Podcasts about This Way Out

Host/Producer: Amy Browne The 3rd No Kings Day is coming up on March 28th FMI re No Kings Day FMI re No Kings Day events in Maine The Digital Security Discussion Group at the Witherle Memorial Library in Castine meets tonight from 5 to 6 pm. This week’s topic is This month’s topic is the Pros and Cons of Digital Surveillance and ID Verification. Moderated by Tom Lamontanaro. In person in the Downstairs Community Room at the Witherle, and over Zoom. To request the zoom link, email kathryn@witherlelibrary.net 36th Maine Women's Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony coming up this Saturday, March 21st, at the University of Maine at Augusta, starting with a reception at 1 p.m., followed by the induction ceremony at 2 p.m. The 2026 inductees are Alane O'Connor, Director of Perinatal Addiction Medicine at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center “who has been in the forefront of addiction medicine in the state”, and the late Frances Perkins, U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Franklin Roosevelt “and architect of New Deal programs that Americans rely on today”. Live and online. RSVP if you plan to attend, by emailing mainewomenshalloffame@gmail.com. FMI: Maine Women’s Hall of Fame website Snow date is March 22 The League of Women Voters – Downeast is hosting an in-person and online discussion on county government in Maine, on Saturday in Ellsworth. Panelists will be Kate Cough, Editor at the Maine Monitor; John Wombacher, Hancock County Commissioner; and Nina Milliken, Hancock County Budget Committee and House Representative for District 16. The event is free and open to the public, Saturday from noon to 2pm at the Moore Community Center in Ellsworth Register here for the zoom link Questions may be submitted in advance by email to downeast@lwvme.o 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/18/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

In a genre-bending story about a quest to conquer evil and save the world, the young-adult characters of Kestrel Gaian's “The Boy From Elsewhere” take a trek through the multiverse where nothing is quite what it seems. The poet, playwright, essayist, composer and author discusses the importance of queer visibility in young adult fiction in a conversation with This Way Out's David Hunt. And in NewsWrap: Senegal's National Assembly almost unanimously passes a bill to double the punishments for same-sex sexual activity, a Kenyan court convicts two assailants in a gay assault and extortion case, a U.S. federal appeals court issues a precedent-setting ruling against Medicaid-funded gender-affirming surgery, a Kansas judge refuses to block the invalidation of transgender people's government identification and the ban their use of public bathrooms, the New Hampshire House passes extreme trans bathroom ban, Trump demands Congress add anti-trans laws to the SAVE America voter suppression bill, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Ret and Michael Taylor Gray (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the March 16, 2026 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at thiswayout.org/donate/.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne An update on Belfast resident Lawrence Reichard’s upcoming trip to Colombia where he plans to meet with the family of one of the fishermen identified by the US government as a drug trafficker and killed while out on his boat. Earlier report with links to Lawrence Reichard’s writing 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/17/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Berit Becker from the Ellsworth Public Library is here with information about the Indie Lens Pop-up documentary film series that kicks off on Saturday, March 21st at 2pm with The Inquisitor: The Life and Legacy of Barbara Jordan. There are 2 more films in the series, to be shown in April and May – Berit will be back later to say more about those. For more information and to register to attend 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/16/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Maria Girouard, co-founder of the Sunlight Media Collective, stops by to invite you to a showing of two of their short documentaries [Environmental Justice: An Age-Old Saga: Penobscot Nation Takes a Stand Against Juniper Ridge Landfill (2025), and It’s Not Just Us: Penobscot Nation Puts Environmental Justice to the Test (2026)] on the battle to protect the Penobscot watershed from the Juniper Ridge landfill, just upriver from Indian Island. The event will take place tomorrow (Saturday 3/14) at 2pm at the Sockalexis Arena on Indian Island. No tickets required. 