The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau - Episode 63 - 12/22/2024

The Commonwealth Beat with Laura LeBeau is a statewide Public Affairs program airing on all of the Seven Mountains Media Pennsylvania radio stations.  On November 3rd this year, Daylight Saving Time ended and nearly all Americans turned their clocks back one hour, to adjust to standard time, lapsing the country into longer days of darkness, but marginally earlier sunrises.  But when Lebanon County Republican State House member Russ Diamond enters his sixth term in January, representing the 102nd legislative district, one of his first official pieces of business will be advocating to get Pennsylvania out of the twice-yearly time change.  He's the leading proponent of ending Daylight Saving Time in the state house and will explain why this practice is unnecessary.  2024 was a very busy year for the American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania, as the organization saw some of their volunteers fanning out to southern hurricane zones, western wildfires, and numerous natural disasters within the Commonwealth's borders, all while taking care of their routine duties, such as assisting local fire victims, tracking down overseas military members, and hosting blood donation sites.  We'll speak with Executive Director Laura Burke about all that the organization did in 2024, and how folks can volunteer to assist them in 2025.