Mark Swann (or “Swannie,” as he prefers) of Preble Street, joined us again this November in what is becoming a yearly tradition at TideSmart Talk. At this visit, Swannie and Stevoe discussed the VA and veteran homelessness. Swann clarified that homelessness in the veteran population has been declining over the last several years thanks to a voucher program set up by the Obama administration. A few years ago, there were approximately 15% of veterans who were homeless and that number has recently been a low as 5 or 6%. Since the programs set up for veterans were such a success, Swann hopes similar programs can be implemented in other places like, for example, DHHS for runaway teens or HUD for low income or struggling families.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Executive Director of Preble Street, Mark Swann (Swannie) (at right).

Preble Street is always working to add or strengthen their programs, so Swann was excited to talk about a new partnership with the medical students at Maine Medical Center. They will be meeting with staff and patrons alike to educate on medical issues. Ideally, the medical students will be catching potential medical issues before they need emergent help, but also teaching the staff about where to send patrons and when. Hopefully this should keep some of those in need out of the emergency departments when they can be seen quicker and for less money at another facility. This will also likely decrease the financial burden on the community.

Swann also talked about how Preble Street has gotten busier in recent years and busy for Preble Street is not a good thing for anyone. The increase in need isn’t coming from where you might think. Swann says that many non-profits in the area have had to close their doors recently due to a lack of funding. Many people think or assume that non-profits will just receive enough money in grants to stay open, but that’s not the case. Half of Preble Street’s funding comes from private donation. Year by year they are receiving less from the state and federal government and they receive nothing from the City of Portland.

If you’re looking for a way to help Preble Street (or another non-profit you’re passionate about), Swannie says the best ways to go about it are to donate your time volunteering, donate monetarily, or with Preble Street in particular, you can donate food. You can also help by being an advocate: talk to your legislators about how they can support Preble Street; take notice of the panhandlers or homeless – make eye contact with them and make them feel human; vocalize your support on social media or to your community.

For more information on Preble Street, visit their website at PrebleStreet.org.

One of the first things Dr. Glenn Cummings shared with Stevoe was that his family has been in Maine for years. Hundreds of them. Hailing from the Bath area, his father and grandfather both worked at Bath Iron Works (“and before that and before that”) and no one in his family had earned a college degree, but Cummings has four. He is now the President of the University of Southern Maine and is hoping to leave his mark on one of Maine’s second largest university.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed President of the University of Southern Maine, Dr. Glenn Cummings (at right).

He started his career in education at Gorham High School as a civics teacher and always encouraged his students to be involved. Not just to go out and vote, but to run for office and incite change. So when there was an open legislative seat in his district open for election, his students asked him if he was going to follow through with his advice and he did. And he won. And so began his career in politics. He was lucky enough to be invited to work in Washington, D.C. under the Obama administration in 2010 as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of Education before joining the UMaine system as the President of USM.

Cummings spoke with Stevoe about the creation of the Professional Studies Center that would merge the programs at USM with those at UMaine Orono (currently researched and led by Eliot Cutler). There has been some news lately surrounding the professors of the respective programs about their opinions not being heard or taken seriously. Cummings said he understands their concerns, especially if the creation of the Center becomes more of an acquisition of the USM programs. As it stands, Cummings believes that it will be beneficial for all parties, especially since the programs at both campuses have been losing enrollment to other local schools like Southern New Hampshire University who offers more online learning opportunities.

Cummings hopes to be a part of a lot of positive change at the school in the coming years. He hopes that all of USM’s programs can find a way to utilize online learning in an effort to really attract non-traditional students who may not have the time to visit the campus at all hours of the day. To learn more about President Cummings and the University of Southern Maine, visit their website at www.usm.maine.edu.

Mark Swann & Glenn Cummings [ 53:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Following a quarrelsome election season, Former Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic party presidential candidate Mike Dukakis joined us for a quick talk about the state of our union. Calling in from Boston, where he is currently teaching at Northeastern University, he and Stevoe discussed the media’s role in this year’s presidential election.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed former Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis (photo courtesy of (northeastern.edu).

When asked if media focused more on buzzworthy segments or articles this election season, Dukakis said he thought the press was “gullible” this time around. While, some news outlets were obviously not bi-partisan, they did seem to focus more on ratings and more “reality” style television/media than reporting facts.The media during the last several months seemed unruly, but Dukakis pointed out that historically it wasn’t much better.

