Maine
‘Find the failures and plug the holes’: Families, survivors of Lewiston shooting testify before fact-finding commission – The Boston Globe
Many said confirmations from law enforcement that their loved ones had been killed came too late, following hours of worry and, for some, after they had already heard the news from family and friends.
Elizabeth Seal, whose husband, Joshua Seal, was killed at Schemengees Bar and Grille, said the deaf community was especially excluded from early communications, including alerts that the shooting had taken place.
“I was just driving around looking for my husband. I was making calls to the hospitals,” Seal, who is deaf, signed, her words translated by interpreter Grace Cooney. Eventually, Seal made it to a reunification center officials had set up, but “there were no interpreters there.”
She called Joshua Seal a “family man” who was “continuously busy,” and who dedicated his life to advocating for better access for the deaf community.
“Ironically, all these issues regarding access came to life on this fateful day,” Seal said.
The seven-member commission, made up of legal experts and mental health professionals, is tasked with reviewing law enforcement’s response to and the events leading up to the Oct. 25 shooting, when Robert Card II killed 18 people — the deadliest mass shooting in Maine’s history. Those close to Card warned local law enforcement that he was behaving erratically in the months before the attack.
Seal and others said law enforcement seemed to ignore clear warning signs about Card, an army reservist. Last week, officials from the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department testified that they behaved appropriately in the months preceding the deadly attacks.
Kathleen Walker, widow of Jason Walker, told the commission it would learn, through the sheriff’s testimony and testimonies expected from members of the Army next month, that there were “several opportunities” to take Card’s firearms away.
“I need all of you as a commission to find the failures and plug the holes,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.
Walker recalled watching her husband charge at Card, attempting to take his gun when it appeared to jam, before being shot in the head. Card fired twice more, she said.
Despite being there, Walker said she did not get confirmation of her husband’s death for 15 hours, when local police pulled up to her home.
All those who testified praised the work of Maine’s Victim Witness Services unit, which has provided support to impacted individuals.
Commission Chair Daniel E. Wathen, former chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, has said he hopes to have a written report of the tragedy completed by May. At the body’s first meeting, he said that “certainly is a daunting task, but it is a task that each of us owe to the people of Maine.”
The commission’s third meeting comes days after Maine Governor Janet Mills’ State of the State address, where she pledged $5 million for a fund to pay for the long-term medical needs of those injured in the shootings.
Last week, Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey proposed emergency legislation that would give the commission subpoena power to request documents, compel individuals to testify, and appeal to the state Superior Court should anyone refuse to comply.
The Maine House of Representatives and Senate each sent the bill to the judiciary committee, which held a public hearing on Monday and a work session Wednesday, which lasted more than 6 hours as committee members weighed the urgency of the commission’s investigation with concerns about government oversight. After hours of deliberation and multiple breaks to caucus, the committee unanimously voted in favor of the bill, with amendments including a July 1 sunsetting of the commission’s subpoena power and a note that the decision to grant said power should not be viewed as precedential by future legislatures.
Mills’s and Frey’s emergency bill would go into effect immediately upon receiving two-thirds vote from Maine lawmakers. It’s not yet clear when the bill will get a formal vote in the state Congress.
Mills announced the formation of the commission just days after the shooting, as questions continued to mount about how multiple warnings about Card did not prevent him from carrying out his assault on a bowling alley and a bar in Maine’s second-largest city.
Sheriff Joel Merry told the board last week that his deputies were warned not to engage with Card directly during wellness checks and “believed that the matter with Mr. Card had been resolved.”
He and four other members of the department said they acted in line with protocol and had limited legal authority to take him into custody.
Merry said that if there were any action he or his team could take to bring back those killed in Lewiston, they would do it, “no question, no hesitation.”
“But there isn’t,” the sheriff said.
Thursday’s meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. in room 101 of the Deering government building, located at 90 Bloom Lane in Augusta. It will also be livestreamed via Zoom.
Daniel Kool can be reached at daniel.kool@globe.com. Follow him @dekool01.
Three tornadoes have been confirmed across New England so far in 2026, and remarkably, all of them have occurred in Vermont.
Two of those tornadoes touched down during severe thunderstorms on June 18, when a potent weather system swept across the region.
Vermont tornadoes in 2026 (WGME).
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado in Lincoln with peak winds of 105 mph and another EF-1 tornado in Woodstock with winds reaching 100 mph.
Earlier this spring, an EF-1 tornado struck Williamstown on April 16 with estimated winds of 90 mph.
