WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Audio Archives

Producer/Host: R.W. Estela Hi, I’m RW Estela: Since 1991, I’ve been presenting A Word in Edgewise, WERU’s longest-running short feature, a veritable almanac of worldly and heavenly happenings, a confluence of 21st-century life in its myriad manifestations, international and domestic, cosmopolitan and rural, often revealing, as the French say, the more things change, the more they stay the same — though not always! Sometimes in addressing issues affecting our day-to-day lives, in this age of vagary and ambiguity, when chronological time is punctuated elliptically, things can quickly turn edgy and controversial, as we search for understanding amid our dialectic. Tune in Monday mornings at 7:30 a.m. for an exciting journey through space and time with a few notable birthdays thrown in for good measure during A Word in Edgewise . . . About the host: RW Estela was raised as a first-generation American in Colorado by a German mother and a Corsican-Basque father who would become a three-war veteran for the US Army, so RW was naturally a military brat and later engaged in various Vietnam-era civil-service adventures before paying his way through college by skiing for the University of Colorado, playing Boulder coffeehouses, and teaching. He has climbed all of Colorado’s Fourteeners; found work as an FAA-certificated commercial pilot, a California-licensed building contractor, a publishing editor, a practitioner of Aikido, and a college professor of English; among his many interdisciplinary pursuits are the design and building of Terrell Residence Library (recently renamed the Terrell House Permaculture Living & Learning Center at the University of Maine), writing Building It In Two Languages (a bilingual dictionary of construction terminology), aerial photo documentation of two dam removals (Great Works and Veazie) on the Penobscot River, and once a week since 1991 drafting an installment of A Word In Edgewise, his essay series addressing issues affecting our day-to-day lives — and WERU’s oldest continuous short feature. When pandemics do not interfere, he does the Triple Crown of Maine open-water ocean swims (Peaks to Portland, Islesboro Crossing, and Nubble Light Challenge) and the Whitewater Downriver Point Series of the Maine Canoe and Kayak Racing Organization. RW is the father of two and the grandfather of three and lives with his partner Kathleen of 37 years and their two Maine Coons in Orono.

The post A Word in Edgewise 3/11/24: Hosting Mr. & Mrs Mallard . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn Host: Hazel Stark You know it when you see it: at the base of a tree trunk, perhaps even several in an area, the snow is stained yellow—is it tree pee? Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com. About the host/writers: Joe Horn lives in Gouldsboro, is Co-Founder of Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide and Carpenter. He is passionate about fishing, cooking, and making things with his hands. He has both an MBA in Sustainability and an MS focused in Environmental Education. Joe can be reached by emailing [email protected] Hazel Stark lives in Sullivan, is Co-Founder and Naturalist Educator at Maine Outdoor School, L3C, and is a Registered Maine Guide. She loves taking a closer look at nature through the lens of her camera, napping in beds of moss, and taking hikes to high points to see what being tall is all about. She has an MS in Resource Management and Conservation and is a lifelong Maine outdoorswoman. Hazel can be reached by emailing [email protected]

The post The Nature of Phenology 3/9/24: Tannin Stains first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Anu Dudley About the host: Rev. Dr. Anu Dudley is an ordained Pagan minister and a retired history professor. She continues to teach classes, including the three-year ordination curriculum at the Temple of the Feminine Divine, and others such as History of the Goddess, Paganism 101, Ethical Magic, and Introduction to the Runes. Currently she is writing a book about how to cast the runes using their original Goddess meanings. She lives in the woods off-grid in a small homesteading community in Central Maine.

The post Earthwise 3/9/24: Biography of Maple Trees first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Good Morning, People! This is your cosmic curator, Tom Yaroschuk, with a look at the stars for the week of March 9th and the days ahead… About the Host: Tom Yaroschuk is a Vedic Astrologer. His intention is to help people understand their karma and the issues they may confront to cultivate more fulfilling lives. Tom is writing a memoir of the spiritual lessons derived from his work in a Homeless Day Center in between a career as an award winning television and documentary producer.

