WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark One clue of a shift in dining focus for one local arboreal rodent is the scattering of spruce tips you can now find all over the forest floor. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter. He is passionate about fishing, cooking, and making things with his hands. He has both an MBA in Sustainability and an MS focused in Environmental Education. Joe can be reached by emailing naturephenology@gmail.com Hazel Stark lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder and Naturalist Educator at Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide. She loves taking a closer look at nature through the lens of her camera, napping in beds of moss, and taking hikes to high points to see what being tall is all about. She has an MS in Resource Management and Conservation and is a lifelong Maine outdoorswoman. Hazel can be reached by emailing naturephenology@gmail.com The post The Nature of Phenology 2/4/23: Spruce Tips Falling first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Anu Dudley About the host: Rev. Dr. Anu Dudley is an ordained Pagan minister and a retired history professor. She continues to teach classes, including the three-year ordination curriculum at the Temple of the Feminine Divine, and others such as History of the Goddess, Paganism 101, Ethical Magic, and Introduction to the Runes. Currently she is writing a book about how to cast the runes using their original Goddess meanings. She lives in the woods off-grid in a small homesteading community in Central Maine. The post Earthwise 2/4/23: The Color White first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

This is your Cosmic Curator! Tom Yaroschuk with a look at the stars for Saturday February 4 and the days ahead. And speaking of days ahead….the moon is full tomorrow … Sunday the 5th and what a full moon it will be… About the Host: Tom Yaroschuk is a Vedic Astrologer. His intention is to help people understand their karma and the issues they may confront to cultivate more fulfilling lives. Tom is writing a memoir of the spiritual lessons derived from his work in a Homeless Day Center in between a career as an award winning television and documentary producer. The post The Cosmic Curator 2/4/23: Emotional Purification first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host:Peter Neill Producer: Trisha Badger Music by Casey Neill Conversations from the Pointed Firs is a monthly audio series with Maine-connected authors and artists discussing new books and creative projects that invoke the spirit of Maine, its history, its ecology, its culture, and its contribution to community and quality of life. This month: Dean Lunt, Editor-in-Chief, Islandport Press on the writings of Ruth Moore. Guest/s: DEAN LUNT is founder and the editor-in-chief at Islandport Press, an award-winning publisher of books and other media that strives to tell stories that are rooted in the sensibilities of Maine and New England. An eighth-generation native of downeast Maine, Dean Lunt was born and raised in the island fishing village of Frenchboro. His ancestors arrived on Mount Desert Island in the late 1700s and many of them moved across the bay to settle Long Island in the early 1800s. In 1999, Lunt founded Islandport Press, an award-winning independent book publishing company that produces books with New England themes. The company published its first book, Hauling by Hand: The Life and Times of a Maine Island, in the spring of 2000. Lunt has edited dozens of books as is the author of Here for Generations: The Story of a Maine Bank and its City. Later this year he will release an anthology of Ruth Moore's work for which he is writing a lengthy forward describing the ways in which their lives intersected, and the enduring importance of Moore's work. SAMAA ABDURRAQIB is the Executive Director of the Maine Humanities Council, a position she has held since 2021. Before MHC she taught in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Program for three years at Bowdoin College, teaching courses on Muslim memoir, Islam and feminism, and representations of violence against women in literature and film. Samaa left Bowdoin in 2013 and, after teaching a semester at the University of Southern Maine, left the academia to begin a career in Maine's nonprofit world. From 2013 through 2015, Samaa joined the staff at the ACLU of Maine as a reproductive justice organizer. After that grant funded position ended, Samaa joined the staff at the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, where she worked for five years supporting domestic violence advocates across the state through training, technical assistance, and policy work. Since March of 2021, Samaa has been working at the Maine Humanities Council and serves as the organization's Executive Director. Samaa's love of Maine's natural landscape is what inspired her to shift careers and root herself in Maine. She tries to spend as much time as she can outside birdwatching, hiking, and kayaking. One of the most fulfilling roles Samaa has held is being a volunteer leader for Outdoor Afro, a national organization committed to (re)connecting Black people to the outdoors and connecting Black people to each other through the outdoors. Samaa received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's English Department in 2010. She is a published poet and nature writer. About the host: Peter Neill is founder and director of the World Ocean Observatory, a web-based place of exchange for information and educational services about the health of the ocean. In 1972, he founded Leete's Island Books, a small publishing house specializing in literary reprints, the essay, photography, the environment, and profiles of indigenous healers and practitioners of complimentary medicine around the world. He holds a profound interest in Maine, its history, its people, its culture, and its contribution to community and quality of life. The post Conversations from the Pointed Firs 2/3/23: Dean Lunt, Editor-in-Chief, Islandport Press on the writings of Ruth Moore first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This week: WERU’s General Manager Matt Murphy joins us today with the highlights from our recent listener survey About the host: Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU's News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021. The post Around Town 2/2/23: WERU Listener Survey Results first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers/Hosts: Charlotte Warren and Zoe Brokos Music credits: Emma Reynolds. Music – Samuel James. Justice Radio is a WMPG production Justice Radio: Tackling the hard questions about our criminal legal system in Maine. This week: How do we End the War on Drugs in Maine? Join co-hosts Charlotte Warren and Zoe Brokos as they discuss the harm of the Drug policy in Maine and what changes are needed. Guest/s: n/a About the hosts: The Justice Radio team includes: Leo Hylton is currently incarcerated at Maine State Prison, yet is a recent Master's graduate, a columnist with The Bollard, a restorative and transformative justice advocate and activist, a prison abolitionist, and a Visiting Instructor at Colby College's Anthropology Department, co-teaching AY346 – Carcerality and Abolition. Catherine Besteman is an abolitionist educator at Colby College. Her research and practice engage the public humanities to explore abolitionist