WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Tonight in Searsport, Friends of Sears Island and Carver Memorial Library will be hosting a presentation by Julia Hiltonsmith titled “Historical Memory of Land Use Proposals at Sears Island”. This program will be held at Carver Memorial Library at 12 Union Street in Searsport, Maine, at 6:30 tonight. It’s free and open to the public. Advance registration is not required. A few more events coming up on Saturday in honor of World Fish Migration Day. See the archives for Tuesday’s AT for others. Maine Coast Heritage Trust let us know about 3 more events on Saturday, on the Orange, Narraquaugus and Bagaduce rivers – that will focus on sharing fish passage plans and restoration updates “Two of these rivers are preparing for major 2026 fishway construction projects, and partners will be publicly walking through the plans, renderings, and ecological significance. These are community?driven efforts to reopen habitat for alewives, shad, salmon, eels, and other migratory species.” Orange River — Whiting May 23, 9–11 a.m. | MCHT Office, Route 1 A community gathering to share 2026 construction plans for the Orange River Millpond Dam fishway — a key barrier on one of the largest freshwater sources flowing into Cobscook Bay. Narraguagus River — Cherryfield May 23, 1–3 p.m. | Below the dam, downtown Cherryfield Partners will present plans and renderings for a 2026 nature?like fishway to replace a dam that has blocked fish passage for more than 65 years. Bagaduce River — Penobscot/Brooksville/Sedgwick May 23, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. | Pierce Pond boat ramp Part of Alewife Day, celebrating Maine’s first fully restored watershed for fish passage after installation of five nature?like fishways. FMI re these events – and several others happening around the state- on Maine Coast Heritage Trust’s website Orland will celebrate Migratory Fish Day on Saturday with a festival celebrating the return of alewives and Blueback herring on the Orland/Narramissic river. The day will feature viewing of the fish weir, led by Orland Fish Commissioner Peter Robshaw, cheering herring as they migrated up the fish ladder at the Orland dam, speakers in the main tent, a special activity area for kids, booths and snacks. The Festival is free and open to all, Saturday from 10am – 2pm in Orland Village Click here for more information Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

The post Around Town 5/21/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Hancock County Soil & Water Conservation District is partnering with the Maine Natural Areas Program, UMaine Cooperative Extension and Native Gardens of Blue Hill to cohost the 2026 Invasive Plant Educational Workshop on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at Emerson Hall in Castine. Mary Thibodeau, District Manager, Hancock County Soil & Water Conservation District joins us today to let listeners know about this annual series that trains home gardeners and industry professionals to identify invasive plants and manage them across forest, farm, and garden systems. The morning session is indoors, and the afternoon moves into the field for hands-on identification (rain or shine, so dress for the weather). For more information and to register Study cited in intro today: Non-native Plants and Animals Expanding Ranges 100 Times Faster than Native Species, Finds New Research Led by UMass Amherst, Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 2024 Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

The post Around Town 5/20/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host: Jazz Bradley at NextStep Domestic Violence Project. NextStep 24/7 Helpline: 1(800) 315-5579 Theme Music for the show donated by local musicians Megan Light and Nathan Spears. Relationship Rewind: Rewinding relationships in popular media and breaking down behaviors based in power, control, and abuse. This episode: 1. Discussing unhealthy themes in the tv series, “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.” 2. Discussing how media normalizes these themes. 3. Discussing the impacts of these messages about these relationships and people, on young people in real life. Guest: Local student Will FMI: www.nextstepdvproject.org About the hosts: Alli Williamson, Carrie Clark, and Jazz Bradley are at NextStep Domestic Violence Project based in Hancock and Washington County, ME. They teach young people from Kindergarten to College about what power and control looks like in friendships and relationships, what resources are available to support those experiencing this, and how we can work to make our schools and communities safer and more equal spaces where abuse may be less likely to happen.

The post Relationship Rewind 5/19/26: Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Larry Dansinger About the host: Larry Dansinger (no pronouns) of Bangor came to Maine in 1974 and has been here ever since. Some of Larry’s activities since then: Done community organizing on numerous issues through INVERT and then Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC), committed civil disobedience several times, grown a garden yearly since 1977, joined various food cooperatives and two men’s groups, refused to pay federal income taxes for war, lived on a community land trust for 23 years, and met a wonderful partner whom Larry has loved for over 40 years. Larry has produced Outside the Box features on WERU since 2007 and continues to look for unique ways of seeing almost any problem or situation.

