Maine Currents | WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives

Producer/Host: Amy Browne Deborah “Dee” Tonken and Elaine Parke, founders of MAKA – the “Make America Kind Again” movement 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&#...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne The relationships forged between local Mainers and folks in El Salvador have been strengthened over the decades, built on mutual respect and learning from each other. In addition to the PICA/Bangor Sister City relationship with the town of Carasque, WERU has a Sister Station, Radio Sumpul, and MOFGA has built connections with farming organizations there. Today both countr...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne A new exhibition at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor is named for Donna Loring’s 2008 book, “In the Shadow of the Eagle: A Tribal Representative in Maine”, and curated by Donna (who also hosts Wabanaki Windows here on WERU) and her regular contributor Professor Darren Ranco, among others. A group of folks involved with the exhibition sat down recently to ta...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne Chris Buchanan, David Italiander, Donna Gold and Jill Howell, residents of Searsport and neighboring towns, have been working on efforts to protect Sears Island permanently. They’re here today with an update FMI: Campaign to Protect Sears Island / Wahsumkik Sears Island Stories Friends of Sears Island About the Host: Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer new...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne Other credits: Matt Murphy – Augusta rally Coverage of the April 5th, 2025 “Hands Off” rallies in Augusta and Belfast, Maine FMI: www.handsoff2025.com 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 produc...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne Other credits: Audio segment contributed by John and Katie Greenman. This part of Maine has strong connections with El Salvador dating back several decades.  Bangor has a sister city there, Carasque; MOFGA has a sister farming community organization, CCR; and WERU has a sister station, Radio Sumpul in El Salvador. Many people from this area have traveled to El Salvad...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne A discussion between reps from local environmental groups that are often on the same side on issues.  On the topic of industrializing Sears Island, a 940-acre undeveloped island in Searsport, the groups are split. Today they sit down together and explain their positions, and learn where they agree — and where they don’t. Guests: Francis Eanes, Maine Labor...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne A discussion of Governor Mills’ recent announcement that undeveloped Sears Island in Searsport  is the state’s preferred location to build an offshore wind terminal. What do people who have worked to protect the island from threats in the past think about this proposal? For the guests who were part of the planning process, what are your feelings about tha...