possibilities in Maine. In addition to coordinating Freedom & Captivity, she has researched and published on security, militarism, displacement, and community-based activism with a focus on Somalia, post-apartheid South Africa, and the U.S. She has published nine books, contributed to the International Panel on Exiting Violence, and received recent fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations. MacKenzie Kelley is a formerly incarcerated woman in long term recovery. She is a teachers assistant for inside-out courses through MIT. MacKenzie works at the Maine Prisoner Reentry Center as a reentry specialist, peer support and recovery coach. She is the program director for Reentry Sisters, a program designed to assist women reentering the community from prison. Zoe Brokos (she/her) is the executive director of the Church of Safe Injection, a comprehensive harm reduction program that operates in Southern and Central Maine. Zoe is a person who uses drugs, a mom, a wife, and has led harm reduction programs in Maine for 15 years. She is part of the Maine Drug Policy Coalition, sits on the board of Decriminalize Maine and joined Justice Radio to promote compassionate conversations and drug user-led advocacy efforts that focus on evidence-based, public health responses to the housing and overdose crises in Maine. Marion Anderson: Before joining The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls in January of 2022, Marion worked as a harm reductionist, housing navigator, certified intentional peer support specialist, CCAR recovery coach, and a re-entry coach for a diverse range of non-profit organizations. Charlotte Warren is a former State Representative. She served on the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee for eight years – six as the house chair. Warren previously served on the Judiciary Committee and as the house chair of Maine's Mental Health Working Group and the house chair of the Commission to Examine Reestablishing Parole. Previous to her time in the legislature, Charlotte served as Mayor of the city of Hallowell. Linda Small is the founder and executive director of Reentry Sisters, a reentry support organization specializing in a gender-responsive and trauma-informed approach for women, serving Maine and beyond. She is a Project Coordinator for the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition. Linda serves on the Maine Prison Education Partnership board at UMA and the New England Commission for the Future of Higher Education in Prison through The Educational Justice Institute at MIT. The post Justice Radio 2/2/23: Ending the War on Drugs in Maine, Part 1 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell Someone asked the other day what all the measurements that often appear in computer ads mean. We haven’t looked at that sort of information lately, so let’s give it a try today. About the host: Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon's words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station's sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage. The post Notes from the Electronic Cottage 2/2/23: Thoughts on Buying a Computer first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Larry Dansinger About the host: Larry Dansinger (no pronouns) of Bangor came to Maine in 1974 and has been here ever since. Some of Larry's activities since then: Done community organizing on numerous issues through INVERT and then Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC), committed civil disobedience several times, grown a garden yearly since 1977, joined various food cooperatives and two men's groups, refused to pay federal income taxes for war, lived on a community land trust for 23 years, and met a wonderful partner whom Larry has loved for over 40 years. Larry has produced Outside the Box features on WERU since 2007 and continues to look for unique ways of seeing almost any problem or situation. The post Outside the Box 1/31/23: “Worth Less” first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

CJ Kenna | Producer + Writer/Reader The post Esoterica 1/31/23: Science of The Mind first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Pepin Mittelhauser (he/him) Theme music by Zeke Sacaridiz. All other music is royalty free.This project was made possible by the generous support of the Maine Community Foundation. NextWave Radio Hour is a new program featuring folks in their 20s and 30s, often referred to as Millennials, from all across Maine. In this program, host Pepin Mittelhauser will be discussing issues, news, and current events both locally and nationally, and featuring young creators who trailblaze their own paths in our modern political, economic, and social climate. We hope to provide unique perspectives of life from the next generation working to create the future they hope to lead. This month: -Working to make the world a better place for everyone -Being queer in Maine -Creating the life that suites you best “The Waggle” and “Metamorphosis” by Bee Parks and the Hornets used with permission. Guests: Bethany Humphrey Nina Duggan, Healthy Acadia, Maine Transnet, Downeast Rainbow Alliance, Curbside Queens Brittany Parker, Bee Parks and the Hornets About the host: Pepin Mittelhauser (he/him) is the Digital Media Associate to WERU Community Radio, and an avid gardener and farmer, musician and singer, and lover of nature and the outdoors. He graduated from College of the Atlantic in ’19 with focuses in sustainable agriculture, food systems, and live and recorded audio engineering and production. The post NextWave Radio Hour 1/26/23: Making the World Better first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: R.W. Estela The post A Word in Edgewise 1/30/23: Roosevelt Borrowing from Thoreau . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode discusses the origins of mucus in early animal lineages, including Cnidaria and Ctenophora, and highlights the lack of mucus in another early animal lineage, Porifera (sponges). Scientists hypothesize that the invention of mucus was a major event that enabled the evolution of true tissues, as well as serving as the front line of the immune system, separating microbes from vulnerable tissue, in all animals from Cnidarians to ourselves. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine. The post The Essential Rhythm 1/29/23: The Origins of Mucus first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark The coloration and size of these little birds camouflages them incredibly well against the tree bark where they spend most of their time. But even if you can't spot one close up due to this camouflage, their behavior easily reveals their identity. Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter. He is passionate about fishing, cooking, and making things with his hands. He has both an MBA in Sustainability and an MS focused in Environmental Education. Joe can be reached by emailing naturephenology@gmail.com Hazel Stark lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder and Naturalist Educator at Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide. She loves taking a closer look at nature through the lens of her camera, napping in beds of moss, and taking hikes to high points to see what being tall is all about. She has an MS in Resource Management and Conservation and is a lifelong Maine outdoorswoman. Hazel can be reached by emailing naturephenology@gmail.com The post The Nature of Phenology 1/28/23: Brown creepers first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