The post Outside the Box 5/19/26: “Yes to New Art and Culture” first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Today’s Fish News was hosted by Bea Alsop-Cheeney in Milbridge with assistance from youth from the Independent Downeast Association for Homeschoolers. It was produced by Kate Blofson from WRUJ-LP in Richmond VT and made possible with support from Greenhorns and Eat Downeast Upcoming fish-tivals and fish-tivities: Fifth Annual Pennamaquan Alewife Festival — Free, family-friendly fun with the fish. Saturday, May 23, 2026, 10am–5pm, 12 Little Falls Road, Pembroke The For All the Fish conference and concert in Machias on May 31 is organized by the Greenhorns and Downeast Salmon Federation The free concert will feature The Mallett Brothers Band, The Midnight Riders, and The Milk & Honey Rebellion, May 31, 2026, 4–9pm, Bad Little Falls Park, Machias More info on upcoming fish/alewife festivals around the state Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

The post Around Town 5/19/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Berit Becker, Communications and Development Director at the Ellsworth Public Library, is here today to let listeners know about the final event in their Indie Lens series, coming up this weekend: Community Screening of The Grocery List Show Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

The post Around Town 5/18/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs 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 5/18/26: Windblown Ticks, Philip Metres, & Hercules Cluster M13 . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Glen Mittelhauser In this episode, Glen concludes his conversation with Rich MacDonald of the Natural History Center during a winter walk in Acadia National Park, reflecting on forest structure, succession, and the complexity of ecological systems. The discussion broadens to observations of ravens and Bald Eagles. More information about Maine Natural History can be found at mainenaturalhistory.org. About the hosts: Glen Mittelhauser founded Maine Natural History Observatory (MNHO) in 2003 to fill the need for an organization that specializes in collecting, interpreting, and maintaining datasets for understanding changes in Maine’s plant and wildlife populations.  Glen received his Bachelor’s in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic in 1989 with a focus in the biological sciences and received his Master of Science degree in Zoology (with a focus on ornithology and statistics) from the University of Maine in 2000. Glen was the Managing Editor for Northeastern Naturalist and Southeastern Naturalist for 18 years and has served as external graduate faculty for 3 graduate student committees at the University of Maine.  Glen currently serves on the Baxter State Park Research Committee. Logan Parker is an Ecologist residing in Waldo County, Maine. Logan started the Maine Nightjar Monitoring Project in 2017 and brought the project (and his passion for bird conservation) to MNHO when he joined the team in 2018. Logan is heavily involved in the ongoing Maine Bird Atlas where he both coordinates and participates in the project’s special species surveys. When “off the clock”, Logan enjoys birding, writing, gardening, and working alongside his wife, Hallee, on their off-grid home in the Maine woods. Logan is also a wildlife photographer and shares photos and field notes through his project, Here In The Wild.

The post Nature Notes: A Maine Naturalist Afield 5/17/26: A hike down the Hemlock Trail, Part 5 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

CJ Kenna | Producer + Writer/Reader

The post Esoterica 5/17/26: Hubris first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

What’s the Word on Maine Street?, hosted by Sarah Pebworth, is a weekly short feature Saturdays at 9:30am looking at local literary and visual arts events and offerings! FMI: schoodicartsforall.org waterfallarts.org mainewriters.org courthousegallery.com penobscotmarinemuseum.org jesuplibrary.org About the host: Sarah Pebworth leads the steering committee for Word—a Blue Hill Literary Arts Festival, founded in 2017 and held each October. She serves on the boards of the Cultural Alliance of Maine and Lawrence Family Fitness Center YMCA. Since February 2023 Sarah has written “Shared Seas and Common Grounds,” a column published in the Penobscot Bay Press’s Weekly Packet. She and her wife Julie Jo Fehrle live in Blue Hill. Theme music: Ross Gallagher is a bassist who grew up in East Blue Hill, ME, and currently lives between Bath, ME and Brooklyn, NY, where he works with a wide variety of musical artists. Infinite Blues is a cut from his recently released neon night, an excursion into an ambient/electronic musical world built around rhythmic bass ostinatos, clouds of processed looping electronic atmospheres, and melody. By turns both subtle and unapologetically noisy, the songs are a collection of luminous constellations, roved between by a band of texturally minded instrumental improvisers.

The post What’s the Word on Maine Street? 5/16/26 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.