Category: Voices & Weekend Voices

Locally produced radio magazine on cultural & community events & people. Every Wednesday from 4:00 – 4:30 PM

Weekend Voices 11/03/07

Guest producer: Marge May Guest host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters

Topic: Term limits –Including the five key outcomes of research on the effects of term limits around the country and here in Maine:They did not lead to greater gender or ethnic diversity, as proponents hoped,
They did lead to less experienced legislatures, a loss of knowledge among legislators, and a more chaotic legislative process, They led to a loss of power in legislatures relative to the executive branch,
They do seem to have caused legislators to voter their conscience more often, relative to the wished of their constituents, and They do seem to have caused power to shift from the State House of Representatives to the State Senate.

Guests: Richard Powell, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine. Professor Powell has conducted research on the effects of term limits in Maine. He co-authored the book, Changing Members: the Maine Legislature in the Era of Term Limits.
Karl T. Kurtz, Director of the Trust for Representative Democracy at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Karl has studied the effects of term limits on state legislatures around the country and co-edited the book, Institutional Change in American Politics: the Case of Term Limits, which takes a comprehensive look at the long-term effects of the 1990s wave of term limits legislation.

FMI:
More information on this topic is available at the National Conference of State Legislatures http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/ABOUT/termlimit.htm and at the League’s web site www.lwvme.org

Voices 10/23/07

Producer/host: Amy Browne

Contributor: Marge May

Topic: An interview with Claude Anshin Thomas,Vietnam Veteran, Zen Buddhist Monk, Non-Violence Advocate and Author of At Hell’s Gate: A Soldier’s Journey from War to Peace  He will be in the Blue Hill area this weekend for a public talk, book signing and 2-day meditation retreat

FMI: About the workshops:  benjamin@anewpossibility.org or 207-374-5768;  About Claude Anshin Thomas in general:  www.zaltho.org

Weekend Voices 10/20/07

Producer/host: Amy Browne

Contributor: Chris Roberts

Topic: The latest in an on-going series of conversations between award-winning local artist and activist Robert Shetterly, and the subjects of his portrait series “Americans Who Tell the Truth”. Today he talks with activist, feminist Professor Robert Jensen.

FMI: www.americanswhotellthetruth.org

(Recorded in August 2007. Edited by Chris Roberts)

Voices 10/16/07

Producer/host: Amy Browne

Contributor: Jan Kloub

Today a tribute to syndicated columnist and populist Molly Ivins. Ivins died of in January 2007 and this summer several of her friends gathered at the WERU Full Circle Fair to share their memories. The panel included her long-time assistant or “chief of stuff” Betsy Moon, election reform activist Granny D, fellow columnist and author Hal Crowther, and artist Rob Shetterly.

Molly Ivin’s final book “Bill of Wrongs the Executive Branch’s Assault Against America’s Fundamental Rights” published by Random House, goes on sale October 23rd.

FMI:
You can read the Texas Observer’s tribute to Molly Ivins at their website, texasobserver.org. The link is still at the top of the home page.
To see the portrait Rob Shetterly painted of Ivins, go to the website americanswhotellthetruth.org
Hal Crowther’s essay “That’s All She Wrote: Remembering Molly Ivins” can be found at www.indyweek.com

Weekend Voices 10/13/07

Producer/host: Amy Browne

Topic: The 4th Annual Maine Civil Liberties Student Conference, held in Belfast in September, was attended by students from several area high schools.  We “listen in” on one of the break out sessions where students talked about searches in school and the 4th ammendment.   What types of searches would they consent to?  In what situations would they refuse or ask to call their parents or a lawyer?  What would they think about a fellow student who refused to be searched?  Several possible scenarios were discussed.  The session was facilitated by MCLU Executive Director Shenna Bellows.

FMI:  www.mclu.org or 207-774-54444

Voices 10/09/07

Producer/host: Amy Browne

Contributors: Jay Peterson, Jim Fisher

Topics:

An interview with Noel Paul Stookey and other members of the New Surry Theatre.   Noel Paul Stookey is performing a benefit concert with the New Surry Theatre on Saturday October 20, 2007 in the Blue Hill Town Hall. “Songs & Stage” will present Noel Stookey, Herb Mitchell, Bill Raiten, Sheldon Bisberg, Shari John and other members of NST in an evening of song and stage performances for the whole family. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at the Blue Hill Public Library or by calling 374-5556. FMI:  www.newsurrytheatre.org:

The debut of “The Detritus Files”

Weekend Voices 10/06/07

Producer/host: Amy Browne

Topic: Rising Tide North America– part of an international movement addressing climate change by connecting the interrelated issues and using holistic, locally-based, grassroots strategies for change. Today we talk with four activists from different backgrounds and different parts of the U.S. who are involved with Rising Tide North America, including two who are living in Maine. They talk about how they got involved, and how others can as well.

FMI: www.risingtidenorthamerica.org ;  www.carbontradewatch.org