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/13/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Big changes to LD2176 as the state legislature’s Judiciary Committee holds a second public hearing 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/12/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Loaves & Fishes internet cafe is now open to the public The Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor is currently accepting donations for the 56th Annual Booksale. Call or text Ruth at 207-610-2355 for more info Maine Bicentennial news in the local papers 50 years ago today 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/11/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Anti-LGBTQI hate crimes are on the rise in Australia. In New South Wales nearly 200 violent incidents have been reported since 2023, many involving men lured by gay dating apps (Michael Brown reports from Sydney). Plus: we announce the passing of This Way Out Co-founder and Coordinating Producer Greg Gordon. And in NewWrap: Russian repression strikes again with the designation of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Coming Out as an “extremist organization,” “deviant culture” is how a new Deputy Minister in Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's government wants to refer to LGBT people, Maryland parents who sued their local school district over LGBTQ-themed storybooks are now one and a half million dollars richer, the international music, art and cultural festival KOLFEST is being targeted by Kyrgyzstan officials based on its alleged promotion of LGBTQ life, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Marcos Najera and Ava Davis (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the March 9, 2026 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at thiswayout.org/donate/.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Ashley Megquier, Outreach Coordinator for Friends of Sears Island, is here with a run down of the activities they have planned this month – for all ages 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/10/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Maine AFL-CIO rally at the Statehouse for affordable childcare Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 of 2. Part 1 aired Friday, 3/6/26) 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/9/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Maine AFL-CIO rally at the Statehouse for affordable childcare Part 1 of 2 (Part 2 will air Monday morning, 3/9/26 at 8am) 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/6/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Maine CD1 Congresswoman Chellie Pingree speaking to the House Agriculture Committee Tuesday as they debated “The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026” 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/5/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Healthy Peninsula fundraiser for their health programs, featuring the Frogtown Mountain Puppeteers “The Legend of the Banana Kid” at the Blue Hill Town Hall Theater for two shows on March 7, 2026 (10:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.) The Singing Journalist (Andrew Revkin) event we covered last week is happening tomorrow (Thursday) evening, 6:30-7:30pm, at the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor. The public is invited to attend the Second Annual Community Ramadan Iftar and Dinner on Friday evening in Bangor. Guests will gather to break the fast at sunset (5:30 PM) and share in an evening of reflection, fellowship, and connection. Ramadan is a sacred month observed by Muslims worldwide, centered on fasting, prayer, gratitude, and compassion. The Second Annual Community Ramadan Iftar and Dinner is happening on Friday, March 6, from 5:00–9:00 PM at the Cross Insurance Center. Admission is free, but registration is required. 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/4/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Award-winning Egyptologist Dr. Colleen Darnell of Lost Treasures of Egypt explores diverse expressions of love, gender, and identity woven into the civilizations of the ancient Nile in conversation with Brian DeShazor. And in NewWrap: Wendy Faith and Alesi Diana Denise face life in prison in Uganda for kissing “in broad daylight,” increasing the penalty for what it calls “unnatural acts” in Senegal is the goal of a bill introduced by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, the gay dating apps Grindr and Blued are now blocked in Malaysia, the drug trials that provided transgender minors in the United Kingdom with the only way to get puberty blockers have been paused, two Kansas trans men are filing suit to stop the state from revoking all government documents that reflect corrected gender identities, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Melanie Keller and Tanya Kane-Parry (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the March 2, 2026 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at thiswayout.org/donate/.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Indivisible Bangor Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the Twentieth Century, March 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th at 7 p.m. at the Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Community Center, 105 Eden Street, Bar Harbor Tickets are free but you must register in advance at this link The University of New England Online (UNE Online) College of Professional Studies is offering new, 100% online certificate programs for those interested in careers in the cannabis industry. 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/3/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Jud Esty-Kendall from the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine is here with an invitation to join the P&J center and a coalition of social justice groups for “Singing In Solidarity”, Saturday, 3/7/26, 3pm-5(ish) at Saint John’s Episcopal Church on French Street in Bangor 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 3/2/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne LD 1822, An Act to Enact the Maine Online Data Privacy Act Find Your State Senator (includes contact info) OUT Maine is hosting the 3rd annual Rainbow Gala & Dance Party tonight in Rockland On Saturday, the Stonington Opera House invites you to travel back to a galaxy far, far, away with their free screening of The Empire Strikes Back. Belfast’s Annual Ice Festival is also happening this weekend On Sunday, Great Pond Conservation Trust will hold their monthly meet up at the Joost Family Preserve on Verona Island, for snowshoeing along the shores of the Penobscot. 