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mightyflamethrower · 11 months ago

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So, That's Why Police Never Confronted Maine Mass Shooter Robert Card

Robert Card murdered 18 people on October 25 in Lewiston, Maine. He attacked a bowling alley and a restaurant during his senseless rampage. He vanished hours later but was later discovered having killed himself from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Card had a history of severe mental illness, which led to a two-week stint at a mental health clinic last summer. He was hearing voices and threatened to attack a local National Guard base at nearby Saco. He was reportedly a 20-year Army veteran and a trained firearms instructor. New details shed more light on how this shooting was tragically preventable and why police were hesitant to confront Card despite all the red flags staring them in the face:

Police who declined to confront an Army reservist in the weeks before he killed 18 people in Maine’s deadliest mass shooting feared that doing so would “throw a stick of dynamite on a pool of gas,” according to video released Friday by law enforcement.

The video, which was released to the Portland Press Herald and then sent to The Associated Press, documents a Sept. 16 call between Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Sgt. Aaron Skolfield and Army Reserve Capt. Jeremy Reamer. Skolfield was following up with Reamer about the potential threat posed by Robert Card, 40, who carried out the Oct. 25 attacks at a bowling alley and a restaurant. He was found dead two days later of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Military officials alerted police in September that Card had been hospitalized in July after exhibiting erratic behavior while training, that he still had access to weapons and that he had threatened to “shoot up” an Army reserve center in Saco, a city in southern Maine. The sheriff’s department responded by briefly staking out the Saco facility and going to Card’s home in Bowdoin for what Reamer described as a “welfare check.”

Skolfield mentioned Maine’s yellow flag law, which can be used to remove guns from potentially dangerous people, after Reamer said Card had refused medical treatment after his hospitalization.

“So that, obviously, is a hurdle we have to deal with. But at the same time, we don’t want to throw a stick of dynamite on a pool of gas, either — make things worse,” he said.

Reamer expressed similar concerns. “I’m a cop myself,” he said. “Obviously, I don’t want you guys to get hurt or do anything that would put you guys in a compromising position.”

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bioonemaine · 15 days ago

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[email protected]

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Lucas Murray

Owner

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indie-bard-maiden · 27 days ago

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~The Haunted Manor~

(the witches/ghost story, apart of my short story collection 'The Ballad of Hollowfaye' also available to read on wattpad)

Three witches (two Vespers and a Depraysier) and a mortal unite over a Ouija board in the Vespers' haunted house and try to commune with the spirits of their brutally murdered and dearly departed family.

Genre: YA Fantasy

Word Count: (to be determined)

(Pt 4)

I was new to Hollowfaye just a month ago. The residers trampled over one another to be the first to tell me about the legends and the curses and who to stay away from and which church had the highest-soul-saving percentage. I already knew everything.

My brother, Grimsbane, made right sure I was brushed up on the entire history of ye ole Hollowfaye before he let me take out the trash, let alone register for school. I could quote it like a memorized biography:

"Hollowfaye was just icy cliffs and thick pine and maple forests before the Witch trials made it to America. Witches who'd heard about the horror of Salem moved as quickly as they could, some abandoning everything they owned in the late hours of the night. Some landed in Hollowfaye, the county nestled quaintly between Sagadahoc and Cumberland, some brought their darknesses with them.'

So after I'd become settled into my classes at Hollowfaye High and I'd come to learn lots about the blessed Vespers, I decided that I should like to do something nice for once. They had an air of damned-ness about them, and no matter how much they smiled or joked, it wouldn't go away until the curse was broken—OR, you guessed it, they died from the grisliest of deaths.

Unfortunately, the only experience I have with death is speaking to those that have been a victim of it. In mortal terms, that would be like if the World Series was happening, and the only perspective you got was from someone who got hit by a foul ball.

It lacks taste.

But, again, I decided to be nice, and I thought the least I could do for these doomed girls was connect them with their many, many lost ones. I approached the blonde outside of 'potions & things' and tried to get her away from her lingering friend, but he was a persistent young fellow. I couldn't just reveal that all the Hollowfayers might be onto something when it comes to witchcraft.

