Community Voices For Change

Community Voices for Change - 30 mins - First Aired Sept. 15, 2025
WMPG-FM. Univ of So. Maine - Weekly - Mondays - 1:00 PM
Producer & Host:  Richard Rudolph, PhD.

This show is an interview with Destie Hofman Sprague, who is the executive director of the Maine Women's Lobby.  Destie talked about Question 1 which is on the ballot this November [2025] in Maine  and why the Women's Lobby is opposed.  A  conservative PAC called The Dinner Table, which claims its mission is to elect a Republican majority in the Maine Legislature, is behind this initiative.  If passed this voter I.D. Law would reduce voter turnout by making it impossible to request an absentee ballot over the phone, it repeals ongoing absentee voting for seniors and people with disabilities and limits drop boxes for voting to one per municipality.  It also requires photo I.D. and excludes a number of currently accepted IDs such as Student I.D.s  and Tribal I.D's .  The new restrictions can and will harm every type of voter with seniors and rural voters experiencing the worst of disenfranchisement.

Community Voices for Change - 30 mins - First Aired Sept 8, 2025
WMPG-FM. Univ of So. Maine - Weekly - Mondays - 1:00 PM
Producer & Host:  Richard Rudolph, PhD.

This show is an interview with Sarah Alexander who is  the executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Organization.  Sarah talked about the ongoing effort to train farmers to make the transition to organic farming which is a three year effort.  She also talked about how the Trump administration has cut  a number of  worthwhile programs that affect farmers in the state including four million dollars in local food purchasing directly from Maine farmers to support schools and food banks.  It has also eliminated $15 million in research regarding  PFAS contamination of US farmland, bringing to a close studies that public health advocates say are essential for understanding the worrying source of widespread food contamination.  In closing, she also briefly talked about the upcoming 2025  Common Ground Fair.

Community Voices for Change - 30 mins - First Aired September 1, 2025
WMPG-FM. Univ of So. Maine - Weekly - Mondays - 1:00 PM
Producer & Host:  Richard Rudolph, PhD.

The program is an interview of Megan Gray who is the president of the News Guild of Maine and is also the arts and culture reporter at the Portland [ME.] Press Herald (PPH). Meagan talked about her work as a writer and how she first got involved in the union at PPH. She pointed out how the Guild has historically supported its members in what she considers a tumultuous industry by giving workers a seat at the table through collective bargaining  and making improvements both in pay and working conditions. The Guild currently represents 350 workers at PPH and its members work in the news, advertising, circulation, facilities, maintenance, composing, IT, business office and marketing departments. The News Guild also represents workers at the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, and the Bangor Daily News, both in Maine. She hopes to ultimately represent workers involved in producing weekly newspapers.

Community Voices for Change - 30 mins - First Aired August 25, 2025
WMPG-FM. Univ of So. Maine - Weekly - Mondays - 1:00 PM
Producer & Host:  Richard Rudolph, PhD.

The podcast  is an interview of Karl Meyer who is a member of the Fish & Aquatics Studies Team and an intervenor in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission re-licensing  process for three Massachusetts facilities on the Connecticut River since 2011.  He is a Massachusetts resident and a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists.   Karl talked about Maine’s first so-called pumped storage hydro-power facility on private land between Dixfield and Canton in Oxford County. The project will move water between two man-made reservoirs to generate power in response to demand on the electricity grid.  Karl focused on the project's environmental effects and cost as well as who will ultimately benefit by generating and selling power during high demand periods during the day.

Community Voices for Change - 30 mins - First Aired August 18, 2025
WMPG-FM. Univ of So. Maine - Weekly - Mondays - 1:00 PM
Producer & Host:  Richard Rudolph, PhD.

An interview with  Dr. Brendan McQuade,  the chair of the Sociology and Criminal Justice Departments at the University of Southern Maine. He talked about the seizing of immigrants, some of whom are now locked up in the Cumberland County Jail in Portland, and the impact it is having on the job market.  He also talked about why Governor Janet Mills has held over a bill passed by the Maine Legislature which restricts local law enforcement from helping federal immigration authorities.  McQuade is also the author of "Pacifying the Homeland: Intelligence, Fusion, and Mass Supervision" which is an expose of  the work that fusion centers are involved in at the state and national level.