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/27/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Following up on yesterday’s report, today organizers of The Consequence of Palestine- (Maine Coalition for Palestine, www.mvprights.org/ -weigh in on the controversy in a press release. Resources included with the press release: “[E]stablished case law pertaining to nearly identical conferences and academic events” provided by organizers “Trump Administration Concedes U.S. Researchers may Talk with Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Despite Sanctions” – “The First Amendment generally forecloses the government from using its sanctions authority to suppress the exchange of ideas—and it certainly prohibits the government from preventing scholars from engaging with one of the foremost experts in their field,” says Xiangnong (George) Wang, staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute. “The Treasury Department's concession is a significant reprieve to the many American scholars, journalists, and advocates that have been chilled from exercising their rights because they fear liability under U.S. sanctions laws.” “OFAC SIGNALS POLICY CHANGE ON HOLDING CONFERENCES WITH SANCTIONED SPEAKERS” – “Marking what appears to be a reversal of previous policy, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) determined that US persons can, subject to certain limitations, include sanctioned persons as speakers at overseas conferences without specific authorization.” “The authority granted to the president of the United States under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the regulation or prohibition of most types of communication that do not involve the transfer of anything of value (50 USC § 1702(b)(1)). The Berman Amendment, added to IEEPA in 1988, stipulates that the president cannot regulate or ban the import or export of “informational materials” to or from adversarial nations or individuals.” “By reversing its stance in the GPE case, and by issuing the letter as part of the public record in the court proceedings, OFAC appears content to publicly clarify and refine its position on this issue: allowing sanctioned individuals to speak at events organized by US citizens is not a service so long as no financial transactions or other exchanges of benefits take place” Letter to Middle East Studies Association from OFAC Media Advisory – The Consequence of Palestine, February 16 Support for Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories: 30 Jewish Organizations: We Support UN Human Rights Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, Independent Jewish Voices, Canada, November 5, 2024 “Jewish Voice for Peace strongly condemns the Trump administration's announcement of sanctions against UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Francesca Albanese. This is a blatantly political attack that seeks to silence Palestinian rights advocates and undermine international law”, social media post “Impunity will end: Francesca Albanese keeps hopeful”, Jewish Voice for Liberation, Wed 28 Jan 2026 Links from Part 1 (aired 2/25/26): “The Consequence of Palestine” Conference Coming to USM, Munjoy Hill News, Portland, 18 February 2026 (NOTE: CANCELLED) Press Statement, US Imposing Sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967, Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, 9 July 2025 Report: “Gaza Genocide: a collective crime” by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, United Nations Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Global: European states must retract outrageous attacks on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, Amnesty International, 13 Feb 2026 They tried to silence her – they failed, Jewish Voice for Liberation, 23 Feb 2025 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/26/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne “The Consequence of Palestine” Conference Coming to USM, Munjoy Hill News, Portland, 18 February 2026 (NOTE: CANCELLED) Press Statement, US Imposing Sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967, Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, 9 July 2025 Report: “Gaza Genocide: a collective crime” by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, United Nations Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Global: European states must retract outrageous attacks on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, Amnesty International, 13 Feb 2026 They tried to silence her – they failed, Jewish Voice for Liberation, 23 Feb 2025 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/25/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Against a backdrop of violent anti-semitic and anti-indigenous attacks and the relaxation of police restraints in response to them, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras organizers are faced with twin controversies: the withdrawal of the Jewish group Dayenu from the event and demands for