Then I realized that was the perfect cover. I could simply tell them I was a witch, that's hardly as if I'm coming out as a real witch. Grimsbane would be belligerent but he always was no matter what I did.

"I'm like you," I say all stricken and mortally serious, "I can help you. I can connect you with them."

And she looked terrified, poor thing, like she could tell I wasn't playing some cruel joke on her. My words were true, after all, but my temperance was not.

"With whom, exactly?"

I had to fight not to roll my eyes. Whom--? She couldn't be serious. Whom else other than your brutally murdered family? I didn't say that because, of course, I was being nice.

"Lost ones..." I spoke in a raspy whisper-like voice like that of a fortune teller, "I can speak with the departed and I've seen your dreams." The 'seen your dreams' bit was a just to make it a little fun for myself. Seeing people's dreams? How ridiculous, just the very thought.

Before she could say anything, her friend grabbed her hand unoccupied with a box of 'familiar food' that appeared to be for a species of cats with glowing red eyes, and lead her in the opposite direction. Her gaze was transfixed with me until he drove them away in a seemingly inoperable vehicle. I knew she'd contact me soon. I didn't realize it would be the very next day.

"Maylin, right?" She greeted me at my locker, her friend lingering by her side and glaring me down as if he was the familiar she'd been feeding and could sense what I was.

"Mal-in, actually." I corrected.

"Sorry—Malin—" She looked over her shoulder at her friend, "Can you give us a second, Abbotticus?" He crossed his arms and stood tall, glowering at me through brown eyes and a clenched jaw. She placed her hand on his shoulder and somehow he relaxed and tensed at the same time. "I can handle this... Please..."

"Fine, I'll save you a seat." He murmurs before turning and disappearing into the crowd.

"Sorry about him." She sighed as she turned back to face me, "I would like to take you up on your offer."

I'll admit her confidence took me by surprise. No other witch had been so quick to trust and approach, it wasn't normally in our nature. This made me keen. Grimsbane would be surprised when he realized just how well I was fitting in.

She continued, "...tonight actually, while the veil is thinnest." And she said it so confidently that I didn't have the heart to tell her that the rule only applies to witches not in the Death Coven. Us Depraysiers specialize in the arts of the soul—our powers have revolved around death since the dawn of time.

"We should go some place high in energy—the graveyard where they're buried might be best." Another lie to make it more interesting and fun for myself.

She raised an eyebrow, "I think we should do it at our house instead, you see, it's haunted."

"Oh," I said through clenched teeth, "Right, how could I have been so stupid?" This girl was no fun.

She laughed politely and shrugged, "Don't worry about it, you'll learn our legends in no time. Does eight o'clock sound okay?"

I nodded. They started to walk past me before she stopped abruptly with a loud, "OH!" She turned back around with a mystical smile all her own.

"You know which house, right?" But before I could respond, she waved me off, "What am I talking about—of course you do—it's the one in my dreams."

I hadn't the slightest idea where her house was, but I had three class periods to ponder it at least; I was lucky enough to find the answer in the first. It was 'Astronomy & Astrology'. I was seated behind two girls, one in a cat costume the other wrapped in white cloth like some sort of mummy, who couldn't decide which of them was going to 'potions & things' after school to get toilet paper for their O' Hallows Eve plans.

"I'm not waiting at the Vesper cottage for an hour alone at midnight—are you literally on crack?"

The other girl rolled her eyes, "Just wait at the sign."

"What sign?"

She rolled her eyes again, "Beware For Death Meets You Here' sign. God, sometimes you can be so stupid."

And I figured Hollowfaye wasn't that big. How long would it possibly take for me to find said sign? I opted to follow the girl that didn't have something wrong with her eyes. While the teacher, Mrs. Noxis, droned on, I thought about the things to come.

I should've gotten more sleep, eaten more at lunch, drank more water—using my power might be in my blood, but that doesn't mean it doesn't take the soul out of me. It's not easy. I sleep for days afterward; my strength returns slowly and only with the aid of ambrosia and a classy dose of blackberry and chamomile tea.

