WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives
Audio archives of spoken word broadcasts from Community Radio WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill (weru.org)
Starting 8/26/15 the WERU News Report has a new name that better reflects the ever-changing mix of independent news, views and culture that we feature every week: Maine Currents
You can find the archives for Maine Currents shows here: http://weru.macrevival.com/category/maine-currents/
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Segment 1: While people were busy worrying about mercury in vaccines, did they forget about a serious danger potentially lurking in their homes? We talk with Naomi Schalit of Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting about her latest investigative series which takes an in-depth look at the problem of lead poisoning in Maine. FMI: www.pinetreewatchdog.org
Segment 2: Matt Murphy interviews a local Alzheimer’s care provider about a cutting edge new therapy – and how YOU can help.
Segment 3: Some of the speakers at a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki that was held in Bangor on Thursday. FMI: peacectr.org
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: Joel Mann
Segment 1: Brook Minner, Executive Director of Northeast Historic Film in Bucksport, joins us to talk about an upcoming opportunity to see an 80-year-old “movie queen” film that no one has seen since 1935. It features local people and places that Northeast Historic Film and the Ellsworth Historic Society hopes the audience can help identify. FMI: http://oldfilm.org/
Segment 2: In the interactive, call-in segment of our show today we talk about Clean Elections in Maine with 2 organizers working on the issue. Ann Luther and Phil Bailey serve on the Board of Directors of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, a group that’s working to pass the Clean Elections Initiative that will be Question 1 on the ballot in November. FMI: https://www.mainecleanelections.org/
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: John Greenman
Attorney Kim Ervin Tucker joins us today with all the latest news on the proposed dredging project in Searsport Harbor, including an important deadline coming up next week for anyone who would like to be involved as an intervenor.
For more information about becoming an intervenor: http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=dep-comment&id=648954&v=govdel
FMI re the “Dawson Alternative”: http://islesboroislandstrust.org/dawson-searsport-dredging/
Special thanks to Ron Huber for allowing us to use audio clips he recorded at the 7/16/15 BEP meeting. To hear more visit his website: http://penobscotbay.blogspot.com/2015/07/maine-bep-wont-take-jurisdiction-over.html
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: John Greenman
Today we’re talking about transparency in government here in Maine with 3 guests who have a lot of experience poking around behind the scenes to keep an eye on what our public officials are up to. They share some stories of what they’ve uncovered and some tips on how Maine’s Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) process works –in case you’d like to do some sleuthing yourselves.
Guests:
Naomi Schalit and John Christie, investigative journalists with the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, and regulars here on the WERU News Report. FMI: www.pinetreewatchdog.org
Mike Tipping, blogger & columnist for the BDN and Portland Press Herald, as well as the author of “As Maine Went: Governor LePage and the Tea Party Takeover of Maine”. Mike also works for the Maine People’s Alliance. FMI: http://thetippingpoint.bangordailynews.com/
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Audio recorded by Matt Murphy and Jim Campbell
Production assistance from WERU intern Cody Garland
“Bucksport: How It Was and How It Is” – a story telling event sponsored by the Bucksport Bay Area Chamber of Commerce and WERU at the Alamo Theatre on July 8th. The event was part of “Wednesday on Main” which aims to “bring fun, energy and joy to Main St. In Bucksport Wednesdays from 5pm till 7pm thru the summer.”
More information is available at :
http://www.bucksportwom.com/
https://www.facebook.com/bucksportwom
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: Joel Mann
A proposal to build a natural gas fired power plant in Rockland has the town considering selling city hall and residents concerned about safety. Supporters say natural gas is a stepping stone between coal and more sustainable energy solutions and that this project would bring economic relief to Rockland, in the form of taxes and jobs. The plant would provide local energy generation and steam power for local industries. But Rockland residents Debby Atwell of “Clean Air for Rockland Children” & Ron Huber of the Waterkeeper affiliate group “Friends of Penobscot Bay” are opposed to the plan, and they join us today to explain why.
To read the FOAA’d documents re the project: http://penobscotbay.blogspot.com/2015/05/rockland-gas-cogeneration-plan.html
Contact info for Debby Atwell of “Clean Air for Rockland Children”: 542-9200
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: John Greenman
The latest chapter in a story we’ve been reporting on for nearly 15 years played out in Federal Court today, as lawyers for both sides in the Penobscot River mercury pollution case (Maine People’s Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council vs. Mallinckrodt Inc.) made their closing arguments. We start today with a press conference held outside the Federal Building held by the Maine People’s Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council—the 2 groups that successfully sued the huge corporation responsible for the major mercury pollution many years ago and are now trying to get them to stop delaying and start cleaning it up. We also have notes from the final arguments, and make the connection with the mercury in the bay and proposed dredging project by re-airing an August 2014 interview with Dr. Kevin Yeager, one of the court-appointed independent scientist who worked on the Holtrachem/Mallinckrodt mercury case and was later hired by parties concerned about the dredging project to take a look at the testing methods used by the Army Corps of Engineers.