the expulsion of the New South Wales Police contingent. Veteran activist Ken Davis explains the situation (Barry McKay reports). New Yorkers defy the Trump administration and replace the rainbow flag the government “disappeared” from the Stonewall National Monument (Paul DeRienzo of WBAI reports). A Black History Month Rainbow Rewind honors Langston Hughes (produced by Sheri Lunn and Brian DeShazor). And in NewWrap: the European Parliament approves a resolution specifically calling for “the full recognition of trans women as women,” HIV-positive enlistees are once again banned from serving in the U.S. military, intersex children are now protected from undergoing unnecessary medical procedures without their informed consent in the Australian state of Victoria, Kansans can now sue if they're upset after sharing a bathroom with a trans person, U.S. Olympic women's ice hockey team captain Hilary Knight leads her team to gold and plans to lead speed skater Brittany Bowe to the altar, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Nico Raquel and Ret (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the February 23, 2026 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at thiswayout.org/donate/.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne The Singing Journalist, Andy Revkin, joins us today with an invitation to his upcoming talk at the Jesup Memorial Library, Thursday 3/5 at 6:30pm “In this evening of storytelling and songs, longtime journalist, author, educator and performing songwriter Andy Revkin will explore the evolution of his dual-path journey aimed at connecting the public with ideas, issues and solutions using any means possible. For decades, Andy Revkin has split his time between prize-winning environmental journalism, mostly for The New York Times, and songwriting, including music featured on NPR and an inaugural album described by the Jambands music magazine as a “tasty mix of roots goulash.” His reporting has taken him from the burning Amazon rain forest to the melting North Pole sea ice. As a musician, Andy was a frequent accompanist of folk legend Pete Seeger at Hudson Valley events and has quickly built a presence in the Downeast Maine folk scene since moving here in 2022.” (Source: Event announcement from the Jesup) 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/24/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Maine CD 1 Congresswoman Chellie Pingree will boycott Trump’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday and instead participate in a “People’s State of the Union” rally. She joins a growing group which- as of Friday afternoon- included 20 Democrats representing 17 states. The boycott and an alternative “People’s State of the Union” rally are being organized by a coalition including MoveOn. The “People's State of the Union” Rally will be held on the National Mall in DC and livestreamed at MeidasTouch YouTube and MoveOn.org/Live, Tuesday (tomorrow) night starting at 8:30pm The lottery for a spot at Maine’s Camp North Woods (closes March 1st) Union River Center for Innovation highlights small, Ellsworth-area businesses on National Be Heard Day, March 4th. If you would like your business to be featured, the submission form must be completed by February 28th. 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/23/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne LD 395, An Act to Restore Access to Federal Laws Beneficial to the Wabanaki Nation LD 785, An Act to Enact the Remaining Recommendations of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) update Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center’s 2026 Youth Mental Health Summit 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/20/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Brook Minner and Emily Burnham from the Maine Women’s Lobby stop by to invite listeners to the 2026 Hot Ticket Hootenanny: A Very Feminist Variety Show, Thursday, February 26, 2026. 7-9 PM, Next Generation Theatre, Brewer Tickets are available on their website and at the door 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/19/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne In Augusta today, the legislature’s Committee On Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services will be taking comments from the public on a slew of bills related to healthcare in Maine, including: LD 2189, which, if passed, would “require a hospital to provide at least 120 days’ notice prior to the termination of maternity or newborn care services or of a change in the level of care a hospital provides for maternity and newborn care services”, and LD 2197 which would prohibit the licensure of any health care entity that “enter(s) into any arrangement with a real estate investment trust for the sale and leaseback of the health care entity's main campus or primary location to the real estate investment trust” 5 Consequences of Private Equity's Expansion in Health Care Services, Brian Keyser, Alexandra Thornton, Claire Koyle, Oct 30, 2025, Center for American Progress And a story from the Maine headlines, 100 years ago today… 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/18/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Was Donald Trump's personal antipathy towards Don Lemon the real reason behind the gay African American journalist's arrest? Lemon made a surprise appearance at the Human Rights Campaign's New York City gala, then spoke out for the First Amendment