Archives for WERU News Report

WERU Special 8/25/14

Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Studio Engineer: Joel Mann

The US Army Corps of Engineers and Maine DOT are proposing a dredging project in Searsport Harbor that would result in nearly a million cubic yards of materials being dumped in Penobscot Bay near Islesboro. The project would deepen and widen the shipping channel. Supporters say that would improve commerce in the port, but opponents say the economic and environmental risks far outweigh any potential benefits.

Joining me in the studio today are Joel Pitcher of the Maine Lobstering Union, and attorney Kim Tucker. She represents the Maine Lobstering Union, Pemaquid Muscle Farm, and the Sierra Club of Maine as well as some individual members of the Zone D lobster council. The program also features excerpts from an interview with Dr. Kevin Yeager- an independent scientist who previously worked on the Holtrachem/Mallinkrodt mercury case in the federal court system. He is the author of a new report that raises serious concerns about the plan– among them the possibility that inert mercury in the sediment may be converted to a more toxic form and make its way into the food chain in Penobscot Bay. He also criticizes the methology the Army Corps used in their sediment sampling.

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WERU Special: Mainers Speak Out – Palestine 8/7/14

Producers/Hosts: Carolyn Coe & Amy Browne

*Note- Due to a recording error, the introduction to this program was omitted, but the transcript of the intro follows:

Welcome to this WERU Special – Mainers speaking out about Israel and Palestine. It’s August 7th, 2014. I’m Amy Browne.

A group of Mainers visited Senator Collin’s office in Portland earlier this week, to – in their words “object to her support of Israel’s international war crimes against civilians, to the $3.1 billion annual military aid to Israel supplied by U.S. taxpayers, and to the senator representing AIPAC [ the American Israel Public Affairs Committee] rather than her Maine constituents.” WERU’s Carolyn Coe was there and recorded their comments, which we’re going to hear now, then we’ll be opening the phone lines at the half hour for your reaction and comments on the issue.

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WERU Special: Great Works Dam Removal 6/15/12

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Program Topic: We take you to the banks of the Penobscot River in Bradley on Monday morning, where removal of the 200 year old Great Works Dam was about to get underway. You’ll hear the Penobscot Nation Chief, Representatives Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and others, explaining the significance of the Penobscot River Restoration project.

Key Discussion Points:
a) Background on the dam removal
b) Reasons for removing the dam
c) Next steps in the Penobscot River Restoration Project

Call In Program: No

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WERU News Special Report 6/13/11

Producer/Editor: Amy Browne
Interviewer: Robert Shetterly

Award-winning artist and activist Robert Shetterly continues his series of conversations with the subjects of his portrait series “Americans Who Tell the Truth” in this conversation with Jessalyn Radack of the Government Accountability Project, a whistle-blower protection agency. Radack talks about her own experiences as a government employee and whistle-blower, and about the upcoming espionage trial for former NSA staffer Thomas Drake.

FMI: www.whistleblower.org/ , www.americanswhotellthetruth.org

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WERU News Special Report 5/26/11

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

Continuing our coverage of yesterday’s work session on LD 1534, “An Act To Reform the Land Use and Planning Authority in the Unorganized Territories” which eliminates the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission, effective July 15, 2012. This bill as it is currently worded also establishes a “Land Use Planning in the Unorganized Territory Transition Advisory Board” to advise the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry on matters relating to the transfer of authority over land use planning in the unorganized territory to the counties in which the land is located. The board is required to render its advice to the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry by December 2, 2011. The board is dissolved July 15, 2012. At that point the counties would presumably take over the responsibilities now handled by LURC, though many at the public hearing expressed serious concerns about their ability to do so.
The Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC or the Commission) was created by the Maine Legislature in 1971 to serve as the planning and zoning authority for the state’s townships, plantations and unorganized areas. LURC’s jurisdiction stretches over half the state, encompassing more than 10.4 million acres and the largest contiguous undeveloped area in the Northeast.

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