In regards to Americans voting in a similar fashion as the Brits with the “Brexit” vote, Dukakis said that we can’t be surprised and that many media outlets reported almost literally, “This could happen to us.” He encouraged listeners to take this opportunity to observe and learn from this election (which we now know didn’t have nearly the voter turnout as expected) and to not repeat history.

Dukakis is hopeful that the President-elect will be a good leader and that all we can do now is to “be good Americans.” He doesn’t know how likely it is that Mr. Trump will follow through with some of his promises (e.g. building the southern border wall), but unfortunately we’ll have to just wait and see.

To hear the entire interview, please play the file below.

Mike Dukakis [ 53:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Scott Planting, a St. Louis native, has known his path in life has been to help those in need since early in his career. A Harvard graduate, but not one to brag about it, Planting worked in Farmington for a short while in graduate school and immediately felt connected to the people of the small town. Coming from St. Louis and studying in Boston, he made his career helping small communities in Maine and joined us today to talk about his work at Maine Seacoast Mission and how Maine’s economics have led to the downfall of some of these communities.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Scott Planting, President of Maine Seacoast Mission (at right).

Coming from an academic family and upbringing, Planting first experienced the “small-town” culture working with farmers in the midwest as a young adult. After graduating with a Masters of Divinity from Harvard University, Planting rooted himself in Maine. He was a Parish Minister for 35 years in Farmington and the Executive Director of the Mission at the Eastward for a large part of that time as well. In 2010, Planting assumed the position as President of the Maine Seacoast Mission (MSCM), based in Bar Harbor, and has been helping children, families, and all those in need from the region.

Per their website, the Mission provides “spiritual, health, and youth development programs in coastal and island communities from mid-coast to Downeast Maine.” Planting says the Mission is best known for their steel-hulled ship, Sunbeam V. The MSCM, founded in 1905, has consistently served Maine’s Outer Islands by boat. They provide a telemedicine service, a salon, and spaces for meals and worship in the communities of Cliff, Frenchboro, Isle au Haut, the Cranberry Islands, Matinicus, and Monhegan.

Planting also spoke of the Mission’s EdGE program (Ed Greaves Education). Among other things,EdGE is an after-school program in nine area towns for children Pre-K through high school. They offer childcare, but also try to make the students feel valued and important. Recently, EdGE sent several older children to Boston on a bus to explore the city on their own and offered them tickets to a Boston Bruins game that evening. The Mission (and EdGE) tries to give the children a sense of the world that due to what Planting calls an “opportunity gap,” they would normally not experience. The Mission also offers scholarship program to students who wish to earn a college degree.

For more information about Maine Seacoast Mission, please visit their website at SeacoastMission.org, visit them on Facebook at facebook.com/MSCMWelcome, or listen to the interview below.

Scott Planting [ 24:03 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We recently welcomed back Adam Burk to the TideSmart Talk studio. In advance of this year’s TEDxDirigo, Burk spoke about how he and the other producers build the event and had a quick talk with Stevoe about new programs at the Treehouse Institute and his involvement with Portland Global Shapers.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Producer of TEDxDirigo, Adam Burk (at right).

Maine’s first TEDx event was in 2010 after TED started testing the waters of the “TEDx” local events. They weren’t convinced it would be a success, but much to their surprise TEDx has exploded across the country. This is TEDxDirigo’s 9th annual event and Burk expects to sell over 300 tickets.

Following the TED theme, TEDxDirigo talks must be less than 18 minutes and presented with no notes. The speakers for this year’s event were, as always, chosen based on nominations made by the public. The production team narrows the 150 nominees to a panel of 15 speakers. This year, Burk and his team didn’t choose a topic for their talks, but rather a theme: Dissonance.

As the event was held just before the elections, Mainers were likely to be more passionate about certain topics. Burk said that the speakers were likely to touch on certain “political topics,” but none of the talks were going to be politically focused.

In Burk’s life at the Treehouse Institute, he was recently asked to build a Portland hub of the Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, which has over 450 other hubs in cities across the world. The Portland Global Shapers ” aims to cultivate an inclusive, sustainable, and resilient city whose residents are invested in the welfare of Portland.” They are working on four initial projects is called “Portland Participates, Resilient Portland, Girls Driving for Change and Hi, Neighbor.” All of these projects focus on getting Portlanders invested in their communities in different ways.

For more information on TEDxDirigo, the Treehouse Institute or Portland Global Shapers, please visit theTreehouseInstitute.com.