This is your Cosmic Curator, Tom Yaroschuk, with a look at thestars for today January 28 th . If I told you once, I've told you 100 times on this segment, The moon's transits across the zodiac sets the emotional thermostat. Today, well, its going to be pretty hot, emotionally… About the Host: Tom Yaroschuk is a Vedic Astrologer. His intention is to help people understand their karma and the issues they may confront to cultivate more fulfilling lives. Tom is writing a memoir of the spiritual lessons derived from his work in a Homeless Day Center in between a career as an award winning television and documentary producer. The post The Cosmic Curator 1/28/23 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Anu Dudley About the host: Rev. Dr. Anu Dudley is an ordained Pagan minister and a retired history professor. She continues to teach classes, including the three-year ordination curriculum at the Temple of the Feminine Divine, and others such as History of the Goddess, Paganism 101, Ethical Magic, and Introduction to the Runes. Currently she is writing a book about how to cast the runes using their original Goddess meanings. She lives in the woods off-grid in a small homesteading community in Central Maine. The post Earthwise 1/28/23: The Element of Smoke first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Natalie Springuel Coastal Conversations: Conversations with people who live, work, and play on the Maine coast, hosted by the University of Maine Sea Grant Program. This month: This episode features two distinct stories about Gouldsboro, Maine: STORY 1: Gouldsboro, a working waterfront community at a crossroads Today's show features the second episode of this year's From the Sea Up podcast series focused on Maine's working waterfront towns. We'll be headed to Gouldsboro, A historic fishing town with over 50 miles of coastline. In 2020, the Norwegian-backed company American Aquafarms proposed putting two closed-pen salmon farms, totaling 120-acres, in Frenchman Bay between Gouldsboro and Bar Harbor. Although American Aquafarm's initial application for an aquaculture lease was terminated by the Maine Department of Marine Resources in the spring of 2022, a question about the future of Maine's waters took hold in many rural coastal communities. In this episode, From the Sea Up producers visit South Gouldsboro, a small and active working waterfront with stunning views of Cadillac Mountain and the proposed lease site. With perspectives from a seaweed farmer and cultivator, Sarah Redmond, as well as Jerry Potter, a longtime lobsterman, and Sebastian Belle from the Maine Aquaculture Association, this episode explores the identity and needs of one working waterfront community, and asks the question: What kind of working waterfront do people want to see here in the future? And what role does aquaculture play in that future? This story is brought to you by our radio storytelling friend Galen Koch, whose podcast series, From the Sea Up, has been featured on Coastal Conversations before. Galen brings the past and present together to help us make sense of Maine's complicated future. This is the second in a working waterfront series we will keep sharing over the next few months. STORY 2: Gouldsboro: a legacy of sardines You heard the narrator in our first story talk about American Aquafarms' purchase of the Maine Fair Trade lobster processing facility in the Gouldsboro village of Prospect Harbor. While American Aquafarms' intention is to someday convert the lobster processing operation into a salmon processing facility and hatchery, this plant was in the business of packing sardines for nearly 100 years. As the era of Maine's sardine industry was coming to an end in the later part of the 20th century, and sardine packing plants were closing one by one up and down the Maine coast, the Stinson's Sardine Cannery was the very last hold out. It's final owner, Bumble Bee Foods, shuttered the sardine operation for good in 2010, making it not only the last sardine cannery in Maine, but the very last sardine cannery in the whole of the United States. In 2011, the year after the sardine plant closed, oral historians from “Oral History and Folklife Research, Inc” sought to honor and document the Stinson Sardine Factory legacy by interviewing a number of former employees. In our second story today, we share some clips from two of these interviews with women who worked as sardine packers. Guest/s: STORY 1 Sarah Redmond, Springtide Seaweed Jerry Potter, lobsterman Sebastian Belle, Maine Aquaculture Association STORY 2 We'll hear a short clip from the interview with Arlene Hartford, followed by a slightly longer clip from the interview with Lela Anderson. Both women were interviewed by Keith Ludden in 2011 and the full collection is available here Other credits: STORY 1 From the Sea Up is made possible by the Fund for Maine Islands through a partnership between Island Institute, College of the Atlantic, Maine Sea Grant, and the First Coast. Click here to hear past episodes and for more information STORY 2 Thanks to the folks at “Oral History and Folklife Research, Inc” for permission to air these clips. You can access their full collections here. And thanks also to production assistant Camden Hunt, for helping edit the audio clips for this segment of today's show. If you want to hear more about sardines, check out the Coastal Conversations for our August 28, 2020 episode called “Stories of the Sardine Industry” which features these clips and many more About the host: Natalie Springuel has hosted Coastal Conversation's since 2015, with support from the University of Maine Sea Grant where she has served as a marine extension associate for 20 years. In 2019, Springuel received an award for Public Affairs programming from the Maine Association of Broadcasters for the Coastal Conversations show called “Portland's Working Waterfront.” Springuel is passionate about translating science, sharing stories, and offering a platform for multiple voices to weigh in on complex coastal and ocean issues. She has recently enrolled in audio production training at Maine Media Workshop to dive deeper into making great community radio. The post Coastal Conversations 1/27/23: Gouldsboro, Maine first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Pepin Mittelhauser (he/him) Theme music by Zeke Sacaridiz. “Schmelzer's Chaconne” is by J. H. Schmelzer, and performed by Phoebe Durand-McDonnell, baroque triple harp, and Alonzo Esteban Cárdenas Muñoz, theorbo. (link to the YouTube video here) All other music is royalty free.This project was made possible by the generous support of the Maine Community Foundation. NextWave Radio Hour is a new program featuring folks in their 20s and 30s, often referred to as Millennials, from all across Maine. In this program, host Pepin Mittelhauser will be discussing issues, news, and current events both locally and nationally, and featuring young creators who trailblaze their own paths in our modern political, economic, and social climate. We hope to provide unique perspectives of life from the next generation working to create the future they hope to lead. This month: -Working to make the world a better place for everyone -Being queer in Maine -Creating the life that suites you best “The Waggle” and “Metamorphosis” by Bee