Most of the time, I lose my senses until I recover. Once, after I'd been granted my powers on the moon of my thirteenth year, I'd been using my powers obsessively for a couple of weeks, I went blind for a month.

It'd happened after speaking to a witch, though. Immortals are the hardest to speak to—their spirits are heavier; it takes at least triple the effort of holding open the door to life for them than it does for humans.

Human souls are different than all the rest. They're easier, light and misty. When I speak with them, there's cool rush like walking through a foggy morning. My lungs loosen at the detox of their spirit, and I'm completely weightless. Others can be bitter cold, like having ice-water dumped on you. They're heavier too.

So not only do I have to suffer their presence, I lose the use of some of my senses, sometimes I even go left-handed, for a period of time. Alas, the power is a gift as well as a curse.

When the bell rang, I upped and followed the girl in the cat costume whom I've come to know as Kat, while her friend, Callisto, walked in the opposite direction. She didn't even notice me following her. It was so dark from the shade of the sky-high trees and because of the approaching winter, that it was hard to see even a foot in front of you.

She flinched at nothing, though. Not at a crack in the woods surrounding us or at the passing cars. Nothing scared her. She had no anxieties, was positive nobody was following her. She made it to 'potions & things' with me close in tow. I waited a moment before I followed her inside.

I wasn't expecting such a store. It was like nothing I'd ever seen and I'd seen many things, with Grimsbane's permission. Walls covered in shelves of potions and "things". Things was the perfect word for them; obscure items, some old and rusted, others new and shiny, broken things, hidden things, lost things. Things, things, things.

The walls were painted Arsenic Green, but in most places it was curling up or chipping—revealing the brown, water-damaged walls beneath. The floor was dark-wood planks, the kind that reminded me of the dungeons back home—the gathered grim and grime within the cracks that could never be cleaned out despite one's best spells.

The first aisle went clear through to the back of the shop where there was a graying woman, kneeling by her altar, pulling stringed beads between her fingers, whispering frantically and nodding her head back and forth.

"How may I assist you?" Sang-song a man whom I hadn't noticed. He stood behind the counter where the rings and amulets were locked away, in front of a wall-shelf of spell books, including some I'd studied cover to cover at the Academy.

"I'm—uh—"

His violet eyes widened, "You're starving, dear."

My stomach growled not a second later. He made me forget what I was actually doing while he lead me to the aisle of food and ingredients.

"These—" he grabbed a box bundled in a tea-stained cloth and wrapped with a green-silk ribbon, "—are absolutely divine. Harvested off only the " I reached out to grab it, half-expecting him to cackle and pull it back, but he did no such thing.

He smiled encouragingly as I untied the ribbon and unraveled the cloth. My stomach was patient no longer, and my mouth watered at the thought of sustenance, only to be met with a box of raisins and an illustrated face—an illustrated face I'd studied before—the face on the cover of our 'Psychic Healing' textbook back home.

Hollowfaye truly was a strange place--somehow the inhabitants knew everything and nothing simultaneously. They know what they are and where they've come from, and yet, still they don't know what they are or where they've come from.

It's like if spirits had never known they came from the world of the living. They're themselves but they're not really themselves. They've lost the very things that made them.

I thank the man, but when I look up, he's vanished. For the first time, I'm actually impressed with a Hollowfarer. Then I realize he actually hasn't vanished, but instead kneeling by the woman who once was kneeling herself but who is now a heap on the floor. He didn't seem worried though. As if some other things sold here were life insurance plans and coffins.

I watch the scene unfold for a moment, unable to look anywhere else--him caressing her cheek, her desperate whimpers ceasing--before I remember I'm in this store on a time-sensitive quest. I stow the raisins away in my jacket pocket, walking to the edge of the aisle and make some attempt at locating my guide.

I walk past the last aisle and turn around in horrified confusion. The store is completely deserted! She's gone! I've lost her!

I barely take a muffled step before she's jumping out at me from behind a shelf of self-satisfaction toys called the "I-Suck-U-Bust" with a. model painted like the black abyss. A lacerating scream barrels out of me.

