Notes from the Electronic Cottage 9/17/09

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

When the Obama administration took office, the new Secretary of Homeland Security said she would review the regulations that allow a border agent to search anything you are carrying, including your laptop, cell phone, digital camera, etc. “absent individual suspicion,” i.e., for any reason or no reason at all. True to her word, she issued new policy directives in August of 2009. The sort version: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

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Wabanaki Windows 9/15/09

Producer/Host: Donna Loring
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Topic: LD291, Maine Indian History Law

What is Wabanaki? How is the Maine Indian History Law progressing? What would we like to see for future certification for teaching the law?

Guests: Maria Girouard, Director, and James Francis, Sr., Tribal Historian, Penobscot Cultural & Historic Preservation Department, www.penobscotculture.org; John Bear Mitchell, Associate Director, Wabanaki Center, UMaine, 207-581-1417

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Talk of the Towns 9/11/09

Producer/Host: Ron Beard, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Studio Engineer: Joel Mann

Topic: Acadia—one of America’s best ideas

Guests: Sheridan Steele, Superintendent, Acadia National Park, Deb Wade, Chief Interpreter, Acadia National Park, Marla O’Byrne, Friends of Acadia

If, as Ken Burn’s new television series asserts, national parks are America’s best idea, then surely Acadia is a best example of that best idea… give us a sense of Acadia’s history, including the role of early philanthropists who recognized the special qualities of place.

What are among Acadia’s most important assets? What does Acadia share with other national parks, and what makes it stand out in your minds? What are some of the challenges in protecting Acadia’s natural resources?

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RadioActive 9/10/09

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco & Amy Browne

Segment 1: We hear of internationally known speakers and performers coming to Maine next week: Marcela Olivera, a Bolivian water rights activist, and the acclaimed duo “Climbing PoeTree” with their performance “Hurricane Season”, as we talk with organizer Emily Posner. (FMI: defendingwaterinmaine.org , www.climbingpoetree.com)

Segment 2: We look at TABOR II, a so-called taxpayer’s bill of rights that will be on the ballot this November. We’ll speak with Republican County Commissioner Steve Johnson of Colorado about the dire reasons that state repealed a TABOR initiative, and with Rep. Jim Martin, District 18 (Bangor, Veazie, Orono) about the potential impact here.

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