Parks and the Hornets used with permission. Guests: Bethany Humphrey Nina Duggan, Healthy Acadia, Maine Transnet, Downeast Rainbow Alliance, Curbside Queens Brittany Parker, Bee Parks and the Hornets About the host: Pepin Mittelhauser (he/him) is the Digital Media Associate to WERU Community Radio, and an avid gardener and farmer, musician and singer, and lover of nature and the outdoors. He graduated from College of the Atlantic in ’19 with focuses in sustainable agriculture, food systems, and live and recorded audio engineering and production. The post NextWave Radio Hour 1/26/23: Being Queer in Maine first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers/Hosts: Linda Small and Mackenzie Kelley Music credits: Emma Reynolds. Music – Samuel James. Justice Radio is a WMPG production Justice Radio: Tackling the hard questions about our criminal legal system in Maine. This week: What’s it like to come home from prison? Join cohosts Linda Small and Mackenzie Kelley as they discuss the stigma in housing, jobs, and the daily life of returning citizens and their children. Guest/s: Rebecca Kurtz, Peer Services and Recovery Manager of Maine's National Alliance on Mental Illness Wendy Allen of the Restorative Justice Institute of Maine About the hosts: The Justice Radio team includes: Leo Hylton is currently incarcerated at Maine State Prison, yet is a recent Master's graduate, a columnist with The Bollard, a restorative and transformative justice advocate and activist, a prison abolitionist, and a Visiting Instructor at Colby College's Anthropology Department, co-teaching AY346 – Carcerality and Abolition. Catherine Besteman is an abolitionist educator at Colby College. Her research and practice engage the public humanities to explore abolitionist possibilities in Maine. In addition to coordinating Freedom & Captivity, she has researched and published on security, militarism, displacement, and community-based activism with a focus on Somalia, post-apartheid South Africa, and the U.S. She has published nine books, contributed to the International Panel on Exiting Violence, and received recent fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations. MacKenzie Kelley is a formerly incarcerated woman in long term recovery. She is a teachers assistant for inside-out courses through MIT. MacKenzie works at the Maine Prisoner Reentry Center as a reentry specialist, peer support and recovery coach. She is the program director for Reentry Sisters, a program designed to assist women reentering the community from prison. Zoe Brokos (she/her) is the executive director of the Church of Safe Injection, a comprehensive harm reduction program that operates in Southern and Central Maine. Zoe is a person who uses drugs, a mom, a wife, and has led harm reduction programs in Maine for 15 years. She is part of the Maine Drug Policy Coalition, sits on the board of Decriminalize Maine and joined Justice Radio to promote compassionate conversations and drug user-led advocacy efforts that focus on evidence-based, public health responses to the housing and overdose crises in Maine. Marion Anderson: Before joining The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls in January of 2022, Marion worked as a harm reductionist, housing navigator, certified intentional peer support specialist, CCAR recovery coach, and a re-entry coach for a diverse range of non-profit organizations. Charlotte Warren is a former State Representative. She served on the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee for eight years – six as the house chair. Warren previously served on the Judiciary Committee and as the house chair of Maine's Mental Health Working Group and the house chair of the Commission to Examine Reestablishing Parole. Previous to her time in the legislature, Charlotte served as Mayor of the city of Hallowell. Linda Small is the founder and executive director of Reentry Sisters, a reentry support organization specializing in a gender-responsive and trauma-informed approach for women, serving Maine and beyond. She is a Project Coordinator for the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition. Linda serves on the Maine Prison Education Partnership board at UMA and the New England Commission for the Future of Higher Education in Prison through The Educational Justice Institute at MIT. The post Justice Radio 1/26/23: Creating Windows Not Bars first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This week: The Challenger Learning Center of Maine and Maine Maritime Academy are partnering together to celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science, February 11, 2023 with Maine Girls of STEM Kirsten Hibbard, Executive Director, Challenger Learning Center of Maine joins us with all the details FMI: www.astronaut.org/maine-girls-of-stem/ contact@astronaut.org, 207-990-2900 ext.1 About the host: Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU's News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021. The post Around Town 1/26/23: Maine Girls of STEM first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell Read any good online privacy policies lately? Just in case the answer is no, today we read a bit from a recently updated Privacy Policy from the publisher Conde Nast. It’s clearly written and not that different from the policies at many other web sites, and it is unlikely to make us feel good about the information web sites can collect about us. As an extra added attraction, a few recent tech headlines some of us may have missed. Full Conde Nast updated Privacy Policy About the host: Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon's words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station's sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage. The post Notes from the Electronic Cottage 1/26/23: Privacy Policies & More Headlines first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Larry Dansinger About the host: Larry Dansinger (no pronouns) of Bangor came to Maine in 1974 and has been here ever since. Some of Larry's activities since then: Done community organizing on numerous issues through INVERT and then Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC), committed civil disobedience several times, grown a garden yearly since 1977, joined various food cooperatives and two men's groups, refused to pay federal income taxes for war, lived on a community land trust for 23 years, and met a wonderful partner whom Larry has loved for over 40 years. Larry has produced Outside the Box features on WERU since 2007 and continues to look for unique ways of seeing almost any problem or situation. The post Outside the Box 1/24/23: “Too Many” first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Andree Bella | Writer/Reader The post Esoterica 1/24/23: Just Shut Up & Listen first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: R.W. Estela The post A Word in Edgewise 1/23/23: Of Murphy's Law, O'Toole's Corollary, & Humprey Bogart . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode continues the discussion of the role of shells in marine invertebrates, including protection from predation and the environment. Like vertebrate skeletons, invertebrate shells also provide attachment points for muscles and enable complex movement. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine. The post The Essential Rhythm 1/22/23: What are shells good for? first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark When you put a glass jar or bottle full of liquid in the freezer, what happens to it? It breaks. What happens when water inside a rock freezes? Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter. He is passionate about fishing, cooking, and making things with his hands. He has both an MBA in Sustainability and an MS focused in Environmental Education. Joe can be reached by emailing naturephenology@gmail.com Hazel Stark lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder and Naturalist Educator at Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide. She loves taking a closer look at nature through the lens of her camera, napping in beds of moss, and taking hikes to high points to see what being tall is all about. She has an MS in Resource Management and Conservation and is a lifelong Maine outdoorswoman. Hazel can be reached by emailing naturephenology@gmail.com The post The Nature of Phenology 1/21/23: Frost Wedging first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

