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)
Producer/Host: Donna Loring
Issue: River case, East West Highway and the Settlement Act
Program Topic: River Case/Environment
Key Discussion Points:
a) Where are we now with the River Case?
b) How does the East West Highway issue connect with the River Case?
c) How does the Settlement Act affect the case?
Guest: Sherri Mitchell, Director of the Land Peace Foundation
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Part 1 of 2
Individuals/groups that were in the news on WERU in 2013, look ahead to 2014. Today: Chris Buchanan of Stop the East-West Corridor, Sarah Bigney of the AFL-CIO, Ron Huber of Friends of Penobscot Bay, Ilze Petersons of the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, Judy Berk of the Natural Resources Council of Maine
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Audio recorded by John Greenman
Opponents of the proposed East-West Highway/Corridor, spoke at the University of Maine last week, outlining their concerns about the project- and the lack of information that is being provided to the public.
Yesterday we heard from 2 of the speakers: John Banks of the Penobscot Nation, and Chris Buchanan of the “Stop the East-West Corridor” coalition. Today we’re going to hear Gene Ripley, an organic farmer from Dover-Foxcroft, as well as some excerpts from the question and answer session that followed — as the community tries to share what information they have been able to piece together. Maria Girouard of the Wabanaki Center at UMO, facilitated
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Audio recorded by John Greenman
Opponents of the proposed East-West Highway/Corridor, spoke at the University of Maine last week, outlining their concerns about the project- and the lack of information that is being provided to the public. Today we’re going to hear from 2 of the speakers: John Banks of the Penobscot Nation, and Chris Buchanan of the “Stop the East-West Corridor” coalition. Maria Girouard of the Wabanaki Center at UMO, facilitated
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Meetings have been taking place across the state, as supporters of the proposed East-West Highway try to sell the project to the public, and opponents try to caution communities to look beyond the sales pitch. Opponents say the project is actually an East/West utilities corridor, and that despite denials, there are still unresolved questions about private property being taken by eminent domain. Last week some of them shared their concerns with Penobscot County Commissioners, and the commissioners responded. Here are some excerpts from that meeting, recorded for WERU by Jane Crosen
Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco
Issue: Environmental and Social Justice
Key Discussion Points:
a) Hundreds demonstrated at the Conference of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers in Burlinton, VT July 31st . In the early evening, when a smaller group attempted to peacefully block the road, Burlington police used rubber and pepper bullets against them point blank.
b) Inside the Hilton Hotel conference, the New England Governors, Eastern Premiers and their energy consultants meet on, among other things, what they call “building a clean and cost effective energy future for the Northeast”.
c) Outside, activists from all around the Northeast converged to underscore their opposition to the local and global impacts of a number of proposed regional energy projects. These include Quebec’s $80 billion resource extraction and energy development “Plan Nord” project; the so-called Northern Pass transmission plan to bring energy from Quebec through New Hampshire to New England markets; the proposed private East West Highway which would link Quebec and the Martimes through Maine; and the Trailbreaker pipeline, which is in the process of being reversed to bring tar sands oil from eastern Canada to Portland, Maine, for shipping. Activists from the Innu in Quebec to Mainers living along the the Trailbreaker Pipeline spoke of the community and environmental impacts of these initiatives, including climate change.
Guests:
A) Demonstrators from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Occupy NYC and more
B) Elyse Vollant, Innu First Nations delegation, from Maliotenam indigenous community in Quebec
C) Bill Mckibben, 350.org
www.cutvmontreal.ca
http://www.towardfreedom.com/americas/2916-connecting-the-struggles-regional-activists-greet-new-england-governors-conference-with-protests
www.350.org
http://plannord.gouv.qc.ca/english/messages/index.asp
http://www.northernpass.us/project-overview/route-map
www.workerscenter.org/
Quebec Police Dismantle Innu Blockade Against Controversial Hydro Complex
http://fsrn.org/audio/headlines-monday-july-30-2012/10655
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/behind-numbers/2012/04/plan-nord-really-economic-development-tool-qu%C3%A9bec
http://climate-connections.org/2012/07/29/breaking-news-police-violently-attack-peaceful-protest-in-burlington-vt/
Call In Program: no
Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: Joel Mann
Program Topic: The East-West Highway/Corridor Controversy
Key Discussion Points:
a) What information is being withheld from the public, and why?
b) What things that ARE known about the project are raising concerns?
c) Who stands to benefit?
d) Who stands to lose?
Guests:
Hillary Lister—she has followed the various incarnations of the East-West plans for the past decade, doing coverage for Maine Indymedia, and living in and growing up in the vicinity of the various proposed routes
Diane Messer–she has attended all of the legislative hearings, offering testimony at them, and has studied the impacts of the E/W proposal on the community
Organizer Chris Buchanan of “Defending Water for Life in Maine”, and journalist Lance Tapley, who has been covering this issue, also join us by phone.
We also invited proposal’s most vocal proponent, Cianbo CEO Peter Vigue to either join us or send someone in his place today, but he declined to do so. We’ll feature excerpts from an interview we recorded with him in early May.
Call In Program: Yes
Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: Joel Mann
Issue: Open-mic
Topics: “Talking Furniture”, Lyme Disease, Walker Church fire, Heartsong, LPG, East-West Highway, East-West Corridor, Ron Paul