Talk of the Towns | WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: – Many towns, business owners and home owners think about and plan for the future in some way… how has the issue of climate sharpened focus on the need to plan for and...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: Profiles of three community music organizations: Bagaduce Music, Ellsworth Community Music Institute, and Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine....

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: – What are some of the differences and commonalities of these forms of governing: selectboards, town and city councils? – What motiva...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: – Background on the work of Maine Municipal Association and the apprenticeship program of Maine Department of Labor – With Maine muni...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: What is the history and mission of Island Readers and Writers (IRW)? Offer some examples of how authors have connected with student readers, usin...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: What are the ways in which landscape inspires these writers.. one often starts with an experience and then looks for facts, the other starts with...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: Overview of College of the Atlantic’s Summer Institute, in collaboration with the National Geographic Society Reflections on what “exploration” m...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: What happens to students when they are engaged to learn out of doors?   (Tell some stories!) Do you incorporate learning beyond “science”?    (li...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: Advocacy and Non-violent Direct Action: A conversation with George Lakey and Sue Inches. How do we make change in the face of policies that seem...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: While many individual organizations have cultural heritage as part of their mission, the new Cultural Alliance of Maine, begun in 2020, is highli...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: Using current examples from Jonesport, Blue Hill and Bar Harbor, our guests discuss the importance of comprehensive planning to set out goals for...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: We look at the recent “forever wild” protection of 3200 acres of land near the Whalesback, along Route 9 in Aurora, featuring Aaron Dority, Execu...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: We ask two experienced teachers about their experience of teaching history and what they want students to take away from their studies of history...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: A conversation about Breaking Bread, Essays from New England about Food, Hunger and Family, published in 2022 by Beacon Press, to benefit Blue An...

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: We talk with child care providers, and the leader of a program to support new child care businesses, about the essential elements of good child c...

Producer/Host: Ron Beard Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording. Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: We profile Esperanza Stancioff, Emeritus Professor, University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant, about her work to expand community science in aid of...

Producer/Host: Ron Beard Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities This month: We talk with town representatives from Camden, Orono and Lamoine about how they assess the value of property and how towns arrive at the bill that property owners pay each year. -What sources of revenue do towns in Maine...

Producer/Host: Ron Beard Theme music for Talk of the Towns is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities For the most part, you can get there from here, thanks to the dedication of those who take care of our road systems. At the town level, that might be a whole public works department or to a road supervisor with a budget to contract f...

Producer/Host: Ron Beard Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities Over the last 40 years, Paul Anderson has had a key role in understanding and communicating marine science in Maine. As a micro-biologist for the Department of Marine Resources, he helped establish protocols so citizen-scientists could contribute data helping assure that clams harvested from Maine flats were saf...

Producer/Host: Ron Beard Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities We know the media landscape is changing, here in Maine, as elsewhere. Where do we get? our? news and information, and how do we test it for accuracy? And how does today’s media intersect with making decisions in a democracy? Ron Beard, host of Talk of the Towns, talks with guests Kate Cough, reporter for the Mai...

Producer/Host: Ron Beard Local groups throughout Maine are bringing climate work from individual to local action. A Climate to Thrive, based on Mount Desert Island, Maine has recently convened community-based climate groups across the state to learn from one another, focusing on strategic planning and how to engage local citizens, young and old, and elected leaders. This program highlights the wor...

Producer/Host: Ron Beard Town clerks play an important role in local communities, often behind the scenes. They provide direct day-to-day contact with citizens, play critical support roles to other town departments, and oversee town meetings as well as local, state, and federal elections. And they take great satisfaction in doing their jobs well and keeping up with trends and technology. This prog...

Producer/Host: Ron Beard College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, welcomed its first class 50 years ago, offering a many paths to a degree in human ecology. In a conversation with Darron Collins, President of the college and himself a graduate, we explore the origins and history of College of the Atlantic, the ways in which students learn and faculty teach, the role of international students...

Producer/Host: Ron Beard What are Maine voters being asked to consider… what does the referendum question intend to change/create? Outline the concept of health insurance… how is health care paid for in Maine ( private pay and insurance: private, employer-based, publicly supported (Medicare, Medicaid/Maine Care) What would Universal Health Care do for consumers, employers, health care providers, i...

Producer/Host: Ron Beard Community concerns and opportunities: Recruiting the next generation of volunteer firefighters -What led to your involvement in your town fire department? Who invited you to get involved? Is this a family tradition for you? Why is the role volunteer fire fighter important to you and your community? -How are changes in your community affecting your ability to staff your dep...