Adam Burk_2 [ 24:03 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Dr. Melik Peter Khoury (pronounced like “Corey”) became Unity College‘s 11th President earlier this year and recently joined us in-studio for an update about America’s Environmental College.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Dr. Melik Peter Khoury, President of Unity College (at right).

Dr. Khoury is a first generation American who found himself in Maine thanks to an American television show about the Korean War (better known as M*A*S*H). Khoury’s father owned a restaurant in west Africa that frequently had American patrons. One of the customers shared a copy of the television show. Khoury fell in love with the fictional town of Crabapple Cove, Maine, home of character Hawkeye Pierce. When Khoury made the decision to move to America to go to college, he immediately knew he wanted to be in Maine. Khoury recalls that his story is not so unique. While moderating over a group of international students during his tenure as SVP at Upper Iowa University, a Japanese student mentioned that he chose to live in Iowa because it’s the home of Star Trek’s Captain Kirk.

In the 20 years since Khoury has been in Maine, he has significantly expanded his resume. He completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees in the UMaine system (UMaine Fort Kent and UMaine Orono, respectively), and his DBA from the University of Phoenix. He worked in various positions while studying at UMaine Fort Kent, which helped shape his future in academia. Khoury learned how many people in how many departments it takes to make a college run smoothly. He has worked for several different colleges and universities, making sure to better each one along the way. He has been with Unity College since 2012, starting as the SVP for External Affairs, to Executive VP, to Chief Academic Officer before stepping in as the Interim President, filling the shoes of Dr. Stephen Mulkey, who left in 2015.

Since joining Unity College, the school has seen more than twenty percent increase in enrollment, a 35% increase in the operating budget, recorded the second highest solicited gift in the college’s history, and increased the annual fund by more than 300%. Khoury believes there is a “quiet revolution” happening among small colleges. Schools, like Unity, are trying to figure out how to be different and stand out against similar small schools. Khoury’s work at Unity has helped the college differentiate themselves, truly live up to their claim as America’s Environmental College and graduate students he calls “guardians of our [natural] resources.”

Khoury also spoke about types of education. He received his DBA online at the University of Phoenix and he believes that the future of education is going to include more online learning. While online education and “regular education” seem to be seen as two different options, Khoury says that one should enhance the other. The resources should be presented together in order to prepare someone to be a productive member of society.

To hear more about Dr. Khoury and Unity College, please listen to the interview below or visit unity.edu.

Dr. Melik Peter Khoury [ 1:02:35 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

TideSmart Talk recently welcomed back Dana Connors of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. At this visit, Stevoe and Connors delved deeper into Connors professional history only to find that he’s held just three jobs since graduating from the University of Maine in 1965. He has been at the Maine State Chamber of Commerce for over twenty years now and it certainly seems like he’s still enjoying himself.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed the President of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, Dana Connors (at right).

Dana Connors started his career with an internship. As a Public Management student at the University of Maine, he did not have a lot of money to be able to live and work at an internship in Portland while he was in school, so he took a position in Presque Isle where the cost of living was cheaper. After graduation, the city asked him to return as Assistant City Manager and when the sitting City Manager took another position two years later, the town asked 24-year-old Connors to step into the position.

Connors second position came when then-Governor Brennan asked him to be the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation. After a brief, volunteer-based, stint helping Governor Angus King transition into the Blaine House, Connors took the position with the Chamber. He has been there since 1994.

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce is “a voice for Maine businesses.” They have three full-time lobbyists on staff. One is dedicated to tax and appropriations issues, one to human resources and economic issues, and a third for environmental, energy, and educational issues. They all work closely with local and regional chambers because those are the people that are closest with the businesses and legislators. Connors guesses that there are approximately 60 chambers around the state, but most are volunteer groups who mainly organize town-wide events. There are 25 to 30 chambers who have paid staff members with clear missions.

The Chamber has approximately 5,000 member businesses and according to Connors, 79% of them employ fewer than 25 people. This is an important statistic to consider with the upcoming referendum votes in November. The decisions are difficult because Maine’s economy is so unlike many other states. Stevoe and Connors discussed where the Chamber stands on these issues as well as the pros and cons to voting yes. To hear more, please listen to the interview below.

Dana Connors 2 [ 53:53 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It’s back-to-school time in Southern Maine and Xavier Botana is ready to get started as Portland Public School‘s (PPS) Superintendent. Born in Cuba and raised in Madrid, Spain and Chicago, education has always been a big part of Botana’s life. His grandmother taught him that “education is the only thing that no one can take away from you” and he’s been sharing that sentiment with school-age children since he started his career.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Superintendent of Portland Public Schools, Xavier Botana (at right).

