The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.     In the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Former President Donald Trump July 13th in Butler, PA, most Americans have dialed down their political rhetoric, at least for the time being.  On this episode, reaction to what happened to Trump from PA D...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.     On this episode, we get a "behind the headlines" look into the miraculous rescue of "The Quecreek Nine."  They were the team of nine coal miners who accidentally penetrated an underground wall separating an abandoned, flooded mine ad...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.      On the long Independence Day holiday weekend, a "Best of" edition.  First, from last October, a conversation with PA Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, discussing farms, farmers, farmland preservation, and what the Commonwealth is doing a...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.     Completed suicides in the U.S. number upwards of 46,000 annually.  It's one of the highest suicide rates among the world's wealthiest nations and is made even more grim when one factors in who those victims are.  Over 6,300 are veterans, and a...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.    As Pennsylvanians get their tents, sleeping bags and other camping gear in order for summertime adventures, the PA Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources is ramping up its message about fire safety in Pennsylvania's forest lands.  DCNR forest...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.    With school now out for the summer, there are some 21 million children in this country who are at risk of not getting enough to eat during June, July and August.  But a new federal program is trying to address the problem, and Pennsylvania is participati...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.   With Memorial Day long considered the "unofficial" start of summer, and kids soon out of school for the summer, many Pennsylvanians are gearing up for summer vacations and travel.  That gives rise to the possibility of accidents and other types...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.   "You're so bossy!"  If you've heard that before and took it as criticism, particularly if you're female, then you'll want to hear author Kristle Markle-Temons, whose new book,  Beautifully Bossy:  A Guide to Servant Leadershi...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  Clean energy is Pennsylvania's largest energy sector, with nearly 70,000 workers.  That makes clean energy the eleventh largest energy efficiency sector in the nation.  In a new book just out, author Bob Keefe argues America is in the midst of the big...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, and one of the few "silver linings" from the Coronavirus pandemic is a greater recognition in this country about mental health.  World class athletes and celebrities are speaking openly about their m...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  Nurses are the frontline of patient care in medicine, whether at your family physician's office, assisting surgeons in the operating room, or acting as visiting nurses helping our senior and homebound community members.  There are currently some four...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  On this episode, a conversation with Alexandra Shaykevich of The Environmental Integrity Project, a watchdog group that recently published a report concerning the billions of dollars in tax incentives offered to plastics manufacturers.  While the incentive...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  On this episode, Laura brings another of the Democratic State Attorney General candidates forward to discuss his qualifications and stances on many of the issues confronting that office.  Bucks County attorney Joe Khan has an interesting back story that in...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  On this episode, Laura continues her series of interviews with the candidates running for PA Attorney General in the April 23rd Primary Election, with PA GOP-endorsed candidate Dave Sunday.  He is the sitting District Attorney for York County and wants to...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  On this episode, Laura brings Part 2 of her interview with Dr. Kent Vrana, Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Director of the Medical Marijuana Research Group at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey.  As one of the foremost researchers...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  On this episode, Laura begins the first of the two-part interview with Dr. Kent Vrana, Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology and Director of the Medical Marijuana Research Group at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey.  He understands marijua...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  On this episode, Laura interviews PA Attorney General candidate Eugene DePasquale, one of five democrats seeking the party nomination in the April 23rd Primary election.  DePasquale shares his thoughts on the issues of the day, including the war on drugs,...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  On this episode, Laura discusses the issue of Pennsylvania's declining rural population with Dr. Kyle Kopko, Executive Director of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.  Why is it taking place, and what can state lawmakers do to try and stem the tide?  D...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  Did you know there are people in the Commonwealth who take it upon themselves to be "Riverkeepers," stewards of the waterways, often volunteering huge amounts of time to making sure PA's waterways remain clean, free of trash and plentiful wi...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  In this episode, Laura discusses another successful wave of applicants to the Pennsylvania State Police with Lt. Adam Reed.  This new interest in becoming a State Trooper comes in the wake of  Gov. Josh Shapiro's decision to drop the 60 college credit...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  With Pennsylvania one of the most critically important swing states in this year's election, Laura discusses the "Trump Effect" on politics, and how it will impact not only the Presidential election but also this year's U.S. Senate race...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  A new report out this week details some very disturbing findings regarding students of color at the Commonwealth's public universities.  They're facing racial harassment, racial stereotypes and all out racism on their campuses, making them feel u...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  On this episode, Laura discusses drug addiction with a noted expert on the subject, Dr. Deirdre Dingman, who teaches this very subject at Temple University in Philadelphia.   Then, a much lighter subject in the PA-mazing segment, actually talking about the...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  On this episode, the importance of Agriculture in Pennsylvania.  Hear PA Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, Governor Josh Shapiro and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack discuss the importance of the work done by the Commonwealth's farmers.  Their speec...

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  On this episode, Laura discusses the prospect of the General Assembly raising the state minimum wage, as 22 other states did, effective January 1st.  Currently, the Pennsylvania minimum wage sits at the same rate as the federal government's minimum wa...