Susan Sharon
Deputy News Director Susan Sharon is a reporter and editor whose on-air career in public radio began as a student at the University of Montana. Early on, she also worked in commercial television doing a variety of jobs. Susan first came to Maine Public Radio as a State House reporter whose reporting focused on politics, labor and the environment. More recently she's been covering corrections, social justice and human interest stories. Her work, which has been recognized by SPJ, SEJ, PRNDI and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, has taken her all around the state — deep into the woods, to remote lakes and ponds, to farms and factories and to the Maine State Prison. Over the past two decades, she's contributed more than 100 stories to NPR.
Got a story idea? E-mail Susan: ssharon@mainepublic.org. You can also follow her on twitter @susansharon1
-
Attendance at a local club for French speakers is at an all-time high. French Canadian natives, once ashamed of their heritage, are connecting with African immigrants over their shared language. -
An event in Hebron, Maine, first billed itself as the redneck Olympics. That was until the U.S. Olympic Committee got wind of the name, and now it is the same event without the Olympic part of the name.
-
The religious sect known as Shakers, responsible for the song "Simple Gifts" and thousands of others, is almost gone — and a non-Shaker is trying to keep the group's musical history alive. -
A plan to establish a national park in Maine's North Woods could receive a boost from the White House by the end of the year. A long simmering battle has been brewing over the area's future.
-
A cap on the number of opiate addiction patients that doctors can treat means many who want to take Suboxone can't get access to it. In Maine, the governor has reduced funding for the treatment.
-
Churches are retiring their hymnals and organs, hoping to attract younger crowds, but at West Auburn Congregational in Maine, Charles Marshall has been playing for 70 years with no plans to retire.
-
South Portland, Maine, has blocked crude oil from being loaded onto ships at its port. Environmentalists are cheering, but the Portland Montreal Pipeline Corp. says the ban won't hold up in court. -
The state could elect the nation's first openly gay governor this fall. But Mike Michaud only recently came out, and some question whether he deserves the backing of Maine's largest gay rights group. -
Benzodiazepines like Xanax and Valium are among the most widely prescribed drugs in the U.S. Patients and addicts often mix them with prescription painkillers — sometimes to deadly effect. -
Lots of New England towns have taken non-binding votes against tar sands oil, but residents of South Portland, Maine, are about to take a vote that could matter. They are considering an ordinance designed to prevent their port from being used to export tar sands to world markets via an existing pipeline that connects Maine to Montreal.