Botana started his career in Greater Chicago teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in an immigrant community and found himself “coaching” other teachers in the growing school district. This is where he got his first taste of administration and he fell in love with the idea of being able to help a greater number of children.

While working in the Chicago Public School system, Botana had the opportunity to work with the now US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, who showed him that strong and consistent leadership over a course of several years can really have a positive effect on a community. So when Botana discovered the vacancy in the Portland Public School system, he felt like he had the opportunity to do the same.

Botana and his family have visited Maine on several occasions before becoming aware of the position in Portland. The funny part about the Botana’s ending up in Portland is that he didn’t mean to at all. A saved Google news feed of Portland, Oregon (where his last job was located) pulled an article that caught Botana’s eye about the exiting Superintendent in Portland, Maine. He kept his eyes open for the official posting and was one of 40+ candidates for the job.

Botana has been “on the job” for a little over six weeks now and is looking forward to settling in to the school district of 7,000+ K-12 students, 3,000+ adult education students, and 500+ teachers. In a district and community where over 60 languages are spoken, Botana is well versed in ESL and ready to co-author the PPS strategic plan for the future. In his opinion, this is a “dream population to work with” and he’s ready for the challenge. To learn more about the new Superintendent or the Portland Public School System, listen to the interview below or go to PortlandSchools.org.

Xavier Botana [ 53:53 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Pulitzer Prize winning Ellen Goodman entered the journalism world at a time when there were no female journalists. She also had no intention of making writing her career. She had never written for the school newspapers, never took an English class, and didn’t know what she wanted to do when she graduated from Radcliffe/Harvard. She applied for a position as a researcher at Newsweek and worked the wire, because that was a woman’s job. She worked under writer Peter Benchley a friend, and former classmate. From there she discovered that she enjoyed writing and moved on from Newsweek, taking a position with the Detroit Free Press.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Ellen Goodman (at right).

When it comes to writing, Goodman recounted advice she’d been given at the start of her career: “You can be good, you can be bad, but you can’t be late.” This is how she began writing Op-Ed columns. In the 60’s, she had taken a job back east working for the Boston Globe and they opened the Op-Ed space up to in-house writers instead of just syndicated writers. Goodman found that when she only wrote about topics that interested her, it was easy to do. It was especially meaningful to her at the time because there were still so few female writers and she found herself being the “female voice” of the newspapers. She described her articles as breaking down the wall between personal life and professional life. She had been writing articles weekly until the 1970’s when the Washington Post asked to syndicate her articles and she really began writing full time.

Goodman said that when asked what she does for a living she responds, “I tell people what I think.” During the 60’s and 70’s when she really started to make a name for herself, she described the style of writing as “new journalism” where writers and authors had permission to write whatever they felt was important. She says this was the key to her emergence as a writer.

She officially left her column at the Globe six years ago, but she certainly hasn’t retired. Goodman has kept busy with a pet project: The Conversation Project. The Conversation Project stems from an oft written-about topic for Goodman. When her mother passed away, she realized how many people struggle with end-of-life decisions – no matter how it happens. She found that by having conversations and plans about death, it eases anxiety and reduces the chances of depression for everyone involved. Her goal is for every person and every family to designate a “decision-maker” (otherwise known as a proxy). Goodman says that half of people over 65 who go into the hospital do not have the ability to make decisions about their health. To learn more about The Conversation Project, go to theconversationproject.org.

To learn more about Ellen Goodman and her career, listen to the interview below.

Ellen Goodman [ 53:53 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Topher Mallory is “from away,” but worked his way up to Maine in his own time. A Massachusetts native, he competed his undergraduate degree at the University of New Hampshire, studying Business/Finance and Art. He had spent time in Maine’s mid-coast during the summers growing up and fell in love with it. During those summers he took up a job with Mexicali Blues and as the shop’s owner Pete Erskine says it, “[they] pulled Topher into its orbit slowly, but inevitably.” He is now the CEO of Mexicali Blues and recently started another, more personal endeavor: Split Rock Distilling.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Topher Mallory(at right).

Mallory joined us recently with product in tow. Split Rock Distilling, an organic distillery, is currently producing vodkas, whiskey, and bourbon. They’ve only been distributing for a short while, but Mallory says he and business partner Matt Page are already looking to expand their line to include gin and rum. They’re also hoping to hire some employees within the next year. They’re pouring daily at their location on Route One in Newcastle and selling locally at RSVP on Forest Avenue in Portland and at the Bow Street Market in Freeport. To find it at your local store or bar, just talk to your bartender or ask for it to be stocked.

