WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Audio Archives

Producer/Host: Jim Bahoosh “Slab”

Hosts: Jon E Ford Engineer: Amy Browne Program Topic: The creation and duties of a police dog Key Discussion Points: a) The training from a pup to a certified Police Dog b) Keeping your dog alive in a HOT parked car c) The power of a “tracking nose” Guests: Sgt. Shawn Willey Ellsworth Police Dept., Rod Sparkowich

Producer/Host: Tim Hagney “Blash Cohosh”

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell From the archives, an episode of Land Future, Our Future from 1992

Producer/Host: Amy Browne In breaking news today, the US Supreme Court has ruled that DOMA- the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act”, is unconstitutional, and that same-sex couples who are legally married under state law should be afforded the same federally recognized rights and benefits as other married couples – including tax breaks, social security benefits, and family medical leave. In Augusta today, both houses of the state legislature voted to override Governor LePage’s veto of the biennial budget, thus avoiding a state shut down. Here’s some of the debate that took place prior to the vote

Producer/Host: Amy Browne Audio recorded by Matt Murphy If you’re a regular listener to WERU, you’ve no doubt heard us mention the watering can we use for drawings during pledge drives. What you may not be aware of, is that the watering can is an award we received in 2004 from Maine Initiatives, an organization that coordinates funding for grassroots groups working for social and environmental justice in Maine – including WERU. Last week they marked their 20th anniversary and presented awards to this year’s recipients. Today we take you there, to hear from some of the people who were honored for their work. The first award was presenting by Portland Mayor Mike Brennan

Producer/Host: Larry Dansinger “Little Fiefdoms”

Producer/Host: R.W. Estela Engineer: Allison Watters

Producer/Host: Kathleen March Transcript: This is Kathleen March with WERU’s US-El Salvador Report. This week’s topic is the discovery of two buried pre-Columbian sites near the capital. The report has been prepared by the University of Maine in collaboration with Radio Sumpul and US-El Salvador Sister Cities. En un artículo de ContraPunto, Gerardo Arbaiza informa que durante la construcción de viviendas los trabajadores encontraron fragmentos de cerámica y obsidiana. Fue en el proyecto habitacional Nuevo Lourdes poniente, municipio de Colón, a 20 kilómetros de San Salvador. El Patrimonio Cultural de la Secretaría de Cultura (SECULTURA) se ha encargado de las excavaciones. La casualidad es frecuente en el descubrimiento de los vestigios de los pueblos indígenas precolombinas de El Salvador que tiene más de 670 sitios arqueológicos ya identificados. En Nuevo Lourdes, los trabajos de recuperación de piezas están terminando bajo la dirección de Shione Shibata, un arqueólogo japonés que lleva en El Salvador cerca de 20 años. Separados por tres metros de tierra volcánica, hay restos de dos comunidades mayas: una del período preclásico terminal y otra del clásico tardío, con un entierro de una persona sentada. Shibata dice que el país debe conservar su patrimonio cultural. Por casualidad un ciudadano le contó a una persona de la Dirección Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural que habían encontrado piezas: un polígono con mucho material arqueológico; así se decidió estudiarlo. La tierra fue producto de la erupción del volcán El Boquerón – más de un metro de grosor. El rescate empezó el 27 de mayo. Según Sibata, no es que sea comparable a Joya de Cerén, pero hay material “in-situ”, un entierro y un muro de adobe, cubiertos de ceniza volcánica. Hay un campo de cultivo mucho más abajo de lo que ya se ha excavado y otra capa de ceniza volcánica, de la erupción del volcán de Ilopango. El campo sepultado mide 500 metros. Los vestigios, a dos y tres metros de profundidad, son del período preclásico terminal. La erupción del volcán de Ilopango fue entre el 400 y el 536 d.C. Las piezas y el entierro son del clásico tardío, entre el 600 y el 900 d.C. Hay varios centros en El Salvador de este período. En la zona de esta excavación, el “valle de Zapotitán”, está Joya de Cerén. Las excavaciones tienen valor histórico. Hay una distribución espacial de aldeas o viviendas. En centros ceremoniales o pirámides se sabe de su existencia, pero las viviendas se descubren por casualidad. En Nuevo Lourdes se puede estudiar cómo y dónde la gente vivía. En el preclásico terminal la gente ya cultivaba en la zona cuando ocurrió el desastre; cientos de años después volvieron, quizás por el agua. Luego hubo otra erupción volcánica y ahora otra vez hay personas que quieren vivir allí. Después de esta excavación el sitio quedará protegido. Si en el futuro se quiere seguir construyendo, tienen que hacer una excavación total. La cerámica recuperada, con la presión de la tierra y el paso del tiempo está rota, pero se limipiará para ver si hay algún material orgánico o de hueso, y después se restaurará. Ya se hizo una “repatriación” de 19 piezas del período preclásico tardío encontradas en el Bajo Lempa, cuando iban a meter una tubería de agua. Las maestras del centro escolar de Nueva Esperanza guardaron las piezas, y después un antropólogo notificó a Shibata. Los de Nueva Esperanza organizaron una comisión cultural y pidieron que se les devolvieran las piezas, después del estudio. Eso se hizo. En otra excavación estudiarán el contexto de las piezas: en el momento de la erupción del Ilopango, se estaban haciendo ceremonias con los utensilios. Se entregó el informe de las investigaciones como libro a la comunidad, que quiere organizar un museo. Sólo se necesita garantizar la seguridad del lugar y el cuidado de las piezas. Así se puede dejarlas como patrimonio cultural en las comunidades. La Dirección de Arqueología sólo tiene[...]