This is your Cosmic Curator, Tom Yaroschuk, with a look at the stars for today Saturday January 21st. Well folks what a week we have coming up. Today is one of the biggest celebrations on the Planet – No, Not the Maine Organic Farmers Fair, Its Chinese New Year. Billions of people on the other side of the word will be eating lobsters caught in Stonington and up and down the coast of Maine… To welcome the auspicious year of the Rabbit! Eh, What's up Doc? The Rabbit is a year of peace, prosperity and renewed hope. Let's get behind that… About the Host: Tom Yaroschuk is a Vedic Astrologer. His intention is to help people understand their karma and the issues they may confront to cultivate more fulfilling lives. Tom is writing a memoir of the spiritual lessons derived from his work in a Homeless Day Center in between a career as an award winning television and documentary producer. The post The Cosmic Curator 1/21/23: Love and Creativity Abound first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Anu Dudley About the host: Rev. Dr. Anu Dudley is an ordained Pagan minister and a retired history professor. She continues to teach classes, including the three-year ordination curriculum at the Temple of the Feminine Divine, and others such as History of the Goddess, Paganism 101, Ethical Magic, and Introduction to the Runes. Currently she is writing a book about how to cast the runes using their original Goddess meanings. She lives in the woods off-grid in a small homesteading community in Central Maine. The post Earthwise 1/21/23: The Fool of the Tarot first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine The mostly volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Martha Dickinson, Starr Gilmartin, Maggie Harling, Lisa Leaverton, Ann Luther, Rick Lyles, Judith Lyles, Wendilee O'Brien, Maryann Ogonowski, Pam Person, Lane Sturtevant, Leah Taylor, Linda Washburn Democracy Forum: Participatory Democracy, encouraging citizens to take an active role in government and politics This month: A number of towns in Hancock County are doing, have done, or are thinking of doing comprehensive planning. So, what is comprehensive planning, why do Maine towns do it? Why should they do it and how often? What comprises a comprehensive plan? What difference does it make in a community, why should people care? Guest/s: Susan Lessard, Bucksport Town Manager Noel Musson, Principal/Planner with the Musson Group Evan Richert, Former director of the State Planning Office To learn more about this topic: Comprehensive Plans: Municipal Planning Assistance Program: Maine DACF Comprehensive Planning: A Manual for Maine Communities Land Use Planning | National Working Waterfront Network Comprehensive Plan | Town of Orland, December, 2022 Priority Strategy: Increasing Physical Activity Through Community Design | CDC, December, 2022. The Future of the Comprehensive Plan | Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy May, 2022 A New Era of Equity-Based Comprehensive Planning…Finally | GreenLaw, September, 2021 About the host: Ann currently serves as Treasurer of the League of Women Voters of Maine and leads the LWVME Advocacy Team. She served as President of LWVME from 2003 to 2007 and as co-president from 2007-2009. In her work for the League, Ann has worked for greater public understanding of public policy issues and for the League's priority issues in Clean Elections & Campaign Finance Reform, Voting Rights, Ethics in Government, Ranked Choice Voting, and Repeal of Term Limits. Representing LWVME at Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, she served that coalition as co-president from 2006 to 2011. She remains on the board of MCCE and serves as Treasurer. She is active in the LWV-Downeast and hosts their monthly radio show, The Democracy Forum, on WERU FM Community Radio -which started out in 2004 as an recurring special, and became a regular monthly program in 2012. She was the 2013 recipient of the Baldwin Award from the ACLU of Maine for her work on voting rights and elections. She joined the League in 1998 when she retired as Senior Vice President at SEI Investments. Ann was a founder of the MDI Restorative Justice Program, 1999 – 2000, and served on its Executive Board. The post Democracy Forum 1/20/23: Comprehensive Planning: Why Bother? first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers/Hosts: Marion Anderson and Craig Williams Music credits: Emma Reynolds. Music – Samuel James. Justice Radio is a WMPG production Justice Radio: Tackling the hard questions about our criminal legal system in Maine. This week: From courtrooms to convictions and everything in between join co-hosts Marion Anderson and Craig Williams as they share their perspectives having been directly impacted by our criminal legal system. They take a deeper look at their own experiences and ask the question – was this helpful or harmful? Guest/s: n/a About the hosts: The Justice Radio team includes: Leo Hylton is currently incarcerated at Maine State Prison, yet is a recent Master's graduate, a columnist with The Bollard, a restorative and transformative justice advocate and activist, a prison abolitionist, and a Visiting Instructor at Colby College's Anthropology Department, co-teaching AY346 – Carcerality and Abolition. Catherine Besteman is an abolitionist educator at Colby College. Her research and practice engage the public humanities to explore abolitionist possibilities in Maine. In addition to coordinating Freedom & Captivity, she has researched and published on security, militarism, displacement, and community-based activism with a focus on Somalia, post-apartheid South Africa, and the U.S. She has published nine books, contributed to the International Panel on Exiting Violence, and received recent fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations. MacKenzie Kelley is a formerly incarcerated woman in long term recovery. She is a teachers assistant for inside-out courses through MIT. MacKenzie works at the Maine Prisoner Reentry Center as a reentry specialist, peer support and recovery coach. She is the program director for Reentry Sisters, a program designed to assist women reentering the community from prison. Zoe Brokos (she/her) is the executive director of the Church of Safe Injection, a comprehensive harm reduction program that operates in Southern and Central Maine. Zoe is a person who uses drugs, a mom, a wife, and