Category: WERU News Report

WERU News Report 7/10/12

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Issue: Independent Local News

Program Topic: Searsport Planning Board Receives Complaints from DCP, Bans Public Comments

*Searsport Town Planning board voted 4-1 last night to ban public comments re: pending applications from their regular meetings, after receiving complaints from DCP, the company that wants to build a controversial LPG tank facility
*Area residents tell us what they think about the decision, and what they had been planning to say at the meeting, had they been allowed to do so
*Follow up with Planning Board Chair Bruce Probert

Recorded audio from the planning board meeting, interviews with attendees

Call In Program: No

WERU News Report 6/27/12

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Issue: Independent Local News

Program Topics: DCP attempts to limit public input on the LPG tank plan; ACLU of Maine on the AZ immigration law ruling; and a review of Medea Benjamin’s new book on Drone Warfare

Key Discussion Points:
a) DCP Midstream, the company that wants to build a massive liquid propane tank facility in Searsport, is attempting to limit public participation at Searsport Planning Board meetings. They also outline several other complaints in a recent letter from their lawyer to the town. Features audio recorded by Ron Huber at the June 11th meeting, and interviews with Ron Huber, Executive Director of Penobscot Bay Watch and Astrig Tanguay, Searsport resident and owner of Searsport Shores Campground. FMI: www.penbay.org ; www.tbnt.org , www.dcpmidstream.com

b) Shenna Bellows, Executive Director of ACLU of Maine, responds to the Supreme Court ruling on the Arizona immigration law and discusses status of similar legislation in Maine FMI: www.aclumaine.org

c) Lisa Savage, CODEPINK Maine coordinator, reviews Medea Benjamin’s new book, Drone Warfare: Killing By Remote
Control FMI: www.codepink.org

Call In Program: no

WERU News Report 6/20/12

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Program Topics: Maine Initiatives Awards, Mabel Wadsworth Women’s Health Center, Local Peace & Justice Activists, Making Local Food Accessible for Low-Income Community Members

Guests:
Recorded audio from Maine Initiatives Awards (www.maineinitiatives.org) (recorded by Matt Murphy); Interview with Jack McKay, Director of Food AND Medicine (www.foodANDmedicine.org)

Call In Program: no

WERU News Report 6/19/12

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Program Topics: Segment 1: Environmentalists Issue New Report on Tar Sands Pipeline in Maine; Segment 2: Penobscot Nation Receives Maine Initiatives Award

Key Discussion Points:
a) Portland-Montreal pipeline
b) Tar sands
c) Penobscot Nation

Guests:

Dylan Voorhees, Clean Energy & Global Warming Project Director, Natural Resources Council of Maine (www.nrcm.org)

Recorded audio from Maine Initiatives Awards, featuring John Dieffenbacher-Krall, Penobscot Nation Chief Kirk Francis and Natural Resources Director John Banks (www.penobscotnation.org, www.maineinitiatives.org)
(Audio recorded by: Matt Murphy)
Call In Program: no

WERU Special: Great Works Dam Removal 6/15/12

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Program Topic: We take you to the banks of the Penobscot River in Bradley on Monday morning, where removal of the 200 year old Great Works Dam was about to get underway. You’ll hear the Penobscot Nation Chief, Representatives Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and others, explaining the significance of the Penobscot River Restoration project.

Key Discussion Points:
a) Background on the dam removal
b) Reasons for removing the dam
c) Next steps in the Penobscot River Restoration Project

Call In Program: No

WERU News Report 6/13/12

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Issue: Independent local news
Program Topics: Great Works Dam Removal and Searsport Planning Board Reviews LPG Plans

Key Discussion Points:
a) Monday’s historic kick off of the removal of a 200 year old dam on the Penobscot River.
b) Impacts on the Penobscot Tribe
c) The discussions between the Searsport Town Planning Board and representatives from DCP Midstream, re: the proposed LPG tank

Guests: n/a

Recorded audio: Penobscot Chief Kirk Francis; Searsport Planning Board officials, DCP representatives

Call In Program: No

WERU News Report 6/6/12

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Audio Recorded by Matt Murphy
Issue: Independent local news
Program Name: WERU News Report
Broadcast Date: 6/6/12
Broadcast Time: 4pm
Program Topic: Maine Migrant Health Program
Key Discussion Points (list at least 3):
1. What is the role of the program?
2. Details about migrant worker population in Maine
3. Issues they face
Guests:
Staff from the Maine Migrant Health Program. FMI: www.mainemigrant.org
Call In Program: no

WERU News Report 5/23/12

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Audio recorded by John Greenman, edited by Amy Browne
Issue: Alternative, independent local news

Program Topic: Don Kraus of “Citizens for Global Solutions”, with a talk called “Global Cooperation: The Only Way Forward”, given in October 2011 at the University of Maine, as part of the Marxist and Socialist Lecture Series

Key Discussion Points (list at least 3):
a) How did people unite and call for an international crimes tribunal?
b) What kinds of issues require an international response?
c) What are global activists with “Citizens for Global Solutions” working toward?

Guest: Don Kraus of “Citizens for Global Solutions”

Call In Program: no