This week’s Climate Chronicles question comes from Kate:
With severe weather last week, how often do we actually see tornadoes touch down in Maine?
Maine tornado activity (WGME).
Historically, Maine averages about two tornadoes each year, with most occurring between June and August.
Most storms develop during the late afternoon and early evening, typically between 3 and 9 p.m., when hours of sunshine have heated the ground and created the instability needed for thunderstorms to form.
The last confirmed tornado to touch down in Maine was in 2023.
Average amount of tornadoes that touch down in each New England state per year (WGME).
Massachusetts and Connecticut also average about two tornadoes per year, with many occurring across the flatter terrain of western portions of both states.
In Massachusetts, the broad Connecticut River Valley stretching through Springfield has earned the nickname “New England’s Tornado Alley” due to its history of tornado activity.
Vermont, on the other hand, typically averages just one tornado annually. With three confirmed tornadoes already in 2026, the state has already exceeded its yearly average by two, making this an unusually active year for tornadoes in the Green Mountain State.
Maine’s tornado history (GoSanAngelo, WGME).
Since 1950, Maine has recorded 140 tornadoes. None have been rated stronger than an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, the system used to classify tornado intensity based on the damage they cause.
Unlike hurricanes, tornadoes are not assigned ratings while they are occurring. Instead, National Weather Service survey teams assess damage after the storm has passed, examining impacts to homes, buildings, trees, and other structures.
From that damage, meteorologists estimate the tornado’s wind speeds and assign an EF rating ranging from EF0 to EF5.
While Maine has experienced its share of tornadoes over the decades, the state has never recorded a violent EF4 or EF5 tornado.
Do you have any weather questions? Email our Weather Authority team at weather@wgme.com. We’d love to hear from you!
PORTLAND — Perhaps the June Swoon is over for the Portland Hearts of Pine.
A flurry of second-half activity Wednesday night resulted in four goals and a much-needed 5-1 USL League One victory against the Richmond Kickers that had fans buzzing with feel-good frenzy at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
Ollie Wright scored the go-ahead goal on a header off a great cross from Jaden Jones-Reilly in the 57th minute. In short order, Konstantinos Georgallides and Aboubacar Camara each added a goal, and then Camara got a second late in extra time.
Diego Gonzalez, playing his third game with Portland, added friskiness to the midfield and opened the scoring with a header in the first half. He also assisted on Camara’s first goal with a slick through pass.
Portland had lost four straight games, including three in a row in USL1. The Hearts are now 4-5-5 in league play and moved from 13th to 10th in the 17-team league, just three points out of the eight-team playoff picture.
It was a dramatic reversal from Portland’s most recent game, a 5-1 loss at Westchester SC on Friday that was shown live back in Portland at an open-air setting in Monument Square.
PREVIOUSLY IN JUNE
When the month of May ended with a gritty home win against Spokane, Portland was 3-2-4 in league play and overcoming injuries.
June has not been as kind. Portland entered Wednesday’s game on a four-game losing streak. Digging into the numbers, the skid looked even worse.
It was the first time the Hearts had lost four straight games in their brief year-and-a-half history. They were outscored 15-5 in that stretch, and 15-3 starting with the two extra-time goals they allowed in a 3-2 loss at Corpus Christi.
Portland had also lost three straight against USL League One games for the first time.
Two of the four losses were ugly 5-1 affairs. Portland didn’t lose by more than three goals and had just four losses by two or more goals in 2025.
RETURNS AND NOTES
Portland was glad to have Mikey Lopez back on the game-day roster. Lopez, who had bene out more than month because of an injury, entered as a 75th-minute sub with Portland leading 4-1. … Sean Vinberg, one of Portland’s primary starting center backs in 2025, became the second former Hearts player to return to Fitzpatrick, wearing the captain’s band for Richmond. Vinberg was released at the end of the 2025 season. He made 33 starts for Portland, second most on the team. … Maine Gatorade High School Soccer Players of the Year Finn Coburn (Scarborough) and Noelle Mallory (Cape Elizabeth) handled the honorary coin toss before the match.
A meal that would normally cost more than $30 is available for less than $12 at Governor’s Restaurants on Wednesday.
Governor’s is celebrating its 67th anniversary by offering its lobster roll for $11.67.
The annual promotion, known as Lobster Roll Day, begins when restaurants open at 8 a.m. and continues until supplies run out.
Governor’s operates six locations across Maine in Old Town, Bangor, Ellsworth, Waterville, Lewiston and Presque Isle.
Customers should be aware that several locations are offering cash-only drive-thru service for the event.
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