Community Voices for Change - 30 mins - First Aired August 11, 2025
WMPG-FM. Univ of So. Maine - Weekly - Mondays - 1:00 PM
Producer & Host:  Richard Rudolph, PhD.

An interview of Bruce King who is the executive director of "Maine Boys to Men."  Bruce talked about some of the problems that boys are facing as they grow up to be men, and the programs that the agency has developed to empower youth to recognize, and call out, the cultural aspects of harmful masculinity that contribute to violence, self-harm and academic decline among boys.

Community Voices for Change - 30 mins - First Aired August 4, 2025
WMPG-FM. Univ. of So. Maine - Weekly - Mondays - 1:00 PM
Producer & Host:  Richard Rudolph, PhD.
 
An interview with Chuck Hayward who is a member of Revision Energy.  He is an EV Infrastructure Designer who talked about the benefits of driving and owning an electric vehicle in Maine and why folks should purchase one if they have the resources to do so now.  As a result of the passage of President Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" the $7,500 tax rebates on the purchase of new electric cars, and up to a $4,000 credit on used vehicles, will expire at the end of September 2025. Chuck also talked about range anxiety and heating cars during the winter season as well as, 1)  incentives that Efficiency Maine Trust, the quasi-state agency for energy programs continues to provide, 2) a new initiative that offers a $300 discount for the purchase and activation of a special EV charger configured to charge only during off-peak hours (unless overridden  This new initiative brings the net cost of the charger down to $129 for consumers.

Our Guest is Andy O'Brien who is the Communication Director of  Maine AFL-CIO union organization.  He talked about some of the legislative victories that the union has won in the Maine State Legislature this year such as finally winning the right  to establish a minimum wage for farm workers.  Unfortunately, they are still unable to formally establish a union in the state. He  also talked about several other bills dealing with worker rights and benefits, victories for mental health workers at the Riverview and Dorothy Dix facilities in Bangor, and the passage of the state Clean Energy Bill.  The bill includes prevailing wage requirements, policies that encourage project labor agreements, and utilization of registered apprenticeships and pre- apprenticeship programs that assure the thousands of clean energy jobs created in Maine will be high quality jobs to retain a skilled workforce.

Community Voices for Change - 30 mins - First Aired July 21, 2025
WMPG-FM. Univ. of So. Maine - Mondays - Weekly 1:00 PM
Producer & Host:  Richard Rudolph, PhD.

An interview with Sarah Alexander who is the executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.  She talked about the organization's efforts to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection agency for its failure to regulate the land application of sludge contaminated with PFAS chemicals under the Clean Water Act.  She also talked about the latest efforts in Maine to add PFAS to the list of contaminants that the Dept of Health and Human Services recommend for testing. Governor Mill signed this bill.  Of two different bills in the Maine legislature regarding farm workers. LD589 was passed into law providing farm workers the minimum wage in Maine and LD 588 which would have allowed  farm workers the right to organize for better working conditions.  Unfortunately, Governor Mills vetoed that bill.

Author Mike Prokosch who recently conducted a workshop entitled, "Shrink, Shift and Shaft" at the Maine AFL-CIO Local 14 Solidarity Center in Jay, Maine gives an overview of that lecture and his other publications.  Mike is a carpenter and popular economics educator in Boston, MA.  He is also a member of the "Dollars & Sense" Board of Directors.  Among topics were his recent article  that he has written entitled "Short Staffing" which is the latest business model being used to maximize profits.  Although unions made some of the greatest gains in the 1950's in terms of higher wages and more benefits, they failed to keep control over one of the most important management functions that is maintaining control  of the production process which is the key to worker power.  Although the United Auto Workers won wage increases and better benefits in the 1950's it lost control over the pace of  the shop floor.  The auto industry squeezed more profits out of each minute of work by speeding up the assembly line - in effect short staffing.  Mike also talked about the impact of digitizing service sector jobs and what workers can do about it today