Talk of the Towns 12/10/25: Restorative Justice and Restorative Practice

Producer/Hosts: Ron Beard and Liz Graves
College of the Atlantic provides help with production. Engineering by Joel Mann of WERU Community Radio.
Theme music for Talk of the Towns Theme is a medley from Coronach, on a Balnain House Highland Music recording.

Talk of the Towns: Local Community concerns and opportunities

This month:
What is the work of Downeast Restorative Justice?
How does restorative justice connect to the criminal justice system to bring together those who have caused harm with those who have been harmed?
What is the broader set of restorative practices that underpin the work of Downeast Restorative Justice to build community connections and resilience?
What might a community circle look like… how is it convened, what are its intentions, what values does it demonstrate?
How might listeners learn more about training opportunities to build skills that support restorative justice and, more broadly, restorative practice?

Guest/s:
Kayla Gagnon, Downeast Restorative Justice Youth and Community Coordinator
Leslie Ross, Downeast Restorative Justice Program and Case Coordinator

FMI:
downeastrestorativejustice.org

About the hosts:

Ron Beard is producer and host of Talk of the Towns, which first aired on WERU in 1993 as part of his community building work as an Extension professor with University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant. He took all the journalism courses he could fit in while an undergraduate student in wildlife management and served as an intern with Maine Public Television nightly newscast in the early 1970s. Ron is an adjunct faculty member at College of the Atlantic, teaching courses on community development. Ron served on the Bar Harbor Town Council for six years and is currently board chair for the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, where he has lived since 1975. Look for him on the Allagash River in June, and whenever he can get away, in the highlands of Scotland where he was fortunate to spend two sabbaticals.

Liz Graves joined Talk of the Towns as co-producer and co-host in July 2022, having long admired public affairs programming on WERU and dreamed of getting involved in community radio. She works as the Town Clerk for the Town of Bar Harbor, and is a former editor of the Mount Desert Islander weekly newspaper. Liz grew up in California and came to Maine as a schooner sailor.