"Why are you following me, Newb?" She was fast, quick, smarter than I'd given her credit for.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

NEXT PART AVAILABLE╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ HERE

BACK TO MASTERLIST? CLICK ╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ HERE

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to like, reblog, and/or comment if you liked or hated it. Spill the tea. Share your thoughts directly with the source (me.)

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kb1cqx · 5 months ago

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Weather Alerts-Wells, ME

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

From Thu 3:55 pm until 5:00 pm EDT

1 of 3

Action Recommended

Take shelter in place or per instructions

Issued By

Portland - ME, US, National Weather Service

Affected Area

York County

Description

The National Weather Service in Gray Maine has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Northeastern York County in southwestern Maine... Southern Cumberland County in southwestern Maine... Until 500 PM EDT. At 354 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Portland, moving southeast at 20 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect wind damage to roofs, siding, and trees. Locations impacted include... Portland, South Portland, Westbrook, Cumberland, Gorham, Falmouth, Cape Elizabeth, Buxton, Scarborough, Standish, Yarmouth, Old Orchard Beach, Harpswell, Chebeague Island, Frye Island, and Windham. This includes the following highways... Interstate 295 between mile markers 1 and 16. Interstate 95 between mile markers 40 and 57. This also includes... Higgins Beach, Crescent Beach State Park, and Scarborough Beach State Park. Peaks Island, Long Island, Cushing Island, Cousins Island, and Great Diamond Island. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. HAIL THREAT...RADAR INDICATED; MAX HAIL SIZE...1.00 IN; WIND THREAT...RADAR INDICATED; MAX WIND GUST...60 MPH

Severe Thunderstorm Watch

From Thu 1:03 pm until 8:00 pm EDT

2 of 3

Action Recommended

Attend to information sources as described in the instructions

Issued By

Portland - ME, US, National Weather Service

Affected Area

York County

Description

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 438 IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS IN MAINE THIS WATCH INCLUDES 11 COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL MAINE KENNEBEC KNOX LINCOLN SAGADAHOC WALDO IN SOUTHWEST MAINE ANDROSCOGGIN CUMBERLAND YORK IN WEST CENTRAL MAINE SOMERSET IN WESTERN MAINE FRANKLIN OXFORD IN NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS WATCH INCLUDES 10 COUNTIES IN CENTRAL NEW HAMPSHIRE BELKNAP MERRIMACK STRAFFORD SULLIVAN IN NORTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE CARROLL COOS GRAFTON IN SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE CHESHIRE HILLSBOROUGH ROCKINGHAM THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ALFRED, ALNA, ANDOVER, APPLETON, ARROWSIC, ASHLAND, ATHENS, ATKINSON, AUBURN, AUGUSTA, AVON, BARRINGTON, BATH, BELFAST, BERLIN, BETHEL, BETHLEHEM, BIDDEFORD, BOSCAWEN, BOWDOIN, BOWDOINHAM, BREMEN, BRIDGEWATER, BRISTOL, BROOKFIELD, BROOKS, BRYANT POND, BYRON, CAMDEN, CANTERBURY, CAPE ELIZABETH, CHESTER, CHINA, CLAREMONT, COBURN GORE, CONCORD, CORNISH, CORNVILLE, CROYDON, DAMARISCOTTA, DAVIS, DERRY, DOVER, DRESDEN, DUMMER, DUNBARTON, DURHAM, EMBDEN, ERROL, FARMINGTON, GILFORD, GILSUM, GOSHEN, GRANTHAM, GREENE, HAMPSTEAD, HANOVER, HOLLIS, HOPE, JACKSON, JACKSON, KEENE, KINGFIELD, KNOX, LACONIA, LEBANON, LEBANON, LEMPSTER, LEWISTON, LIBERTY, LINCOLN, LITTLETON, LOUDON, LYME, MADBURY, MANCHESTER, MARLOW, MILAN, MILLSFIELD, MINOT, MONTVILLE, MORRILL, NASHUA, NEW GLOUCESTER, NEW PORTLAND, NEWCASTLE, NEWTON, OLD ORCHARD BEACH, OQUOSSOC, OSSIPEE, OWLS HEAD, PALERMO, PALMYRA, PELHAM, PHIPPSBURG, PITTSFIELD, PLAISTOW, PORTLAND, RANGELEY, ROCHESTER, ROCKLAND, ROCKPORT, ROLLINSFORD, SABATTUS, SACO, SALEM, SANFORD, SIDNEY, SKOWHEGAN, SOMERSWORTH, SOUTH PORTLAND, SUGAR HILL, SULLIVAN, SURRY, TOPSHAM, TUFTONBORO, TURNER, UNITY, UPTON, VASSALBORO, WAKEFIELD, WALES, WATERVILLE, WESTBROOK, WHITEFIELD, WILSONS MILLS, WINDSOR, WOLFEBORO, AND YORK POND.

