He claims that his civil rights are being violated. What about the civil rights of his victim? I find it interesting that when criminals are being held responsible for their actions they suddenly start to be concerned about civil rights. They weren't concerned about that when they were violating the rights of the people they were committing crimes against. If my understanding of the timeline of this case is correct I find it very interesting that Mr Tomeselli didn't make his accusations about Mr Fine until after he had been charged with his crime. I'm not saying I don't believe he was abused, I do find myself wondering if he is trying to use it as an excuse for his actions. That may sound awful, but I do wonder. No one deserves to be subjected to abuse of any kind, and in my opinion having been abused NEVER justifies abusing someone else.

Dental care is expensive, I haven't been to a dentist for a cleaning in 5 years because I simply can't afford it. In the last 6 months I have called the dentist I have seen in the past, the community dental office in my area, and the UNE dental hygiene clinic to see what it will cost to be seen. Since it has been so long a full set of x-rays is required, to be seen locally it will cost a minimum of around $125. I don't have $125 in my budget to buy groceries, and payment plans are not looked upon favorably, which I do completely understand. To go UNE will cost $50 including the x-rays, though I don't remember if you actually get seen by a dentist after the cleaning. This on the surface this cost less but I need to take a day off from work plus gas to drive to Portland and back, so it isn't necessarily less in the end. I'm not saying that I expect the tax payers to cover the costs, I would like to do it myself, unfortunately some of us simply don't have the means. I have Maine Care and yes it would initially pay for me to see my Dr or go to the ER if I had a problem. Personally I would like to avoid that and be able to afford to see my dentist for preventive care.

Libby, I am very sorry for your loss. As I said in another comment I don't have children but I watched my grandparents suffer the loss of two of their three children. I saw how crushing that was for them, and cannot pretend to know what that feels like. I think I can understand your anger, the place were your daughter is buried is a sacred place and for this to happen there makes things that much harder. Speaking as someone who has struggled with depression severe enough to not want to live I don't in any way believe the young man chose that place to make your loss any more difficult. I will keep you and this man's family in my thoughts, may you all find some peace as you deal with your losses.

I agree, I will also say there is no manual on how to survive your son's suicide. Let us all be compassionate to those who are grieving. Losses come in many ways; murder, suicide, illness, accident etc. Everyone's loss is devastating to them, you can't compare one person's loss to another's. I don't have children, I did watch my grandparents experience the deaths of two of their three children and saw how absolutely crushing it was for them. At some point in our lives we will all lose someone close to us. I believe that in the midst of our loss it is still possible to have compassion for someone else experiencing a loss.

I hear you, coming together is a phrase that is not in the governor's vocabulary. His response to the bipartisan budget was quite frankly a bit scary. No Kumbaya necessary, I appreciate being able to share opinions whether the same or different in this forum. Keep them coming as I will also. Have a good day!

I like the teacher and administration evaluation piece. Teaching our children is one of the most important jobs out there, there really needs to be accountability. In any other job you have to do your job well or find a new one. Why don't we give our children the respect they deserve by weeding out the bad teachers who aren't doing their jobs and preparing them for the future. I really don't like the public funding of religious schools proposal, from any angle really. First you have the separation of church and state, public money shouldn't be funding religious education. Second if I were part of a religious school and took public money I would be concerned that then the state has it's foot in the door and may try to direct what I can and cannot teach. I have no issue with private/religious schools but in my opinion there needs to be a clear separation from public money.

Hospital officials would have been extremely irresponsible to make any kind of public statement based on information they heard from a newspaper reporter. You may see it as stalling I see it as being smart. Just because the ER staff had spoken to Mrs. Morse and told her that her husband had not come into the ER does not equal the hospital administration being contacted by the family or having any more detail about the situation. Why don't we let the facts come to light before we play judge, jury and executioner to this ambulance crew and FMH as a whole. I would rather this is dealt with thoroughly and rationally but that's my opinion.

These are very serious allegations and I do believe they will be investigated thoroughly by FMH officials. I do understand Mr. Morse's wife is grieving and this is a very hard thing to deal with right now. Having said that it's my opinion that these kind of allegations should have been reported to the hospital before being brought to the media.

I think the picture on the food stamp card is worth looking into. Honestly as far as it being stigmatizing, most people know what the food stamp card looks like and look critically at what you purchase with it to begin with how is my picture on it going to make it any worse? The only real problem I can see with the picture is that there are people who are home bound or if someone is ill they have a family member or a friend/neighbor shop for them but I'm sure something can be figured out for that. It will have a expense initially but it may well save a lot in the long term.