The post The Cosmic Curator 3/9/24: If you can dream it up, you can dream it down first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Patrisha McLean Production Assistance: Tammy Oropesa Music: Jackie Lee McLean Let’s Talk About It: Conversations with Survivors of Domestic Abuse Guest: Amy Judkins talking about how DHHS prioritized custody of her granddaughter to a domestic violence felon. Topics include:  Maine officials emboldening domestic abusers. No accountability for Maine domestic abusers. Domestic abuser rights trumping the safety of children. About the host: Patrisha McLean is the founder/president of Finding Our Voices, the grass roots survivor-powered non profit organization breaking the silence of domestic abuse one conversation and community at a time all across Maine.

The post Let’s Talk About It 3/8/24 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne We talk with some of the folks involved with the College of the Atlantic’s production of  Graupel, an accumulation of time, place, sculpture, and performance taking place tonight and Saturday night at COA.    FMI: graupel2024.brownpapertickets.com/ 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-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

The post Around Town 3/8/24: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/s: Charlotte Warren and Zoe Brokos Production Coordinator: Daria Cullen Other credits: TECHNICAL SUPPORT – Sarah Johnson | MUSIC – Samuel James Justice Radio is a WMPG production Justice Radio: Tackling the hard questions about our criminal legal system in Maine. This week: Join guest host, Craig Williams, Maine Hub Leader for Participatory Defense of the National Council of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, with team members Janet Drew, and Sarah Johnson, as they talk about Participatory Defense and their work in Maine for the National Council. Guests: Participatory Defense team members, Janet Drew and Sarah Johnson. FMI:  www.nationalcouncil.us/reimagining-communities/participatorydefense About the hosts: The Justice Radio team includes: Leo Hylton is currently incarcerated at Maine State Prison, yet is a recent Master’s graduate, a columnist with The Bollard, a restorative and transformative justice advocate and activist, a prison abolitionist, and a Visiting Instructor at Colby College’s Anthropology Department, co-teaching AY346 – Carcerality and Abolition. Catherine Besteman is an abolitionist educator at Colby College. Her research and practice engage the public humanities to explore abolitionist possibilities in Maine. In addition to coordinating Freedom & Captivity, she has researched and published on security, militarism, displacement, and community-based activism with a focus on Somalia, post-apartheid South Africa, and the U.S. She has published nine books, contributed to the International Panel on Exiting Violence, and received recent fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations. MacKenzie Kelley is a formerly incarcerated woman in long term recovery. She is a teachers assistant for inside-out courses through MIT. MacKenzie works at the Maine Prisoner Reentry Center as a reentry specialist, peer support and recovery coach. She is the program director for Reentry Sisters, a program designed to assist women reentering the community from prison. Zoe Brokos (she/her) is the executive director of the Church of Safe Injection, a comprehensive harm reduction program that operates in Southern and Central Maine. Zoe is a person who uses drugs, a mom, a wife, and has led harm reduction programs in Maine for 15 years. She is part of the Maine Drug Policy Coalition, sits on the board of Decriminalize Maine and joined Justice Radio to promote compassionate conversations and drug user-led advocacy efforts that focus on evidence-based, public health responses to the housing and overdose crises in Maine. Marion Anderson: Before joining The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls in January of 2022, Marion worked as a harm reductionist, housing navigator, certified intentional peer support specialist, CCAR recovery coach, and a re-entry coach for a diverse range of non-profit organizations. Charlotte Warren is a former State Representative. She served on the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee for eight years – six as the house chair. Warren previously served on the Judiciary Committee and as the house chair of Maine’s Mental Health Working Group and the house chair of the Commission to Examine Reestablishing Parole. Previous to her time in the legislature, Charlotte served as Mayor of the city of Hallowell. Linda Small is the founder and executive director of Reentry Sisters, a reentry support organization specializing in a gender-responsive and trauma-informed approach for women, serving Maine and beyond. She is a Project Coordinator for the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition. Linda serves on the Maine Prison Education Partnership board at UMA and the New England Commission for the Future of Higher Education in Prison through The Educational Justice Institute at MIT.