after his initial court appearance. The pioneering work on sexual liberation of Anais Nin and notable February dates in LGBTQ+ history in the Rainbow Rewind (produced by Sheri Lunn and Brian DeShazor). And in NewWrap: cohabitating same-gender couples in the Philippines can now be recognized as joint owners of property that they acquire during their relationship, trans people in the U.K. can use bathrooms and changing rooms that match their gender identity – except in the workplace, public school officials in the U.K. are being directed to notify parents if their child's behavior suggests that they are questioning their gender identity, New Hampshire's Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte for the second time vetoes a bill to require trans students to use sex-segregated school bathrooms and changing facilities that match their gender assigned at birth, embattled U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's fiery five-hour joust with minority Democrats culminated in an explosive confrontation with Vermont's lesbian Congress member Becca Balint, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Sarah Montague and Joe Boehnlein (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the February 16, 2026 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at thiswayout.org/donate/.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne John Jurcheck of the Counter Current Collective is here with a suggestion for your weekend plans (yes, we’re already thinking about the weekend). THey’ll be presenting Tögal – A world premiere original work- on Friday and Saturday (2/20 and 2/21) at 7pm at the UU Church in Belfast. Click here for more info and tickets 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/17/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Presidents’ Day 2026 reading from the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/16/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne World Radio Day 2026 The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) has announced two funding opportunities now open to Maine farmers to support investments in soil health and specialty crop production: Soil Health Implementation Grants and Maine Specialty Crop Minor Equipment Grants Valentine’s Day author talk at the Ellsworth Public Library, “Recipes for a Healthy Heart” with Jane Crosen. “Local author Jane Crosen will share poems, excerpts, and recipes from her new cookbook, Culinary Landscapes: A World of Delicious Discoveries in a Maine Mapmaker's Kitchen” Saturday, February 14th at 2 PM at the Ellsworth Public Library 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/13/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Voter information update cards from the Secretary of State’s office Rockland’s Emergency Warming Center at the Flanagan Community Center, 61 Limerock Street, will be open tonight and Friday and Saturday nights, from 7pm to 7am FMI or to request transportation, call or text Jessica (207) 230-4258 The next national No Kings protest is on March 28th For more information, updates or to sign up to be involved: Indivisible Bangor and No Kings Maine DOT is holding a public hearing tonight in Orland about plans to address the dangerous intersection at Rt 1 and Schoolhouse Road near the H.O.M.E. Coop, at 6pm at the Community Center gymnasium FMI: Town of Orland (207) 469-3186 or email Selectboard at selectmen@townoforland.org 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/12/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne ACLU of Maine‘s Guide to Legislative Advocacy, online, 6-7pm tomorrow/Thursday. Register here At 7pm tomorrow/Thursday evening: Indivisible joins partner organizations in hosting (online) “Resist and Reimagine: Lessons from MN on Fighting Authoritarianism” Register here Saturday February 21st, Bangor Pride will host its Inaugural Queer Prom: Enchanted Forest, a 21+ celebration of queer joy, creativity, and community connection. Tickets 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/11/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

A 1963 conversation with one of the queer pillars of the Harlem Renaissance features Langston Hughes reading his short story, “Thank You, Ma'am” (interviewed by Eve Corey, produced by Brian DeShazor). Alice Walker's birthday and notable LGBTQ February events are celebrated in the “Rainbow Rewind.” And in NewsWrap: the first case against a gay man for violating Uganda's so-called “Kill the Gays” law is dismissed after the damage has already been done, transgender female athletes receiving hormone therapy have no physical advantage over their cisgender counterparts according to new research, fewer transgender people were murdered around the world between October 2024 and September 2025 with the numbers still alarming, a Christian teacher is fighting a losing battle against the Montgomery County Maryland Public School District's policy on using the chosen names and pronouns of her trans and nonbinary students, a record number of proud LGBTQ athletes are competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics, thousands hit the streets of Melbourne on February 1st for the 31st annual Midsumma Pride March, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Michael Taylor Gray and Tanya Kane-Parry (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the February 9, 2026 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at thiswayout.org/donate/.