Clearly the Mainecare program is unsustainable as it is currently running, I think that is obvious and changes need to happen. I haven't always agreed with everything Gov. LePage has proposed in the past and don't agree with all of the proposed cuts to Mainecare. I do think that the cuts need to be done responsibly. If what I have recently read is correct; that Medicaid/Mainecare was originally created to be a safety net for our most vulnerable, the elderly, children and the disabled, maybe we need to look to making those groups the priority. In the interest of full disclosure, I receive Social Security, Medicare and Mainecare due to a disability. I am extremely grateful for these programs. In the past 3 years I have started working again, only part-time currently 10-13 hours a week, as that is all I can manage at this time. Honestly without the services Mainecare and Medicare provide I wouldn't be able to work right now. I do understand that I may lose some services and that will honestly make things more difficult for me. I struggle to survive month to month and don't honestly know how I would absorb any additional out of pocket expenses. At this point all I can do is send my concerns to the Maine Legislator and tell them what losing those services would mean to me personally. I don't want to lose the progress I have gained and have to stop working because certain services are cut, at the same time I may need to make some sacrifices to help sustain the program as a whole. My sincere hope is that the cuts that are made are responsible and protect those most in need.

I am not from Lewiston and did not follow the election thoroughly. I have seen and read bits and pieces over the last several weeks. I can't comment on whether or not Mr. Macdonald will make a good mayor. I will say this; I do hope he wants to bring the city together as he states in this video. I also understand his being angry for any untruths spoken about him during this campaign. However in my opinion the things he said last night will not help bring people together. They may likely pull the sides further apart. To essentially threaten members of his opponent's campaign will not bring Mr.Paradis supporters on board. I hope that he can see this and work towards being more effective in his goal of bringing people together and helping the city of Lewiston. Good luck to the city of Lewiston.

I have an honest question about the methadone programs. Do the people getting methadone required to attend any other type of rehab program. If the issues that lead to the drug use in the first place are not addressed then methadone alone will not work. I realize this is an added expense but I think it would be more successful than methadone alone. The treatment offered needs to be something that is going to work otherwise why bother?

Are we spending beyond our means without a doubt. Tough decisions have to be made and for some more than others those decisions will make things harder than they already are. The black and white thinking that I'm reading here is mind boggling. Not everyone who receives mainecare is simply looking for something for nothing. I'm willing to bet many people really don't want to need help, they would rather be able to provide for themselves, that is not always possible. For all the holier than thou folks who have never been in need consider yourself lucky and stop looking down on people whose situations you know nothing about. Things do have to change our current system is clearly unsustainable but these cuts will effect real people. People who may not be able to pay for uncovered services and prescriptions. People who can't afford to acquire debt for those services and will not get them as a result. This will be detrimental to their well being. The alternative I think will be an increase in ER visits because people know they can't be turned away. I don't have the answers but I know it is not as simple as most people want it to be.

Black ice is evil! Two years ago I hit some black ice, went off the road and hit a tree. I was lucky that despite a faulty airbag I walked a way with just a broken rib and some bruises. Thankfully the officer was not hurt, cars can be fixed.

As I have said before I cannot judge this officer. I was not there and didn't see the exchange or the tone and body language in his interactions with Justin. Let me be clear, I don't believe it should have come to the point where Justin had to die and although the officer pulled the trigger, it should have been easier for Justin to get help. I think the bigger picture here is that ealy intervention may have been able to prevent this. If I'm not mistaken he had been in court the day before and been ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation. Why didn't anyone involved know about the law mentioned in the article that would have allowed his family to insist he get help. It may not have helped Justin given certain circumstances but we'll never know. If any good can come of this tragedy maybe Justin's death will bring more awareness to the greater issue of PTSD in out vets. We as a society need to have a better understanding of mental illness and realize it is not a weakness or a result of laziness. It takes great courage to ask for help and if our society were more supportive maybe and let go of the "just suck it up" mentality things could be better for everyone.

I'm choosing not to get involved with the discussion of who was right or wrong in this situation. I do want to say a bit about our vets. We send these young men and women into combat expecting them to see and do horrific things. Things most of us are unwilling and unable to do, they do this so that we can continue to have the freedom that we are used to. I know I couldn't do the things they have to do. I don't believe anyone can come away from these experiences unaffected. When they return from war we don't want to know about it, we want them to "suck it up and get over it". At best these attitudes are wrong and I would call them a disgrace to their service. I've heard people say that WWII vets just came home and went back to their lives. Maybe they shouldn't have had to, maybe they suffered silently for the rest of their lives. We need to have more respect for these war vets and provide them with the care they need and deserve, it's the least we can do, too many soldiers lose their lives, and their bodies are forever damaged. Those wound we can see are respected, the invisible wounds to peoples souls also need to be respected and treated. Just my opinion.

That's great!! Congratulations Christy on being able to take off the helmet. Great job Moxie, you have given Christy back her independence.

I don't believe that the letter was intended to intimidate anyone. I read the letter in a previous article and what I got from it was; you're registered to vote in Maine, by doing so you have declared Maine your state of legal residence. If this is correct Maine law requires that if you have a driver's license or own a car you need to have a maine driver's license and register your car in Maine. If this in incorrect you may unenroll as a Maine voter. Quite simple in my opinion. Personally I think it would be much simpler to connect one's state of legal residence to the state from which you file your federal taxes. As far as the letter goes if people where unsure of what it meant call the office from which it was sent and clarify it's intention. I don't think that's too much to ask.