has led harm reduction programs in Maine for 15 years. She is part of the Maine Drug Policy Coalition, sits on the board of Decriminalize Maine and joined Justice Radio to promote compassionate conversations and drug user-led advocacy efforts that focus on evidence-based, public health responses to the housing and overdose crises in Maine. Marion Anderson: Before joining The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls in January of 2022, Marion worked as a harm reductionist, housing navigator, certified intentional peer support specialist, CCAR recovery coach, and a re-entry coach for a diverse range of non-profit organizations. Charlotte Warren is a former State Representative. She served on the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee for eight years – six as the house chair. Warren previously served on the Judiciary Committee and as the house chair of Maine's Mental Health Working Group and the house chair of the Commission to Examine Reestablishing Parole. Previous to her time in the legislature, Charlotte served as Mayor of the city of Hallowell. Linda Small is the founder and executive director of Reentry Sisters, a reentry support organization specializing in a gender-responsive and trauma-informed approach for women, serving Maine and beyond. She is a Project Coordinator for the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition. Linda serves on the Maine Prison Education Partnership board at UMA and the New England Commission for the Future of Higher Education in Prison through The Educational Justice Institute at MIT. The post Justice Radio 1/19/23: From Our Perspective: Voices of the Directly Impacted first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers/Hosts: Maria Girouard, Esther Anne Jeffrey Hotchkiss, Zoom recording technician Dawnland Signals highlights indigenous topics not immediately represented in mainstream media and is meant to share, inspire, and inform. Join co-hosts Maria Girouard and Esther Anne as they engage in critical conversations of truth, healing, and change in the Dawnland. This month: This month we welcome back Melody Paul, Mi’kmaq, to talk about her new book, Walking the Recovery Road: The Steps Taken, a follow up to her debut book Savaged to Wellness, a Memoir – the path of recovery – personal stories – regional recovery resources – books authored; readings Guest/s: Melody Paul, Mi’kmaq, author About the hosts: Esther Anne, is a Passamaquoddy from Sipayik who lives on Indian Island and serves on the Wabanaki REACH Board of Directors. Maria Girouard, Penobscot from Indian Island, is Executive Director of Wabanaki REACH, a statewide organization working toward truth, healing, and change in the Dawnland. Maria is a tribal historian with a Master’s Degree in History from the University of Maine and a special interest in the Maine Indian Land Claims. Maria has devoted years to community organizing, environmental stewardship and activism, and growing food in tribal communities. The post Dawnland Signals 1/19/23: Author Melody Paul first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This week: Last week we heard about the Blue Hill Coop’s plans to raise funds for a Hancock county food bank. This week we’re following up to hear how those funds will help the community, with Charlie Dayhoff, Executive Director of Loaves and Fishes in Ellsworth. FMI: Blue Hill Coop Change for Good program Loaves and Fishes Ellsworth, 137 Downeast Highway (Route 1-N, next to Darling’s Chevrolet), Ellsworth, 207-667-4363 About the host: Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU's News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021. The post Around Town 1/19/23: Loaves and Fishes Ellsworth first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell Now that holiday time is over, let’s take a look at some recent digital related headlines and stories that may affect our everyday lives in Maine and beyond. About the host: Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon's words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station's sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage. The post Notes from the Electronic Cottage 1/19/23: January '23 Headlines first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host: Alli Williamson (she, hers) Youth Educator and Advocate at NextStep Domestic Violence Project Helpline: 1(800) 315-5579 Music credit: Brandon Nelson (he, him) local musician donated theme music for the show. Relationship Rewind: Rewinding relationships in popular media and breaking down behaviors based in power, control, and abuse. This episode: The TV show “You,” which centers around a bookstore manager and his obsession with a writer who visits his store. Guest/s: Carrie Clark (she, her) Youth educator and advocate for NextStep Domestic Violence Project About the host: Alli Williamson (she, her) is the youth educator and advocate for NextStep Domestic Violence Project based in Hancock and Washington County, ME. She teaches young people from Kindergarten to College about what power and control looks like in friendships and relationships, what resources are available to support those experiencing this, and how we can work to make our schools and communities safer and more equal spaces where abuse may be less likely to happen. The post Relationship Rewind 1/17/23: The TV Show “You” first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Larry Dansinger About the host: Larry Dansinger (no pronouns) of Bangor came to Maine in 1974 and has been here ever since. Some of Larry's activities since then: Done community organizing on numerous issues through INVERT and then Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC), committed civil disobedience several times, grown a garden yearly since 1977, joined various food cooperatives and two men's groups, refused to pay federal income taxes for war, lived on a community land trust for 23 years, and met a wonderful partner whom Larry has loved for over 40 years. Larry has produced Outside the Box features on WERU since 2007 and continues to look for unique ways of seeing almost any problem or situation. The post Outside the Box 1/17/23: “Depolarization” first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

CJ Kenna | Producer + Writer/Reader The post Esoterica 1/17/23: AI, I Guess first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: R.W. Estela The post A Word in Edgewise 1/16/23: Virgo the Maiden Meets Ethel Merman . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode describes some of the similarities between vertebrate bones and mollusc shells. The use of calcium to make the different mineral components, as well as the different layers of mollusc shells is discussed. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine. The post The Essential Rhythm 1/15/23: Bones on the outside first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark How do those perfect feathery fronds of frost form and why? Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter. He is passionate about fishing, cooking, and making things with his hands. He has both an MBA in Sustainability and an MS focused in Environmental Education. Joe can be reached by emailing naturephenology@gmail.com Hazel Stark lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder and Naturalist Educator at Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide. She loves taking a closer look at nature through the lens of her camera, napping in beds of moss, and taking hikes to high points to see what being tall is all about. She has an MS in Resource Management and Conservation and is a lifelong Maine outdoorswoman. Hazel can be reached by emailing naturephenology@gmail.com The post The Nature of Phenology 1/14/23: Hoar frost first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