Excessive Heat Warning

From Thu 11:00 am until 7:00 pm EDT

3 of 3

Action Recommended

Execute a pre-planned activity identified in the instructions

Issued By

Portland - ME, US, National Weather Service

Affected Area

Coastal York County

Description

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 7 PM EDT THIS EVENING... WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with heat index values up to 105 expected. WHERE...Portions of south central, southwest, and western Maine and central, northern, and southern New Hampshire. WHEN...From 11 AM this morning to 7 PM EDT this evening. IMPACTS...Heat related illnesses increase significantly during extreme heat and high humidity events. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Do not leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles. Car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.

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actualnewsagency · 1 year ago

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Maine Gunman Made Threats Against His Army Base Last Month, Sheriff Says

A sheriff in Maine says he sent an alert to all law enforcement agencies in the state last month after learning that an Army reservist had made threats against his base, a notification that came weeks before the reservist fatally shot 18 people in America’s deadliest mass shooting this year. Sheriff Joel Merry of Sagadahoc County said he sent the alert sometime in September in an effort to find…

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tieflingkisser · 1 year ago

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Police Were Told Maine Gunman Had Threatened to Carry Out Shooting Spree

A Maine sheriff’s office tried to contact the gunman who later carried out America’s deadliest mass shooting this year, but the office ultimately left him alone.

Six weeks before an Army reservist fatally shot 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, the police received alarming warnings that the reservist had grown increasingly paranoid, had punched a friend and had said he was going to carry out a shooting spree. But no law enforcement officials ever made contact with him, according to records released on Monday. The warnings about the reservist, Robert R. Card II, 40, were far more explicit than Maine officials have publicly acknowledged in the wake of Wednesday’s shooting, America’s deadliest mass shooting this year. They came from Mr. Card’s family members and his Army Reserve unit in Saco, Maine, and were investigated by the Sheriff’s Office in Sagadahoc County, where he lived. In September, the Army Reserve contacted the Sheriff’s Office, and a sergeant was assigned to check on Mr. Card after he had accused several friends, in what struck them as a paranoid delusion, of calling him a pedophile and had punched one of them.

The Reserve also told the Sheriff’s Office that Mr. Card had been treated at a psychiatric hospital for two weeks in July before being released. The Reserve said that more recently, Mr. Card had told a friend that he had guns and was “going to shoot up the drill center at Saco and other places,” according to a report written by a sheriff’s sergeant. The sheriff’s sergeant, Aaron Skolfield, went to Mr. Card’s home on Sept. 16 and tried to make contact with him, but no one came to the door despite the sergeant hearing someone he thought was Mr. Card moving around inside. Sergeant Skolfield said that soon after, he spoke with a unit commander in the Reserve who said that he thought it was best for Mr. Card to “have time to himself for a bit.” Sergeant Skolfield also said in the report that he had contacted Mr. Card’s brother, Ryan Card, who said that he and his father would try to take his brother’s guns away. Sheriff Joel Merry of Sagadahoc County said in a statement that he believed his department had acted appropriately, but he added that his office would evaluate its procedures for wellness checks. Sergeant Skolfield declined to comment over the weekend when a reporter contacted him by phone. Earlier on Monday, Gov. Janet Mills of Maine declined to answer questions about law enforcement’s prior interactions with Mr. Card. The state’s public safety commissioner suggested on Saturday that law enforcement’s only interaction with Mr. Card was an investigation into a possible drunken driving incident in 2007.