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Maine CDC Confirms Case of Measles in Maine LD 2071, An Act to Expand Access to Vaccines Approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration by Allowing Pharmacists to Prescribe, Dispense and Administer Vaccines and Require Insurance Coverage LD 2146 An Act to Increase Access to Critical Vaccinations Maine State Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee On Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/10/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Lynn Boulger, Vice President of Advancement at College of the Atlantic, with details on their annual 24 hour fund-raising challenge which starts tonight at midnight 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/9/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Cathy Rees, Executive Director and Co-founder of Native Gardens of Blue Hill stops by to talk about Native Gardens of Blue Hill’s 2026 Workforce Training in Landscape & Garden Management – which is now accepting applicants. 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/6/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Public hearings and work sessions today in the state legislature’s joint standing committees February 7th is “Take Your Child to the Library” Day Ellsworth Public Library is participating with activities for kids in grades 2-4 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/5/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne This weekend the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport is offering workshops on Sailor’s Valentines and Sardine Snacks. Space is limited and registration is required. FMI: Penobscot Marine Museum Free tax support is once again available at the Ellsworth Public Library (EPL) from February 3 through April 14, 2026. AARP Tax-Aide will be offered in the library's Riverview Room every Tuesday from 9 AM–5 PM. Registration is required and now open. An EPL library card is not required to use this service. Click here for more information and registration or call 207-667-6363 The Wilson Museum in Castine is offering an Arts & Adventure camp for kids in grades K to 4 during February vacation week. Georgia Zildjian and Haley Blake will lead the campers as they celebrate the wonders of nature through outdoor exploration and artistic expression from 9 til noon from Tuesday, February 17 to Friday, February 20. Kids are not required to attend all 4 days. There is a fee to cover materials and resources, and needs-based scholarships are available upon request. Space is limited. For more information and to reserve a spot, email Georgia at education@wilsonmuseum.org with the names and ages of your explorers. 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/4/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

An indigiqueer Creating Change keynoter calls for radical inclusion; the E.U.'s rights council urges all member states to ban conversion therapy, Russia declares ILGA “undesirable”, Budapest's mayor is officially charged with criminally allowing last year's LGBTQ Pride march, Missouri's top court upholds the state's ban on pediatric gender-affirming healthcare, and an expelled trans Space Force colonel announces her U.S. congressional run. Those stories and more this week when you choose “This Way Out”. Credits: Hosted this week by Lucia Chappelle and produced with Greg Gordon. “NewsWrap” reported this week by Michael LeBeau and Ava Davis and produced by Brian DeShazor. Jenn Deerinwater feature produced by Greg Gordon with thanks to Cathy Renna and The National LGBTQ Task Force. Theme music: Kim Wilson. Additional music: Paul Simon; Ty Defoe. In our 38th year satisfying your weekly minimum requirement of LGBTQ news and culture!

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Updates on the situation with ICE in Maine from the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project and a summary of headlines on stories about the situation by news outlets across the state, aggregated by the Maine Monitor and available on their website along with their reporting. Be sure to catch The Maine Monitor Radio Hour here on WERU on the 1st Thursday of every month at 4pm Reminder: Nick Bear and Nolan Altvater from Wabanaki REACH are the new hosts of Dawnland Signals, a monthly public affairs show that returns TODAY at 4pm and will continue on the 1st Tuesday of every month. Don’t miss it! Dawnland Signals Archives 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/3/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Meet Nick Bear and Nolan Altvater from Wabanaki REACH – the new hosts of Dawnland Signals, a monthly public affairs show that returns on Tuesday, February 2nd at 4pm and will continue on the 1st Tuesday of every month. Dawnland Signals Archives 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 2/2/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Pete Nichols, Executive Director of Penobscot Bay Waterkeeper, with an update on the Little River site (on the Belfast/Northport line) that was saved from industrialization- and an invitation to come hike or ski there. 