Host: Amy Browne Engineers: Pepin Mittelhauser, John Greenman, Matt Murphy This month: We speak with three local residents– 2 of whom are Jewish and 1 who is Palestinian — about their goals, anti-Semitism vs criticizing the actions of the Israeli government, and what they think about the mainstream media coverage and messaging. Guests: Abdullah Al-Fdeilat, a Muslim Palestinian ref...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne Audio recorded by Matt Murphy This month:  “A.O. Scott in conversation with Alicia Anstead”, recorded by Matt Murphy on October 21st. at the annual Word Literary Arts Festival in Blue Hill.  WERU is a media sponsor of the annual festival. Guest: A.O. Scott,  critic at large for the New York Times Book Review. FMI: www.wordfestival.org/ www.nytim...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This month: Donna Loring on the Maine tribe’s support of Question 6 on the ballot this November.  Recorded on September 30th at an Issues Forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Maine. FMI: www.lwvme.org/ Wabanaki Windows archives (new shows air on the 4th Tuesday of each month, 4-5pm) Democracy Forum archives   (new shows air on the 3rd...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne Audio recorded by Matt Murphy This month: A lively and often humorous discussion with Ann Patchett, celebrated author of “Bel Canto” and eight other novels, and Lynn Boulger, executive director of The Authors Guild Foundation recorded August 4, 2023 in Blue Hill. Sponsored by the Word Festival and Blue Hill Books Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & pu...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This month: Segment 1: Moratorium on “glampgrounds” in Lamoine — and lessons for other towns, with organizer Amy Morley of “Growing Lamoine Responsibly” Segment 2:  Meet the new director of the Shaw Institute in Blue Hill,  Charles Rolsky, PhD Segment 3: A profile of WERU’s Healthy Options show and pro...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This month: As we continue to profile some of WERU’s public affairs and spoken work hosts, we talk with Donna Loring of Wabanaki Windows & Tom Yaroschuk the Cosmic Curator about their lives, what brought them to WERU and what goes into putting their shows together. FMI Wabanaki Windows archives Cosmic Curator archives About the host: Amy Browne started out at WERU as...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This month: An interview with the late Jim Campbell, one of the station’s founders and long- time on-air presence, recorded days before his recent death.   Jim talks about the early days at the station, what went into producing Notes from the Electronic Cottage, and his recent series on AI. FMI Notes from the Electronic Cottage Maine: The Way Life Could Be...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This month: One of the things we’re going to be doing on Maine Currents this year is taking a peak behind the scenes at some of WERU’s public affairs shows- what they cover, how they are produced, the experience and background of the hosts, how you can send in questions, or, in some cases, even get involved. We’re starting with the Democracy Forum, which...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This month: Segment 1: An interview with Ridgely Fuller, Tom Mikulka, and Chuck Spranger of Third Act’s new Maine working group They are holding a day of action in Portland and Belfast on 3/21/23 FMI: email 3rdactmaine@gmail.com or 3rdactmidcoastmaine@gmail.com Segment 2: Bucksport residents have teamed up with neighbors upriver who have been dealing with Juniper Ri...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This month: Last fall, a representative of American Iron & Metal (AIM), the multinational scrap metal company that owns part of the former mill site in Bucksport, raised the possibility of partnering with the town to reopen the mill’s old landfill to accept construction and demolition debris. Though they own the property, as a private company they are required...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne This month: We’re kicking off 2023 with a topic that I suspect we may be spending a lot of time on this year, the pending decision on where to build a staging facility for off-shore wind power turbines in this area. Theoretically, 3 different sites are being considered: Eastport, Sears Island or Mack Point in Searsport, but some of those close to the project suspect...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne Sears Island, located near Searsport, is a 940 acre island connected to the mainland since the late 80s by a causeway. Though it is near industrialized areas, it is mostly undeveloped and currently uninhabited by humans. Many people use the island recreationally, year ’round. Over the decades, people who care about the island have protected it from one proposed deve...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne On this month’s edition of Maine Currents, we bring you to the Word Festival in Blue Hill in October 2021. Reading from their website: “Every October, Word brings together readers, writers, and tellers of tales to celebrate the written and spoken word—fiction and non-fiction, children’s literature, poetry, drama, nonfiction, storytelling and more. The festival...

Producer/Editor/Host: Amy Browne Our guests today are artist Robert Shetterly, the creator of the “Americans Who Tell the Truth” portrait series. His latest book is called Portraits of Racial Justice: Americans Who Tell the Truth, and filmmaker / documentarian Richard Kane, of Kane Lewis Productions. They have just released a new film called Truth Tellers, about Robert Shetterly’s work. Cameo by c...

Producer/Editor/Host: Amy Browne Some of the historic segments on today’s show were coproduced with Meredith DeFrancesco NOTE: The time of the 9/11 vigil in Bucksport has been changed to 9:30 The 20th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy is this coming Saturday, so this week we take a listen back at how the WERU community responded, what was happening behind the scenes at the station in the hours...

Producer/Editor/Host: Amy Browne Recorded by: Matt Murphy Maine-based New York Times best-selling author Colin Woodard speaking in Blue Hill on June 24th, 2021, about his latest book, Union: The Struggle to Forge the Story of United States Nationhood FMI: www.colinwoodard.com About the host: Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-pr...

Producer/Host: Amy Browne 9 years ago we covered the removal of the Great Works Dam on the Penobscot River. It was one of the dams removed from the river as part of an effort that had taken years and much coalition building. On May 20th of this year, some of those involved in the Penobscot River Restoration project got together to talk about how the river ecosystem has changed over the years since...