of it ends up at Lancaster Creative Reuse. The project of the non-profit Keystone Art and Culture Center in Lancaster opened in 2010 and is now expanding. As part of our MoneyWorks series, witf's Craig Layne talks with project dirctor Andrea Stoner Leaman about how Lancaster Creative Reuse is saving people money.

(Camp Hill) -- Soot, metal, and salt particles smaller than the diameter of a human hair are contributing to some of the air pollution in central Pennsylvania. The American Lung Association's annual "State of the Air" report ranks the Harrisburg, Carlisle and York metropolitan areas as the 17th most polluted region in the country. The association's Kevin Stewart says toxins can do more harm to the body than people may think. "They get into the deepest parts of the lungs where they are very good at delivering whatever bad chemicals are on their surfaces to the lung tissue. In some cases, some of the chemicals do find their way into the body through the bloodstream," he cautions. The study also gives several counties, including Berks, Dauphin, Lancaster, and York, an "F" grade for their poor air quality. Stewart says the elderly, young children and infants, and people with heart disease are especially at-risk of becoming sick from air pollution.

witf announces the launch of a new mobile app named PA Markers, the first mobile app associated with the award-winning website, ExplorePAhistory.com.

PA Markers is the mobile tool for anyone interested in learning more about American history, Pennsylvania history and the people, places and stories that helped shape our nation.

The PA Markers app reveals the story behind many of Pennsylvania's famous blue and gold historical markers.  Search for a marker by name or set the app to show you all the markers within a set distance from your phone.  Select a marker to see the marker text, then read the full story behind that marker, complete with images and links to other related markers, all on your mobile device. PA Markers even offers additional resources to check out.  No more guessing about town names (Burnt Cabins?)  or historical figures (Daniel Boone).  It’s all on the app!

The PA Markers application can find and map historical markers from all over Pennsylvania along with directions and travel time from your current location.

PA Markers features only official Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) historical markers that have been listed on www.ExplorePAhistory.com.

About 15 people gathered outside a post office in Lancaster, hoisting “Obama-Biden” signs and calling for Mitt Romney to make public his tax returns.  Perhaps noting the low turnout, someone from the group recruited Yen Dang, a Lancaster resident who was standing a few yards away, waiting for the bus.

Gov. Corbett responded to the ESPN magazine article portraying him as having a major role in the ouster of Penn State's late football coach Joe Paterno and former president Graham Spanier.  Mitt Romney spoke to a rally of Tea Partiers in Philadelphia yesterday and heads to Lancaster today. The first negative ad in the Democratic race for state attorney general has hit the airwaves.

(Lancaster) -- Lancaster's Fire Bureau is facing a big turnover in the next three to five years. So, it's taking steps to fill its ranks with a more diverse group of firefighters. About a third of the 74-person department will be retiring by 2017. Now, the city has implemented a system that favors qualified applicants who live in Lancaster and can speak both English and a second "targeted" language, like Spanish. Only six current firefighters live in the city and Fire Chief Tim Gregg says it's important for the department to reflect the community it serves. "In order to build a strong organization, we feel that if you bring people from different backgrounds in, different viewpoints on issues, we can provide better service." Gregg emphasizes the changes are not based on ethnicity, because anyone who lives in the city and is fluent in Spanish or another "targeted language" would benefit. He says the new approach could take up to a decade to come to fruition. The application period for the next class of firefighters closes on May 31.