#mass shooting #maine shooting #gun violence #news #usa #maine

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conandaily2022 · 1 year ago

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List of people Bowdoin, Maine's Robert Card shot in Lewiston

Robert R. Card II, 40, of Bowdoin, Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States is in the U.S. Army Reserve stationed out of Saco, York County, Maine. He is a certified firearms instructor. While Card had no combat deployments, he had extensive training, including firearms training and land navigation. He received an Army Service Ribbon, the Army Achievement Medal, two Army Reserve Component…

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#Androscoggin County #Bowdoin #Lewiston #Maine #Sagadahoc County

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mystlnewsonline · 1 year ago

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Maine - Major Disaster Declaration - Spring Storms

Maine Governor Mills and Maine Congressional Delegation Announce President’s Approval of Major Disaster Declaration for Severe Spring Storm (STL.News) Maine Governor Janet Mills and U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, and Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden announced Friday that President Joe Biden has approved the State of Maine’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration for eight Maine counties impacted by a severe spring storm that brought heavy rain and wind that created flooding, swelling rivers, power outages, tree damage, and more than $2 million in infrastructure damage. Last month, Governor Mills requested that President Biden issue the Major Disaster Declaration for Franklin, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Oxford, Sagadahoc, Somerset, and Waldo Counties for damage sustained by the storm on April 30 and May 1. “We are grateful that President Biden has approved Maine’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration,” said Governor Janet Mills and Maine’s Congressional Delegation in a Joint Statement. “This declaration will make available critical Federal funding that Maine will use to complete costly infrastructure repairs necessary after this spring’s severe storm.” The President’s approval of the Major Disaster Declaration unlocks Federal assistance through the Public Assistance (PA) Program. The Public Assistance Program provides supplemental grants to State, local, and Tribal governments so communities can quickly respond to and recover from major disasters or emergencies. The Disaster Declaration also unlocks Federal funding through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program for the entire State of Maine. The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program provides funding to State, local, and Tribal governments so they can develop hazard mitigation plans and rebuild in a way that reduces or mitigates future disaster losses in their communities. On May 12th, Maine formally requested a Joint Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) for Public Assistance. On-site assessments conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were conducted across a total of nine counties between May 29th and June 2nd, and a total of three virtual assessments occurred between the dates of May 26th and June 9th. The assessment validated $2,978,440 in infrastructure damage. SOURCE: Maine Governor Read the full article

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tallmantall · 2 years ago

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#JamesDonaldson On #MentalHealth – As Wait For #Mental Help Increases, #SuicideAttempts Continue To Rise

