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

Host/Producer: Amy Browne Seahorses at the Shaw Institute in Blue Hill, with Dr. Charles Rolsky, Shaw’s Executive Director & Senior Research Scientist Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

The post Around Town 6/23/26: 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 6/22/26: Juneteenth, Lucille Clifton, & Summer Solstice 2026 . . . first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Glen Mittelhauser Concluding a conversation with Linda Welch, this episode examines the dramatic decline of Common Eider populations along the Maine coast and the many interacting factors that may be contributing to their collapse. The discussion also explores how advances in tracking technology are transforming seabird research, allowing biologists to follow species movements across vast oceanic distances. More information about Maine Natural History Observatory can be found on our website 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 6/21/26: Seabird Management in a warming Gulf of Maine, Part 4 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

CJ Kenna | Producer + Writer/Reader

The post Esoterica 6/21/26: One Check, One Envelope + One @#*% Stamp 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: castinehistoricalsociety.org peninsulapride.me bhpl.net healthyislandproject.org wendellgilleymuseum.org waterfallarts.org paintmainecoast.com 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? 6/20/26 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 6/20/26: O Mother Sun first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

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 6/20/26 first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine Production Assistance: Linda Washburn, Joel Mann Democracy Forum: Participatory Democracy, encouraging citizens to take an active role in government and politics. This month: We’ll talk about the value of a nonpartisan, professional civil service in sustaining a functioning democracy. We’ll cover the struggle to depoliticize the civil service going back to the end of the nineteenth century and bringing it up to date. We’re now seeing the ranks of civil servants slashed, with some positions converted into political appointments. Where is this heading? What are the risks? If the “deep state” consists of well educated professionals, are they the natural enemy of autocrats? How is it playing out in this moment? And how is it playing out in Maine? Guest/s: Ryan LaRochelle, Senior Lecturer at the Cohen Institute for Leadership and Public Service at the University of Maine. Rob Shriver, Managing Director of the Civil Service Strong and Good Government Initiatives at Democracy Forward. To learn more about this topic: Visit LWVME.org About the host: Ann Luther currently serves as Treasurer of the League of Women Voters of Maine and leads the LWVME Advocacy Team. She served as President of LWVME from 2003 to 2007 and as co-president from 2007-2009.

The post Democracy Forum 6/19/26: Pillars of Democracy: Nonpartisan Civil Service first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/Producer: Amy Browne The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Jae Echeverria invites the community to a vigil for Kohen Wiley, a Black baby killed by police in Mississippi earlier this week. The rally and vigil will be held in downtown Belfast, Sunday evening from 7:30-9pm Anger Mounts in Senatobia Over Police Killing of 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley, by Andrew Bell, Mississippi Free Press, June 17, 2026 Peninsula Pride kicks off in Blue Hill tomorrow- and continues through the week Theme music: BreakBeat Chemists I, 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License

The post Around Town 6/19/26: Local News, Culture and Events first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host/s: Liv and Swathi Editor: 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: Vic talks about meeting the needs of youth, particularly in Lewiston, and Nicole urges understanding young people and involvement at a recent community gathering. Guest: Vic, a Lewiston youth, and Nicole Lemay, from Youth Lead Justice

The post Justice Radio 6/18/26: Youth Needs in Lewiston, Maine first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.