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 1/30/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne The No Kings! Coalition has announced March 28th as the next national day of action. Nurses United Against Violence invites the public to join them Friday evening for a candlelight vigil for Alex Pretti at 5pm in front of the Federal Building on Harlow Street in Bangor From from Indivisible Bangor: 3 short whistle blasts means ICE is nearby and one long blast means they are detaining someone. They say “Stay non-violent, but don’t stay silent” Maine Immigrant Rights Hotline 207-544-9989 Maine Immigrant Rights Resource Hub Immigration Legal Advocacy Project Maine update on ICE in Maine 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 1/29/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Immigration Legal Advocacy Project Maine update on ICE in Maine The Digital Security Discussion Group at the Witherle Memorial Library in Castine meets from 5 to 6 pm today and all are welcome. To register ffor the zoom link contact kathryn@witherlelibrary.net On Saturday, Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, Native Gardens of Blue Hill and 5 Star Orchard will present a screening of “The Buzz on Native Plants”, followed by a discussion and seed sowing – at the Alamo Theatre in Bucksport at 1pm Tickets and more information Maine Immigrant Rights Hotline 207-544-9989 Maine Immigrant Rights Resource Hub 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 1/28/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Zach Wahls for U.S. Senate It didn't take long after his historic 2011 appearance before the Iowa state legislature to testify about his two-mom family for 19-year-old Zach Wahls to take his place as a senator in that body. Now he's running to represent Iowa in the U.S. Senate (produced by Greg Gordon, archival interview by Steve Pride). A bouquet of January birthdays and ONE early movement legal victory are remembered in the Rainbow Rewind (produced by Brian DeShazor and Sheri Lunn). And in NewsWrap: federal guidance on workplace harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity is eliminated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, U.S. House Democrats claim victory over a raft of anti-transgender riders to major funding bills for the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education and Labor, right-wing Texas federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk upholds West Texas A&M University's ban on campus drag shows, financial woes force the closure of the organization that produces Tucson, Arizona's annual Pride event, the two heartthrobs of the wildly popular TV series “Heated Rivalry” will carry the flame in the Winter Olympics Torch Relay, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Tanya Kane-Parry and Joe Boehnlein (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the January, 26 2026 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at thiswayout.org/donate/.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has announced that his office now has an email address dedicated specifically to reports of federal government actions in Maine, along with the following statement: AUGUSTA – “Across our nation, we are seeing numerous reports of apparent civil rights violations and improper use of force by federal agents who have been sent into areas targeted for immigration enforcement by the federal government. With the federal government now surging federal agents into Maine under the banner of immigration enforcement, evidence of constitutionally-deficient, excessive, and intimidating enforcement tactics is quickly emerging in our own state. In order to better assess the impacts of these questionable immigration enforcement activities on Mainers, as well as evaluate what action this office may take in response, the Office of the Maine Attorney General has established a dedicated email address for Mainers to share such information with the office for potential investigation. The email address will be monitored for documentation of potential violations of the Maine and federal Constitutions, as well as Maine laws such as the Maine Civil Rights Act. We invite the public to submit any descriptions of observed intimidating or excessive behavior used by federal agents. Information that would be helpful to provide includes: date, location of incident, names of any individuals involved as actors or witnesses, if known, and contact information. We will not be accepting photographs and videos through this email address. However, please let us know if photographs or videos are available and provide contact information so the office can arrange to obtain copies if deemed necessary. Emailers should be advised that any content sent may be subject to public dissemination under Maine's Freedom of Access Laws. Finally, please also be advised that this email address is not for seeking legal advice, legal representation, or for requesting feedback.” The email address is CitizenReporting.OAG@maine.gov Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows issued the following statement in response to US Attorney General Pam Bondi’s offer to withdraw federal immigration officials from Minnesota if the state gave in to demands including handing over their voter records to the federal government. Maine is one of the other states refusing to give the administration that information (see USA vs Shenna Bellows) “Attorney General Bondi's letter to Minnesota made explicit what has long been clear: ICE is invading our states and inflicting violence in order to create chaos and control our states and elections. These sinister actions are Donald Trump's attempt to assume absolute power. Let me say this clearly for President Trump: Maine will never turn over our voter rolls as a ransom payment to get ICE to end its unconstitutional assault on our state. Our founders designed a system where states and local governments, not the federal government, oversee elections to safeguard us from exactly this — a tyrannical, power-hungry president trampling on our constitutional rights. As Maine's top election official, I stand with Minnesota Secretary of State Simon as we fight back against this dangerous assault together.” Maine Immigrant Rights Hotline 207-544-9989 Maine Immigrant Rights Resource Hub Immigration Legal Advocacy Project Maine Indivisible Bangor and others hold a weekly vigil every Tuesday at 11 in front of the federal building on Harlow St, near the Bangor Public Library. 