The Mills administration has poured money into #behavioralhealthservices, but one expert says there’s not enough money in the government to fix the problems. BY ROSE LUNDYMAINE MONITOR Demand for #mentalhealthservices that peaked during the #pandemic has remained stubbornly high, increasing waitlists and spilling #patients into Maine’s hospital emergency rooms. Prior to #COVID-19, Mainers might wait weeks to see a #behavioralhealthspecialist. Now waitlists are months long, said Dr. Anthony Ng, ??medical director for community services at Northern Light Acadia Hospital. IF YOU NEED HELP If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Maine crisis hotline at 888-568-1112 or text the #nationalcrisistextline at 741741. You can also dial #988 to be connected to the hotline. “You could put them on the waitlist but for every moment they wait, weeks and months, their illness could worsen,” Ng said. Maine was losing #psychiatrists in the years leading to the #pandemic, and the numbers have continued to drop. In 2019, three counties – Franklin, Piscataquis and Sagadahoc – did not have any #psychiatrists, according to a statewide report released last month. Staff shortages during the #pandemic forced outpatient programs to reduce services despite rising rates of #isolation, #depression and #anxiety at a time of economic uncertainty and political discontent, said Ng, who also is a Distinguished Fellow of the #AmericanPsychiatricAssociation. Maine already had high #suiciderates before the #pandemic: In 2019, the state #suicide rate per 100,000 was 19.4 compared to 13.9 nationally. #COVID-19 made the situation worse, and the need for services has not eased despite the easing of #pandemic lockdowns that caused widespread #isolation, #mentalhealthprofessionals told The Maine Monitor. Linda Durst Linda Durst, chief medical officer with Maine Behavioral Healthcare, said she has tracked more #suicide deaths during the #pandemic than in the five years prior. In particular, she’s seen an “acceleration in severe #suicideattempts in #youth.” Durst also chairs the department of psychiatry at Maine Medical Center. The numbers have been higher in the past year, perhaps because as the #pandemic has dragged on, “people have gotten less hopeful,” Durst said. And delayed care meant that people who seek care had more severe cases. But there are efforts to address this. Gov. Janet Mills allocated $230 million for #behavioralhealthservices this fiscal year, including $15.4 million released in June to help reduce waitlists for community-based services and reduce emergency department use for #behavioralhealth crises. And Maine Medical Center has expanded its psychiatry residency program into #ruralcommunities. Experts say the #pandemic is an opportunity to rethink the way they deliver #mentalhealthservices. #EMERGENCYROOMS GET BUSIER When there aren’t enough treatment providers, people with more severe #mentalhealthchallenges may end up in emergency rooms. #Behavioralhealth visits to emergency rooms in Maine hospitals have remained 25 percent higher than before the #pandemic, according to a survey conducted this week by the Maine Hospital Association. The length of stay in the emergency room has increased 25 percent — and in some cases as much as 35-40 percent. At one point last year, psychiatric #patients took up half the emergency beds in Maine’s largest hospital system, the Bangor Daily News reported. Keeping #patients in emergency room beds for extended stays – a practice called boarding – is one of the top problems facing hospitals, said Steven Michaud, president of the Maine Hospital Association. It’s a bad situation for everyone because the #patient doesn’t receive the long-term level of care needed, it puts an extra strain on staff and takes away beds from other #patients. Hospitals have seen rising rates of violence from #patients toward staff as a result. “It doesn’t mean that all #behavioralhealth #patients are violent. Not at all. But they are disproportionately more so, and to say otherwise is just not facing reality,” Michaud said. “So when we have these #patients it is more dangerous for our staff in the #emergencyroom.” Workforce shortages are part of the problem, but the lack of an adequate number of treatment centers goes back to the national movement in the 1970s and 1980s to shrink state #mentalhealth facilities, Michaud said. “This is a long-standing problem, which tells you there hasn’t been enough services out in the community for years, if not decades,” Michaud said. “And by the way, this is a national phenomenon. Everybody like me is pulling their hair out about this across the country.” In addition to allocating funds to providers, the Mills administration in January opened a close supervision residential facility to provide an alternative to incarceration or hospitalization, opened a crisis center in Portland and expanded crisis support for #youth based on a pilot program in Aroostook County, according to a spokesperson. Increasing funding to providers and increasing the number of beds for in-#patient treatment will help, but Michaud said it’s important to also start thinking about different methods of providing care. “There’s not enough money in all the government to take care of this so we’re going to have to do both: We need more resources … but we also need different ways of looking at it in terms of models,” Michaud said. #James Donaldson notes:Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space. #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticleOrder your copy of James Donaldson's latest book,#CelebratingYourGiftofLife:From The Verge of Suicide to a Life of Purpose and Joy www.celebratingyourgiftoflife.com DISAPPEARING #PSYCHIATRISTS Between 2015 and 2020, the number of practicing licensed #psychiatrists in Maine dropped by half to 110. The drop-off is due in large part to a wave of retirements that was hastened by the #pandemic, Durst said. The average age of a #psychiatrist in Maine is 55. But Durst added that there seems to be renewed interest in psychiatry and she’s seen impressive applicants for training programs. Maine Medical Center runs the state’s only #psychiatric residency program, which offers four years of postgraduate training. There are five residents in the standard program and three in #child psychiatry. The program was expanded this year to include two residents in a rural track in Rockland. There’s a lot of evidence that people from #ruralareas, or who are trained in #ruralareas, are more likely to stay there, said John Gale, a senior research associate at the University of Southern Maine and the former president of the National Rural Health Association. Experts said it’s important to have providers in #ruralareas because they have local knowledge and understanding of what their #patients are experiencing, and are better able to connect and treat them. In addition, it’s difficult for people to drive hours from home, spending time and gas money, to receive these services. Gale said the shortage of workforce professionals and #mentalhealthservices has existed for his entire 40-year career in the field. There’s been some progress but it hasn’t solved the problem. “We’re not likely to produce enough #psychiatrists and #socialworkers who want to go to #ruralcommunities to fill the need, so I think we have to think about it differently than we used to,” he said. Dr. Anthony Ng Telehealth is one way to improve access but it’s a “double edged sword,” said Ng, with Acadia Hospital. While it may bridge the gap for people who live in areas without local #mentalhealthservices, telehealth also means that Maine-based #psychiatrists could work remotely in other places. In addition, not everyone has broadband to support telehealth communications. Experts told The Maine Monitor that one of the most important solutions is to weave #mentalhealthservices into primary care, school-based programs and community support. This is a chance to be more proactive and work on #stress reduction, rather than wait for problems to get so severe that they need to see a #psychiatrist, Ng said. “This is time for us to look at new ways to work with communities, rather than the old-fashioned way of just putting more people out there to see more #patients.” This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor. The Maine Monitor is a local journalism product published by The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, a nonpartisan and nonprofit civic news organization. Read the full article

