Around Town 11/21/25: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

Flash in the Pans Accepting Applications for 2026 Summer’s Monday Night Benefit Pan Dances.

Seasons of Maine, produced by Sullivan resident Evan Procko, a young, amateur filmmaker, is playing at The Grand Theater in Ellsworth, Saturday, 11/22 at 7pm. All ticket proceeds will benefit research for a cure of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Artivism in Maine (AIMe) Artist Reception on Saturday, November 22 at 4 PM, celebrating artists featured in AIMe’s 3rd Freedom & Justice Summit, at the Ellsworth Public Library

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’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

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Around Town 11/20/25: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

Forever Ours: PFAS and Plastics Opening Reception
“The Shaw Institute is proud to host Forever Ours: PFAS and Plastics, a thought-provoking art exhibition exploring humanity’s complex relationship with persistent materials like microplastics and PFAS. The exhibit, which runs through summer of 2026, opens with a public reception on Saturday, November 22, from 4:00pm – 6:00pm at the Shaw Institute’s Environmental Education Center in downtown Blue Hill, Maine.”

Guests:
Dr. Charles Rolsky, Executive Director & Senior Research Scientist, Shaw Institute, Blue Hill, Maine
Artist Marnie Sinclair, Sinclair Gallery, Damariscotta, Maine

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’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Around Town 11/19/25: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

Beloved Children’s Author’s Family Torches DHS for Using Book Title in Immigration Raids Tom Latchem, Daily Beast, Nov. 17 2025

Granddaughter of ‘Charlotte’s Web’ author criticizes use of book title in DHS immigration crackdown operation, Cindy Von Quednow and Chris Boyette, CNN, Nov 16, 2025

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) announces the launch of the Maine Food Access Map For questions about the map or to request an update to a listing, please contact: [email protected]

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’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Around Town 11/18/25: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

Stress Reduction for the Holidays Workshop, Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center (in person or via zoom)
Friday, November 22, 2025 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Free and open to the public (registration encouraged)
To learn more, register, or request the Zoom link, please call 207-664-0339, email [email protected], Please place “HOLIDAY” in the subject line of the email.

Acadia National Park, Park Loop Road closures

A Place at the Table: Holding Grief through the Holidays, Beacons of Hope Grief Program at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, in partnership with All Souls Congregational Church, Thursday, November 20th, from 5:30–7:30 pm at All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor.
FMI and registration

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’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Around Town 11/17/25: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

Opera House Arts is looking for people who would like to take part in a community reading of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at the Stonington Opera House next month.

Cause IQ

Activate Maine has launched a community-powered statewide database connecting people with food resources (and vice versa)

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’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Around Town 11/14/25: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

Severine Welcome joins us to talk about a new way to connect the downeast food producers with people looking for local food
FMI: Eat Downeast

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’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Around Town 11/13/25: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

Indivisible Bangor is looking for volunteers to help with their Saturday protests at Home Depot.
Contact Indivisible Bangor for more information and/or to volunteer
FMI/background:
Home Depot keeps quiet on immigration raids outside its doors (8/19) NPR
As ICE Targets Home Depot Stores, Advocates Say Company Is Failing To Protect Day Laborers (10/31) Block Club Chicago (non-profit local news)
US: ICE Abuses in Los Angeles Set Stage for Other Cities (11/4) Human Rights Watch

Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC) invite you to join them on your lunch break Monday, (12pm-1pm on zoom), for The ABC’s of undermining capitalism: Agitation, Base Building & Community Empowerment, a virtual discussion w/ Author & Organizer Roderick Douglass, author of Starting Somewhere: Community Organizing for Socially Awkward People Who’ve Had Enough
Get the zoom link here

The Maine Department of Marine Resources has published updated rules for the 2025-26 scallop season, for divers and draggers, and has moved the Scallop Management Areas Map to a new URL

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’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Around Town 11/12/25: Local News, Culture and Events

Host/Producer: Amy Browne

U.S. Geological Survey issues alert for downeast and northern Maine, as they start, this month, to use low-flying planes to conduct an “Earth MRI”.

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’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices, Maine Currents and Maine: The Way Life Could Be, Amy also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and Maine Association of Broadcasters awards for her work in 2017 and 2021.

Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

Podcast: Play in new window | Download