STF: Budget, Schaefer reinstated, Lancaster County tourism, Political Junkie, My Mantelpiece
What to look for on Smart Talk Friday:
Lebanon County pastor Frank Schaefer was refrocked as a minister by the United Methodist Church earlier this week. Schaefer’s credentials had been stripped last December for officiating over the same sex marriage ceremony of his son in 2007 and saying he wouldn’t promise to not marry another same sex couple.
On Smart Talk Friday, WITF’s Ben Allen speaks with Rev. Schaefer.
Also on the program, the start of the state’s new fiscal year begins July 1 — next Tuesday. With a deadline looming, lawmakers still haven’t agreed on a new spending plan. WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief Mary Wilson fills us in on the latest budget news and whether there’s been any movement on paying for public pensions, selling the state’s liquor stores, or imposing a tax on natural gas drillers.
The Political Junkie Ken Rudin joins us to discuss the latest electoral battle between an establishment Republican and a Tea Party candidate. This one came in Mississippi and the outcome was a bit of a surprise.
Kathleen Frankford, President of the PA Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau
A new report shows Lancaster County attracted eight million visitors who spent nearly two billion dollars in the county last year. Kathleen Frankford, the president of the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau tells us why more funding could increase those figures.
Brad Herzog, co-author of My Mantelpiece
Finally, 50 years ago this week three civil rights workers were murdered by local Ku Klux Klan members in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Andrew Goodman was one of them. His late mother Carolyn Goodman co-authored a book that was released last month called My Mantelpiece. Co-author Brad Herzog tells the story.