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pashterlengkap · 2 years ago

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Military dad & trans daughter sue for right of military dependents to get gender-affirming surgery

A 21-year-old transgender college student is suing the Department of Defense (D0D) and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for denying her gender-affirming surgery under her dad’s military health insurance. The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe in court filings, lives in Sagadahoc County, Maine, as does her father and co-plaintiff, a retired Senior Master Sergeant in the Marine Corps and Air Force, identified as John Doe. The pair are suing in the U.S. District Court in Maine for a declaratory judgment that denial of gender-affirming surgery for military dependents is unconstitutional. They are also seeking an injunction barring enforcement of the rule denying coverage and associated damages. “A victory in this case would ensure that all dependents of military personnel who are transgender would have access to the critical medical care they need, free of discrimination of exclusion,” said Ben Klein, an attorney with GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, a Boston-based advocacy group representing the father and daughter. “We can safely say this is the first time the statute has been challenged. It would affect a huge number of people,” Klein told the Associated Press. The rule denying coverage is based on a federal statute from 1976 that mandates the exclusion of surgical treatments for gender transition in the military’s medical coverage for service members’ dependents. The Department of Defense has provided gender-affirming therapy and surgeries for active-duty military personnel since 2016. The suit describes DoD’s current policy regarding dependents as “arbitrary and capricious” and lacking “any rational basis.” The applicable section “purports to characterize such surgeries as cosmetic, not medically necessary, and akin to a ‘face lift,’ and yet Defendants acknowledge that those very surgeries are medically necessary and not cosmetic by authorizing them for active-duty service members.” According to the suit, the current rule is “solely based on the maintenance of antiquated stereotypes and fallacies about gender transition and transgender people.” The court filing details Jane Doe’s struggles with gender dysphoria since age 11, when she understood her gender identity to be misaligned with her sex. “Jane struggled with the mental and physical effects of dysphoria, including acute anxiety, racing thoughts, a rapid heartbeat and social isolation.” She was officially diagnosed with gender dysphoria at 17, in 2018. Jane underwent psychological counseling and started hormone replacement therapy, both deemed medically necessary treatments and covered under her father’s military health benefits. She went on to socially transition and legally change her name and the gender designation on her birth certificate. Since then, however, TRICARE, the military’s health insurance administrator, has denied authorization or reimbursement for doctor-recommended procedures including electrolysis, facial and voice feminization surgeries, and vaginoplasty. The father-daughter plaintiffs want the rule, 10 U.S.C. Section 1079(a)(11), which categorically excludes surgical treatments for gender dysphoria in military dependents, declared unconstitutional, and for the court to award damages and “any such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper.” http://dlvr.it/SdTCw2

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