NewsWorks Tonight, November 28, 2013 – Full Show

Welcome to a special Thanksgiving Edition of NewsWorks Tonight.  As Delaware Valley residents are sitting down to their holiday dinner, we at Newsworks Tonight want to share some of the stories we’re thankful for putting on the air this year… especially the ones that show people at their best. 

Like Tawanda Jones. WHYY’s Kevin McCorry crossed the bridge into Camden and headed for the city’s water tower. The area around the base of the tower serves as a practice space for Jones and the “Camden Sophisticated Sisters.” Jones has been named one of 2013’s Top 10 CNN Heroes. The cable channel his profiling all its hero picks Sunday night at 8.

Even though much remains to be done in rebuilding the Jersey Shore after Superstorm Sandy, residents in many communities are thankful for the progress that has been made — and for  housejackers, the people you call when you need to raise a house six, nine or 15 feet off the ground. WHYY’s Tracey Samuelson introduces us to a house jacker, who’s still pretty busy these days.

Philadelphia is often called a city of neighborhoods, and by extension, that means a city of homes. Its signature house, the rowhome, is the topic of our next conversation. Amanda Kasper is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Delaware.  She recently published an article in The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia entitled “Rowhouses.” She spoke with NewsWorks Tonight’s producer Shai Ben-Yaacov.

Philadelphia is at the center of a new industrial boom. You may have seen long trains snaking through the region, bringing crude oil from North Dakota to the city’s revived refineries. StateImpact Pennsylvania’s Katie Colaneri looks at the effects of this increased traffic.

Finally this evening, we send good luck wishes to Matt Loveland of Mount Holly, who’s trying to put New Jersey on the map in the world of duck calling.  

The World’s Championship Duck Calling Contest will be held this weekend in Stuttgart, Arkansas.  Matt hit the road today, to get to the event in time.  If he wins, he’d be the first champ from the Garden State.