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 1/27/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Dr. Charles Rolsky from the Shaw Institute in Blue Hill is here with news of their upcoming events – including a Valentine’s Day event inspired by the success of last year’s event. Adults only. And seahorses! Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project – Maine “As Maine's only state-wide immigration legal services organization, ILAP advances justice and equity for immigrants and their families through direct legal services, community education, and systemic advocacy” Statement from the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) on the First Few Days of ICE's Operation in Maine Maine Immigrant Resource Hub & Hotline 207-544-9989 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 1/26/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Information from the ACLU of Maine Know Your Rights: Immigration Enforcement and Warrants Know Your Rights: Electronic Device Searches During Travel Know Your Rights: Protesting KYR: Filming and Photographing the Police Know Your Rights: Customs and Border Patrol and the 100-Mile Border Zone LD 1383, An Act to Require State Divestment from Perpetrators of International Human Rights Violation Committee On State and Local Government – contact info and schedule 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 1/23/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Courtney and John from Counter Current Collective are here with details of their latest (roving!) production: A Number by Caryl Churchill 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. Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License The post Around Town 1/22/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Christopher Isherwood's own stories of pre-War Berlin; remembering Renee Nicole Good; U.S. top court hears trans student sports ban cases, a new survey confirms pediatric transgender healthcare can be life-saving, Malaysian authorities shut down an empty “gay friendly” hotel, the latest Human Rights Campaign U.S. queer quality of life poll finds deterioration under Trump, and billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donates 45 million dollars to the queer youth crisis intervention and suicide prevention group The Trevor Project. All that and more this week when you discover “This Way Out”. Hosted this week by Lucia Chappelle and produced with Greg Gordon. “NewsWrap” reported this week by Michael Taylor Gray and Nico Raquel and produced by Brian DeShazor. Christopher Isherwood feature produced by Brian DeShazor with thanks to the Pacifica Radio Archives. Thanks also to Ann Northrup and Andy Humm of GayUSATV.org. Theme music: Kim Wilson. Additional music: Jethro Tull; Joel Grey; Bronski Beat. In our 38th year satisfying your weekly minimum requirement of LGBTQ news and culture!

Sophie B. Hawkins performs “Not Beating Around the Bush” (recording of her original song made exclusively for “This Way Out”) and reads an excerpt from “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf. SOPHIE B. HAWKINS is a U.S.-born singer-songwriter whose commercial success has been matched by her passionate advocacy for animal rights, and the equality of women and the queer community. In 1925, VIRGINIA WOOLF introduced the world to “MRS. DALLOWAY”, a groundbreaking novel that explores a single day in the life of an upper-class woman in post-World War I England. With its innovative stream-of-consciousness narrative, “Mrs. Dalloway” remains a landmark in modernist literature. In “NewsWrap” 106 people are roughly arrested in a late December raid on a gay nightspot in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan; ten people in France are convicted of online bullying for “maliciously” claiming that First Lady Brigitte Macron is transgender; a U.S. federal judge rules that teachers or other school officials can out trans students to their parents without their consent; while a different federal judge decides that “devoutly Christian” parents can prevent their children from learning about the mere existence of LGBTQ people in school; under pressure from the Trump administration and a lawsuit filed by “devoutly Christian” foster parent applicants, Massachusetts replaces policies specifically requiring foster parents to support LGBTQ children in their care with the more innocuous “based on their individual identity and needs”; and her wife Becca remembers Renee Nicole Good (written this week by GREG GORDON, edited by TANYA KANE-PARRY, produced by BRIAN DeSHAZOR, and reported by RET and MARCOS NAJERA). (written this week by GREG GORDON and TANYA KANE-PARRY, reported by RET and MARCOS NAJERA, and produced by BRIAN DeSHAZOR).