By DARLA L. PICKETT
Staff Writer Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Sirois tackles worldly issues on a local or statewide scale as the independent producer of "Maine Social Justice," a program aired on public access cable television channel 11 and aimed at offering an alternative point of view.

This month's segment, for instance, is about the life and travails of a homeless man traveling from Skowhegan to Fairfield, according to Sirois, who doubles as his own reporter.

"There's a lot of injustice in the world, and I want to devote time to trying to make the world a better place," Sirois said of the show's concept. "I cover things that are good for people -- like the Skowhegan forum on youth violence -- and sometimes bad things that are done to somebody."

Sirois recently assembled a show about attempts to get a new trial for Dennis Dechaine, convicted in 1989 of killing 12-year-old Sarah Cherry in Bowdoin. It will be broadcast at 11:53 a.m. and 11:53 p.m. on March 1-4..

Rich Bishop, program director of Channel 11, said he seldom gets feedback on shows, but said three or four people contacted him with comments about the Dechaine story.

Sirois said he first became interested in Dechaine's case at the Common Ground Fair, where he met up with retired teacher Bernie Huebner of Waterville.

"He told me he was now a member of Trial and Error, devoted to getting a retrial for Dechaine," Sirois said. Sirois decided to have a roundtable discussion.

The 55-minute TV show, called "Trial of Errors- The Dennis Dechaine Case," is not about Dechaine's guilt or innocence, but about whether he had a fair trial.

Sirois' footage of the Hempstock concert in Starks last year drew some controversy because of its inclusion of marijuana smoking. However, with a little editing, the production remained intact.

"Facts are facts," Sirois maintains.

Sirois said he has submitted his programs to four different public access channels in the area, and he is hoping for feedback. He said his shows also have been picked up by TV3 in Brunswick, by the Portland public access television station and also have appeared on YouTube, a user-generated video Internet site.

Sirois, a former merchant marine, recently retired from Madison Paper Industries. He said he has submitted at least two shows a month over the past year for the "Maine Social Justice" program. He has filmed peace rallies in Waterville and Bangor, the Hempstock Festival in Starks, the Hope Festival in Bangor, a labor rally in Waterville, a Fairfield student trip to the former Yugoslavia and a World Hunger Project presentation at Colby College.

"All my programs are to see that social justice is available to everyone," Sirois said. "I've never copyrighted. People can use my tapes in any way they see fit to help their cause. They have my absolute permission."