The post Justice Radio 3/7/24: Participatory Defense first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host: Tanvi Koushik   Description: Climate & Community covers the greenhouse gas emissions of the U.S. military, with the Pentagon’s carbon footprint surpassing that of many countries. Key international climate agreements including the Kyoto Protocols and the Paris Agreement exclude the obligation for countries to reduce their military emissions. We spoke with Lisa Savage of Maine Natural Guard, a group that invites Mainers to connect the dots between militarism and climate change. Lisa is an activist, grandmother, and retired teacher who emphasizes the need to continue building awareness around U.S. military emissions, and the need to stop the war machine.   Johannah, Brianna, Tanvi, Gus, Corey, and Beth are the team at A Climate to Thrive, a nonprofit working to build a model of community-driven, solutions-focused climate action. Since its origins around a potluck table as concerned neighbors gathered to take action on climate change, A Climate to Thrive, or ACTT, has been supporting solutions on Mount Desert Island and beyond since 2016. Learn more at www.aclimatetothrive.org.

The post Climate & Community 3/7/24: The U.S. Military’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Upcoming events and Maine news from 100 years ago today. 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-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

The post Around Town 3/7/24: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman Co-Producer: Petra Hall Technical assistance: Joel Mann & Amy Browne Healthy Options: For Well-being & Being Well This month: -What does an elder advocate do? -What are the steps that are needed to create a plan in the event that you or a family member require medical care in a health care facility such as rehab/or a nursing home? -What could go wrong when you (or a family member) need advanced care in a facility and are being discharged from a hospital? -Are you required to go to a nursing home that a hospital discharge planner suggests? -What are your legal rights when being faced with a hospital discharge that attempts to place you or a loved one in a substandard care facility? -How can you evaluate the quality of a health care facility? What is a good strategy to help you or a loved one be admitted to a good quality health care nursing home? -What are some legal documents necessary as part of a long term plan for health care? Why should you discuss this plan with a lawyer? -What is the difference between standard Medicare plans and supplemental policies (Medigap), and Medicare Advantage plans? Why is it important to understand these differences and why do standard Medicare supplemental plans offer more flexibility and allow for more treatment options? -What are some creative options to avoid isolation as one ages? -What should you do for yourself or a loved one to create an  “aging in place” environment? Guest(s): Elder Advocate Jack Halpern, founder and chairman of MyElder. myelder.com myelder.com/blog/ www.instagram.com/bigjackhalpern  (and Facebook) Previous Healthy Options programs on related subjects: Healthy Options 12/6/23: Brain Health and Aging Well Susan Wehry, M.D., geriatric psychiatrist and director of AgingME, on healthy aging, being resilient and engaged as we age, how to handle “dementia worry” (anxiety one might have, about fearing a dementia diagnosis), and how to counter the impacts of severe isolation & loneliness which arose acutely throughout the pandemic, and is still being experienced by many people- including those with dementia. archives.weru.org/healthy-options/2023/12/healthy-options-12-6-23-brain-health-and-aging-well/ “The Gift of Caring: Saving Our Parents from the Perils of Modern Healthcare,” about how the current health care delivery model is ill-equipped to provide comprehensive, person-centered care to seniors, and how many treatable conditions and symptoms are dismissed as “just old age.” The discussion highlights specific tools that we can use to help prevent these mistakes and what we need to know to achieve healthy aging. archives.weru.org/healthy-options/2017/08/healthy-options-8217/ About the host: Rhonda Feiman is a nationally-certified, licensed acupuncturist practicing in Belfast, Maine since 1993. She primarily practices Toyohari Japanese acupuncture, using gentle and powerful non-insertion needle techniques, and also utilizes Chinese acupuncture and herbology. In addition, Rhonda is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition.

The post Healthy Options 3/6/24: Advocating for the care needs and rights of elders in nursing homes & assisted living facilities first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.