This is your Cosmic Curator, Tom Yaroschuk with a look at the stars for today January 14…… There's a lot going on in the zodiac so let's dive right in. The Sun, the center of the Zodiac, is a little wonky right now. That's because the planet of your higher self, the part of you that knows better, the indicator of your career, bosses, and leaders is in the closing seconds of Sagitarius, a mutable fire sign… About the Host: Tom Yaroschuk is a Vedic Astrologer. His intention is to help people understand their karma and the issues they may confront to cultivate more fulfilling lives. Tom is writing a memoir of the spiritual lessons derived from his work in a Homeless Day Center in between a career as an award winning television and documentary producer. The post The Cosmic Curator 1/14/23 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Anu Dudley About the host: Rev. Dr. Anu Dudley is an ordained Pagan minister and a retired history professor. She continues to teach classes, including the three-year ordination curriculum at the Temple of the Feminine Divine, and others such as History of the Goddess, Paganism 101, Ethical Magic, and Introduction to the Runes. Currently she is writing a book about how to cast the runes using their original Goddess meanings. She lives in the woods off-grid in a small homesteading community in Central Maine. The post Earthwise 1/14/23: The Bean first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers/Hosts: Leo Hylton and Catherine Besteman Music credits: Dino Raymond. Music – Samuel James Justice Radio is a WMPG production Justice Radio: Tackling the hard questions about our criminal legal system in Maine. This week: Are prisons the answer? What makes us safe? How should we address harm? Join co-hosts, Leo Hylton and Catherine Besteman as they address the hard questions about justice, accountability, harm, safety, and repair. #communitybuilding leads to #communitysafety Guest/s: Jonathan Sahrbeck, former Cumberland County District Attorney Jeremy Pratt, Defense Attorney About the hosts: The Justice Radio team includes: Leo Hylton is currently incarcerated at Maine State Prison, yet is a recent Master's graduate, a columnist with The Bollard, a restorative and transformative justice advocate and activist, a prison abolitionist, and a Visiting Instructor at Colby College's Anthropology Department, co-teaching AY346 – Carcerality and Abolition. Catherine Besteman is an abolitionist educator at Colby College. Her research and practice engage the public humanities to explore abolitionist possibilities in Maine. In addition to coordinating Freedom & Captivity, she has researched and published on security, militarism, displacement, and community-based activism with a focus on Somalia, post-apartheid South Africa, and the U.S. She has published nine books, contributed to the International Panel on Exiting Violence, and received recent fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations. MacKenzie Kelley is a formerly incarcerated woman in long term recovery. She is a teachers assistant for inside-out courses through MIT. MacKenzie works at the Maine Prisoner Reentry Center as a reentry specialist, peer support and recovery coach. She is the program director for Reentry Sisters, a program designed to assist women reentering the community from prison. Zoe Brokos (she/her) is the executive director of the Church of Safe Injection, a comprehensive harm reduction program that operates in Southern and Central Maine. Zoe is a person who uses drugs, a mom, a wife, and has led harm reduction programs in Maine for 15 years. She is part of the Maine Drug Policy Coalition, sits on the board of Decriminalize Maine and joined Justice Radio to promote compassionate conversations and drug user-led advocacy efforts that focus on evidence-based, public health responses to the housing and overdose crises in Maine. Marion Anderson: Before joining The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls in January of 2022, Marion worked as a harm reductionist, housing navigator, certified intentional peer support specialist, CCAR recovery coach, and a re-entry coach for a diverse range of non-profit organizations. Charlotte Warren is a former State Representative. She served on the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee for eight years – six as the house chair. Warren previously served on the Judiciary Committee and as the house chair of Maine's Mental Health Working Group and the house chair of the Commission to Examine Reestablishing Parole. Previous to her time in the legislature, Charlotte served as Mayor of the city of Hallowell. Linda Small is the founder and executive director of Reentry Sisters, a reentry support organization specializing in a gender-responsive and trauma-informed approach for women, serving Maine and beyond. She is a Project Coordinator for the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition. Linda serves on the Maine Prison Education Partnership board at UMA and the New England Commission for the Future of Higher Education in Prison through The Educational Justice Institute at MIT. The post Justice Radio 1/12/23: Are Prisons the Answer? first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers/Hosts: Caitlyn Barker Editor: Clare Boland Common Ground Radio is an hour-long discussion of local food and organic agriculture with people here in the state of Maine and beyond. This month: The January 2023 episode of Common Ground Radio is all about maple syrup production. Host Caitlyn Barker interviewed Jason Lilley, Assistant Extension Professor, Maine Sustainable Agriculture and Maple Industry Educator. The two discussed the basics of getting a maple operation up and running, including tree identification, supplies needed, boiling and canning. Challenges facing the maple industry, including climate change and pests were also discussed. Guest/s: Jason Lilley, Assistant Extension Professor, Maine Sustainable Agriculture and Maple Industry Educator FMI Links: Forest Trees of Maine Cooperative Extension Maple Syrup Production Proctor Maple Research Center Backyard Maple Production webinar: www.youtube.com/watch?v=89-tnQ7AlA8 Maine Maple Sunday About the hosts: Holli Cederholm has been involved in organic agriculture since 2005 when she first apprenticed on a small farm. She has worked on organic farms in Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Scotland and Italy and, in 2010, founded a small farm focused on celebrating open-pollinated and heirloom vegetables. As the former manager of a national nonprofit dedicated to organic seed growers, she authored a peer-reviewed handbook on GMO avoidance strategies for seed growers. Holli has also been a steward at Forest Farm, the iconic homestead of “The Good Life” authors Helen and Scott Nearing; a host of “The Farm Report” on Heritage Radio Network; and a long-time contributor for The Maine Organic Farmer & Gardener, which she now edits in her role as content creator and editor at MOFGA. Caitlyn Barker has worked in education