Archives for Rockland

Maine Currents 3/15/17

“Democracy Lives in Truth” Rally & Welcoming City Resolutions in Maine

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Engineer: Joel Mann

Segment 1: Speakers at Saturday’s “Democracy Lives in Truth” rally in Bangor: Sean Faircloth, Kimberly Hammill, Stacy Leafsong and James Varner The rally and march that preceded it were hosted by Mainers for Accountable Leadership and cosponsored by Indivisible: Bangor, Standing For The Common Good, Bangor Racial and Economic Justice Coalition, Food AND Medicine Peace and the Justice Center of Eastern Maine.
FMI:
Mainers for Accountable Leadership www.facebook.com/groups/223438051414968/
Indivisible: Bangor www.facebook.com/groups/indivisiblebangor/
Standing for the Common Good www.facebook.com/groups/245994745824081/
Bangor Racial & Economic Justice Coalition www.facebook.com/BangorREJC/
Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine www.facebook.com/Peace-Justice-Center-of-Eastern-Maine-102131166536360/
Food AND Medicine: www.facebook.com/foodandmedicineme/

Segment 2: Several towns in Maine have joined others across the country in adopting what are known as “Welcoming City” resolutions. Today we’re going to talk with some of the organizers: Nicolle Littrell of Belfast, Becca Shaw Glaser of Rockland, Elisabeth Goodridge of Appleton and Betsy Sweet of Hallowell.
FMI:
Details on Belfast’s petition for a resolution: www.change.org/p/please-sign-to-support-adoption-of-this-resolution-to-make-belfast-maine-a-welcoming-city-for-all
BelFem (group organizing Belfast’s efforts to pass a resolution): www.facebook.com/belfemgroup
Village Soup article about Rockland’s resolution passing: knox.villagesoup.com/p/rockland-council-oks-diversity-resolve/1632942
Appleton’s Resolution reads:
“Appleton is a home to people from all walks of life, whose heritage and origins are diverse, and is a community whose well-being depends on the security, serenity, and mutual respect of all its citizens.
Therefore, Appleton is resolved to respect the dignity of all people, promote civil discourse, and honor diversity in all forms. We as a town and individuals will work to make our community a place where all people feel safe in their homes, on the streets, in our schools, and within the community at large.
Appleton is resolved to be a community where all people are welcome.”

Maine Currents- independent local news, views and culture, every Wednesday at 4pm on WERU-FM and weru.org

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Maine Currents 11/11/15

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

(Part 2 of 2) Rockland 2015 is starting to sound a bit like Searsport 2012. A large out of state corporation has spun off a local-sounding LLC – Rockland Energy Center Limited Liability Corporation – and is proposing to build a gas plant in the city. Few specifics have been released, leaving Rockland residents with many unanswered questions. “Renew Rockland”, a group that describes itself as “local residents who have come together to respond to changing energy needs and concerns about our local environment” compiled unanswered questions collected at the few previous meetings where this issue has been discussed, and held a forum last week to try to address them. Panelists at the forum on “Rockland’s Energy Future” had expertise in engineering gas plants, alternative energy, climate change and health. The resulting discussion has implications far beyond Rockland.

Addendum: On Friday of last week the Bangor Daily News reported that city administrators met with representatives of the gas company on October 27th, just 2 days before this forum took place. As you’ll recall if you listened to part 1 of this special, one of the 1st questions that we asked at the forum was when was the last time the gas company was in contact with the city. City Councilor Larry Pritchett (who also serves on the city’s energy committee) responded “I think if you say ‘in contact’ you know, there’s been questions to city staff. There hasn’t been anything that looks like negotiations.” Stephen Betts of the BDN reported that the assistant city manager said city officials met with Rockland Energy on October 27th “to relay the concerns citizens had about issues such as emissions and noise. [The Asst City Mgr] said the city also informed the company that when it does submit its formal plans, the city will be hiring an independent party to review the proposal. She said the city would expect Rockland Energy Center to pay for that cost, and the company is amenable to that arrangement.” We asked City Councilor Larry Pritchett about this apparent discrepancy earlier today and he said he was unaware of the October 27th meeting and questioned the accuracy of the date as reported in the BDN. We attempted to reach the BDN reporter to confirm, but as of air time haven’t heard back. We’ll continue to follow up on this story.

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Maine Currents 11/4/15

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Rockland 2015 is starting to sound a bit like Searsport 2012. A large out of state corporation has spun off a local-sounding LLC – Rockland Energy Center Limited Liability Corporation – and is proposing to build a gas plant in the city. Few specifics have been released, leaving Rockland residents with many unanswered questions. “Renew Rockland”, a group that describes itself as “local residents who have come together to respond to changing energy needs and concerns about our local environment” compiled unanswered questions collected at the few previous meetings where this issue has been discussed, and held a forum last week to try to address them. Panelists at the forum on “Rockland’s Energy Future” had expertise in engineering gas plants, alternative energy, climate change and health. The resulting discussion has implications far beyond Rockland. In a 2 part special, this week and next, we’ll take you there.

FMI: www.facebook.com/renewthemidcoast/?fref=ts