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Host/Producer: Amy Browne
Witherle Memorial Library‘s Foreign Affairs Discussion Group meets tonight from 5 to 6 pm over Zoom. The topic will be the Administration’s National Security Strategy dated November 2025 and released on December 4. Click here to link to more information and to register.
Hollywood Factotum talk with author Celeste Donohue, Thursday evening, 6:30-7:30pm at the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor with an option to join remotely. For more information and to register, follow this link
The Ellsworth Digital Inclusion Task Force monthly “Bring Your Device to Lunch” event, Thursday from noon to 1:30 at Loaves and Fishes in Ellsworth. Participants should bring their devices and a wish list of what they’d like to learn. The event is free and open to all. A light lunch will be provided. Space is limited and registration is required. Call 664-7110 to register
From Indivisible Bangor (no further information or contact info included): “Thursday, January 8, there is a one-time protest against Trump’s weekend action in Venezuela. Anyone who is interested in joining, please meet at 3:00 in front of the Federal Building on Harlow Street. From the Federal Building, there will walk to City Hall.”
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-
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Around Town 1/6/26: Local News, Culture and Events
Host/Producer: Amy Browne
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Maine Congressional District 1, and Graham Platner, candidate for the Democrat’s nomination for Senate, hoping to unseat Senator Susan Collins in the next election, issued statements over the weekend in response to the situation in Venezuela.
Indivisible Bangor’s weekly “No Kings” rallies at the Federal Building in Bangor, Tuesdays, 11am-1pm
Friends of Sears Island annual meeting in Searsport on Saturday, January 10th, 12:30-2:30 at the Mermaid Plaza. Watch the Friends of Sears Island facebook page for updates including weather-related cancellation if needed.
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-
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Around Town 1/5/26: Local News, Culture and Events
Host/Producer: Amy Browne
Applications open tomorrow / Tuesday for Haystack Mountain School of Crafts upcoming 75th season.
“Supporting Older Mainers: A Legislative Conversation” will be held at the Durgin Center in Brewer on Saturday, January 17th from 11-1. Space is limited. Registration is required, and closes on January 9th For more details or to register, click on the link (above) or call 941-2865
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-
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Around Town 1/2/26: Local News, Culture and Events
Host/Producer: Amy Browne
LD 287- “An Act to Require and Encourage Safe and Interconnected Transportation Construction Projects” will have a public hearing at 10:30 Tuesday morning in the Maine Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee On Housing and Economic Development
On Wednesday the Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee will hold a round of public hearings starting at 1pm. One of the proposed bills they’ll be taking comments on is LD 1671, “An Act to Establish Disclosure Requirements Regarding Law Enforcement Officer Credibility Information” The bill’s summary reads in part: “This bill requires that a law enforcement agency disclose to a prosecuting attorney’s office when a law enforcement officer who is a potential witness in a criminal prosecution has engaged in certain specified conduct that calls into question the credibility of the officer as a witness, including, but not limited to, knowingly making untruthful statements of material facts, tampering with evidence, other dishonest acts or admissions of dishonesty, demonstrated patterns of bias against protected classes and facts reflecting an officer’s impaired ability to perceive or recall the truth of a matter. Law enforcement agencies must notify the law enforcement officer when disclosing the credibility information to a prosecuting attorney’s office”
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-
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Around Town 1/1/26: Local News, Culture and Events
Host/Producer: Amy Browne
The regular schedule of public hearings and work session for proposed legislation resumes in Augusta next Tuesday. Here’s what the Joint Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology will be tackling first — and some ways you can listen in or participate
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-
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Around Town 12/31/25: Local News, Culture and Events
Host/Producer: Amy Browne
Kids’ Noon Year’s Eve Party today, 11:00AM – 12:00PM at the Ellsworth Public Library
The Carver Memorial Library in Searsport family/kids mid-day New Year Eve event, today at 11 with “countdown” to noon. FMI: Carver Memorial Library’s facebook page
Rockland Public Library kid’s new year party, starts at 11 this morning.
Rockport’s Holiday on the Harbor festivities will begin in the village as the sun sets at 4:30 p.m
Eastport’s 21st annual New Year’s Eve Great Sardine and Maple Leaf drop at midnight (will also be live streamed through Tides Institute & Museum of Art’s Facebook and Instagram pages– starting a little before midnight in the Atlantic time and Eastern time zones.)
Last Night Belfast kicks off at 3:30 in locations around the downtown area.
Bangor’s annual “Downtown Countdown” is one of Maine’s largest, free public New Year’s Eve celebrations. The beach ball drops at midnight. Associated activities throughout the day and an afterparty.
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-
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Around Town 12/30/25: Local News, Culture and Events
Host/Producer: Amy Browne
College of the Atlantic’s new scholarship program – Pine Tree Scholars
Maine Academy of Modern Music’s summer camps in Portland and Bangor in summer 2026
All are welcome to join a new book club at the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor this winter. The Do the Work! Book Circle will meet on Thursday evenings from Jan 8th – March 5th For more information and to register, email organizer Alexa Kelly at [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-
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Around Town 12/29/25: Local News, Culture and Events
Host/Producer: Amy Browne
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the Kennedy Center and more than 70 of her colleagues in Congress have called on President Trump to reverse what they say is an illegal renaming effort
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS’) Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) urges Mainers to take steps to protect their health as influenza (flu) activity begins to rise across Maine. Maine’s weekly influenza surveillance report for week 51, which ended December 20th shows: Number of hospitalizations: 69 Number of outbreaks: 12
The Challenger Learning Center of Maine in Bangor is offering Girls Who Code: A Free Intro to Coding for All Students
“A free introductory club for all students in grades 3-5, no experience required! This beginner-friendly program welcomes all young coders, including those trying programming for the very first time” FMI and to register
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-
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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