and organic agriculture on and off for the last 17 years. She has worked on an organic vegetable farm, served on the Maine Farm to School network, worked in early childhood education and taught elementary school. She currently serves as the community engagement coordinator for MOFGA. The post Common Ground Radio 1/12/23: Maple Syrup Production first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This week: This week we’re in Hancock County where the Blue Hill Coop and their customers are working together to address food insecurity. Jennifer Coolidge, Ownership & Outreach Coordinator at the co-op, is here with all the details about their Change For Good and Soup-er Bowl programs. About the host: Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU's News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021. The post Around Town 1/12/23: Blue Hill Co-op & Patrons Help Address Food Insecurity in Hancock County first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell ChatGPT has caused quite of lot of online buzz of late, and there are good reasons. In case you aren’t familiar with what ChatGPT can do, or are wondering about some of the implications, both good and bad, of its use, here is a start. And, just because, we note a few other recent items that most of us wish weren’t happening. About the host: Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon's words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station's sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage. The post Notes from the Electronic Cottage 1/12/23: ChatGBT first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: We look at the recent “forever wild” protection of 3200 acres of land near the Whalesback, along Route 9 in Aurora, featuring Aaron Dority, Executive Director, Frenchman Bay Conservancy, Malcolm Hunter, donor, for-ever wild conservation easement, Aurora, and Sophie Ehrhardt, coordinator of the Wildlands Partnership Program. This protection also helps with climate change by allowing the forest to store carbon as the forest continues to grow and change naturally. -What is the (brief) history of land conservation in Maine? -What do we (society) gain from protecting or conserving land? What are “environmental services” how are they promoted in “forever wild protection”? What benefits do wildlife derive from large land tract protection/corridors? What other tangible and intangible benefits do humans derive from conserved land? -What led to the protection of the Whalesback in Aurora? How did this partnership develop? What were some of the steps in the process? Who are the other significant partners and what were their roles? -What do we know about the 3223 acres of land that are protected by these new conservation easements? Where is it located? Why is it significant? How does this fit into overall resource conservation for the region? -Not envisioned as a benefit in early land conservation, mitigation of climate change is now a part of this and other land conservation strategies… what are those benefits and how Northeast Wilderness Trust's carbon offset program work? Guest/s: Aaron Dority, Executive Director, Frenchman Bay Conservancy Malcolm Hunter, donor, for-ever wild conservation easement, Aurora Sophie Ehrhardt, coordinator of the Wildlands Partnership Program of Northeast Wilderness Trust About the hosts: Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals. Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor. The post Talk of the Towns 1/11/23: “Forever Wild” Conservation Easement Downeast first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers/Hosts: Alan Sprague, Jon Johansen Engineers: Pepin Mittelhauser, Amy Browne BoatTalk is the call-in show for people contemplating things naval This month: A follow-up show from the Dec 13, 2022 show with several knowledgeable people talking about whale entanglements. Also the boatyard report and a discussion of the golden globe race and more. Guest/s: Peter Stein Scientifics Solutions, Portland, Me. Jeremy Willey Lobsterman, Owls Head Rep. William “Billy Bob” Faulkingham, House Republican Leader, Maine State Legislature About the hosts: Alan Sprague is a retired boat carpenter and a volunteer at WERU for over thirty years. He and the late Mike Joyce started Boattalk in 2003 and Alan carries on. Jon Johansen is the editor and roving reporter for the Maine Coastal News. He is Chairman of the Board of the Penobscot Marine Museum, President of Maine Built Boats, President of Maine Lobster Boat Racing, and Director of the International Maritime Library in his spare time. The post BoatTalk 1/10/23: Whale Entanglements, Part 2 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Larry Dansinger About the host: Larry Dansinger (no pronouns) of Bangor came to Maine in 1974 and has been here ever since. Some of Larry's activities since then: Done community organizing on numerous issues through INVERT and then Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC), committed civil disobedience several times, grown a garden yearly since 1977, joined various food cooperatives and two men's groups, refused to pay federal income taxes for war, lived on a community land trust for 23 years, and met a wonderful partner whom Larry has loved for over 40 years. Larry has produced Outside the Box features on WERU since 2007 and continues to look for unique ways of seeing almost any problem or situation. The post Outside the Box 1/10/23: “Supermarket Adventures” first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Andree Bella | Writer/Reader The post Esoterica 1/10/23: Stretching first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: R.W. Estela The post A Word in Edgewise 1/9/23: Of Leo the Lion & Tricky Dicky . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark Freezing can cause even something as simple and uninspired as a puddle in the middle of a gray forest to be transformed into an ethereal and ephemeral work of art. But how? Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter. He is passionate about fishing, cooking, and making things with his hands. He has both an MBA in Sustainability and an MS focused in Environmental Education. Joe can be reached by emailing naturephenology@gmail.com Hazel Stark lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder and Naturalist Educator at Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide. She loves taking a closer look at nature through the lens of her camera, napping in beds of moss, and taking hikes to high points to see what being tall is all about. She has an MS in Resource Management and Conservation and is a lifelong Maine outdoorswoman. Hazel can be reached by emailing naturephenology@gmail.com The post The Nature of Phenology 1/7/23: Frozen puddles first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Anu Dudley About the host: Rev. Dr. Anu Dudley is an ordained Pagan minister and a retired history professor. She continues to teach classes, including the three-year ordination curriculum at the Temple of the Feminine Divine, and others such as History of the Goddess, Paganism 101, Ethical Magic, and Introduction to the Runes. Currently she is writing a book about how to cast the runes using their original Goddess meanings. She lives in the woods off-grid in a small homesteading community in Central Maine. The post Earthwise 1/7/23: Twelfth Night first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.