Producer/Host: Jim Bahoosh “Concrete”

Host: Sara Trunzo Engineer: Amy Browne Program Topic: Farmers’ Markets, Food Access Key Discussion Points: 1. What is happening with farmers’ markets in the WERU listening area? 2. What are some good practices for shoppers as they use farmers’ markets? 3. How can low-income residents get access to local products through farmers’ markets? Guests: 1. Amanda Provencher is a farmer at King Hill Farm and vendor at Blue Hill Farmers’ Market. 2. Bronwyn Clement is an Anti-Hunger & Opportunity Corps member and Maine Hunger Initiative VISTA serving with Healthy Acadia in Hancock County. 3. Sam Jenkins is a food access volunteer for Food AND Medicine at Brewer Farmers’ Market. 4. Colleen Hanlon-Smith is the Executive Director of the Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets. For More Information: http://www.mainefarmersmarkets.org/ http://www.foodandmedicine.org/ http://www.healthyacadia.org/

Host: Amy Browne Engineer: Joel Mann An open-mic style call-in show

Producer/Host: Amy Browne Our neighbors to the north are engaged in a heated battle against fracking, the highly destructive and controversial process of extracting gas from shale. In New Brunswick, a company called SWN is conducting seismic tests, known as thumping, as a precursor to locating new fracking sites. According to the website http://knowshalegasnb.ca/ 9 energy companies own 71 leases or licensing agreeements, covering 1.4 million hectares (about three and a half million acres) of land in New Brunswick, most of which overlap freshwater supply sources. The process of fracking consumes massive quantities of water, which is mixed with a proprietary cocktail of chemicals and blasted into shale to unleash the gas deposits. After being used in the process, the water is dangerously contaminated, and disposal becomes another problem. In addition, there have been spills, drinking water contamination, and earthquakes linked to fracking. In New Brunswick, some of the new fracking sites that are being explored cross native land, and tribal members say they were not consulted. On Friday of last week several people were arrested engaging in civil disobedience to stop the process, and the tests were halted while negotiations took place. Earlier this afternoon as we spoke with some of the activists involved, they were watching for signs of how the negotiations were going — watching to see if the trucks engaged in the testing would start back up—and vowing to not back down

Host: Jim Fisher Engineer: Amy Browne Program Topic: Guns and Violence Key Discussion Points: A) What is the prevalence of violence and how do guns affect behavior? B) What are some of the underlying causes of violence, particularly gun violence? C) How can society respond to continue reducing rates of violence? Guests: A) Pret Bjorn, Trauma Coordinator pbjorn@emh.org, Eastern Maine Health www.emh.org B) Peter Sly, Principal Independent legal consultant peter_sly@msn.com and member of Maine Citizens Against Hand Gun Violence www.mcahv.org

Producer/Host: Amy Browne Segment 1: Imagine spending 40 years in a six-by-nine foot cell. That’s been the fate of Herman Wallace, a prisoner in Louisiana. His story, and that of an artist who got to know him, is the subject of a new film called “Herman’s House”, which will be shown in Portland on Thursday night, and followed by a discussion led by writer and prison reform activist Lance Tapley. We spoke with him earlier today, about the film and the prison system here in Maine Segment 2: In Augusta Monday, a group called “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” joined the “*No More Names: National Drive to Reduce Gun Violence*” for a rally and the reading of a very long list of names of victims of gun violence. The event was part of a 25-state national bus tour, promoting what organizers call “common-sense” gun policies, including comprehensive and enforceable background checks. We spoke with one of the participants, Larry Gilbert, a former mayor of Lewiston whose years of experience working in law enforcement led him to take on this cause