In Mallory’s “other” world, Mexicali Blues is currently selling over 40,000 products that are sourced from artisans worldwide. Owners Pete and Kim Erskine are the purchasers and travel all over to find the right products for their stores. Mallory, the financial expert, is overseeing the chains six locations (Bangor, Portland x2, Freeport, Raymond, and Newcastle). Last year, the store gave over 1% of their profits to earthquake relief in Nepal where some of their vendors live. Going forward they would like to continue the trend of giving back for as long as they can.

The stores have also been hosting “retail-tainment” events. In July the Freeport location hosted an event where the owner’s son, Caleb Erskine, owner of Living Intent Yurt Company, set up a yurt for a free yoga class, henna tattooing, and educational classes during operating hours. They are planning on continuing these events at their other locations throughout the summer.

For more information on Mexicali Blues, Split Rock Distilling, or Topher himself, please listen to the interview below. You can visit the store’s website at MexicaliBlues.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/MexicaliBlues, or on Twitter @Mexicali_Blues. Split Rock Distilling can be found at SplitRockDistilling.com, facebook.com/SplitRockDistilling, and on Twitter @SplitRockMaine. You can also follow Topher on Twitter @ToperMallory.

Topher Mallory [ 53:53 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Sharon Bates is a woman with a mission. After her son, Anthony, died suddenly at age 20 in 2000 due to an undiagnosed Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, she decided it wouldn’t be good enough to “just plant a tree” in his memory – she needed to do more. That’s how the Anthony Bates Foundation (ABF) came to be and Bates is helping to provide free cardiac screenings for school-aged children and young adults to help prevent Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed the founder of The Anthony Bates Foundation, Sharon Bates (at right).

Bates joined us to talk briefly about her growing organization. Her foundation has found that 10% – 20% of those screened have some type of heart issue and 1 in every 1,000 children are born with a heart defect. In 2000, there were only two other foundations doing these types of screenings so Bates has been hard at work to reach as many people as possible.

She says all children are at risk and that over 12,000 children suffer cardiac arrest every year. She mentions that athletes tend to get more recognition, but everyone is at equal risk. Every three days our country loses a high school athlete due to SCA. In the last year, the ABF has screened over 11,000 and almost 1,500 of them had some type of issue (that’s one in every eight) and half of those cardiac issues can be life threatening.

Bates and the ABF works with local pediatric cardiologists and other medical professionals to perform the screenings, which includes EKGs and/or ultrasounds to identify issues. There are now over 350 organizations who do cardiac screenings thanks in part to the ease of access to education about SCA and other heart-related issues.

Bates has a goal to screen 10 million high school athletes and left Stevoe with a few tidbits of advice for community/school/team preparedness:

1. Have AEDs available and handy (and educate others on how to use them). 
2. Work with a local medical facility who is willing to facilitate screenings.

To learn more about SCAs, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, cardiac screenings, or the Anthony Bates Foundation, visit their website: anthonybates.org or listen to the interview below.

Florence Ann Romano joined us by phone from Chicago, IL. Starting as a “mother’s helper” at a young age, Romano always knew she enjoyed working with children and became a babysitter and eventually a nanny once in college. She earned a degree in Performance Theatre and Communications, which may not seem like the obvious choice for someone with a background in childcare, but Romano says it was quite fitting. She went on to write a children’s’ book, Nanny & Me, that illustrated the relationship between nannies and their charges.

Host of TideSmart Talk with Stevoe, Steve Woods, welcomed Florence Ann Romano, “The Windy City Nanny” (photo courtesy of florenceannromano.com ).

In Nanny & Me, Romano writes about a child’s transition from home life with their parents to spending their days with a nanny and also about the transition when a child ages out of needing a nanny or when the nanny leaves for other reasons.

Romano also discussed some of the stigmas that surround hiring nanny. Some believe that their spouse will cheat with the nanny and some parents are subject to judgement from other families who don’t need to rely on a nanny. She says that a major quality in a nanny is trustworthiness and the ability to have open communication between the nanny and the parents or caregivers. Romano says that 60% of American families have this type of childcare in their lives. She says it’s a good thing to have this type of help raising children.

To learn more from Romano about nannying or about her book, Nanny & Me, visit her website at florenceannromano.com or listen to the interview below.

Sharon Bates & Florence Ann Romano [ 53:53 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download