Maine
Survivors of Lewiston mass shooting urge Maine Legislature to fund support center
Danielle Parent, director of the Maine Resiliency Center, testifies in favor of LD 1425 before the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday in Augusta. The MRC has served more than 600 people since opening in the wake of the Lewiston mass shooting, but it needs additional funding — which LD 1425 would provide — to continue its work. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — A year and a half after Maine’s deadliest mass shooting, survivors of the tragedy in Lewiston and mental health workers told state lawmakers Wednesday that many people are still in the process of healing and need continued support services.
The Maine Resiliency Center in Lewiston opened in the aftermath of the October 2023 mass shooting and has provided individual and group support and resources for survivors, witnesses, family and friends of victims, and first responders.
The center has served more than 600 people since opening but needs additional funding to continue its work. A bill introduced by Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, would provide $3.4 million over the next two years to continue and expand services at the center.
“The MRC … fills our systems’ significant gaps, offering support for people who would otherwise fall through the cracks,” Rotundo said during a public hearing Wednesday.
Several people who witnessed the Lewiston shooting or lost loved ones in the tragedy testified in support of the bill during an emotional public hearing before the Health and Human Services Committee. No one testified against the proposal.
At one point, the committee called for a brief recess after hearing the testimony of a woman who wiped away tears as she talked about how she and her children had to run from gunman Robert Card at the Just-In-Time Recreation bowling alley the night of the shooting.
Card killed 18 people and injured 13 others at Just-In-Time and Schemengees Bar & Grille.
Another witness, Danielle Chabot, told the committee how she and her husband were also at the bowling alley that night, and how the center continues to help her recover from the trauma.
Lewiston mass shooting survivor Danielle Chabot, left, testifies in favor of LD 1425 on Wednesday in Augusta. Chabot, who was in the bowling alley during the 2023 Lewiston mass shooting, said the Maine Resiliency Center in Lewiston has helped her and other survivors of the deadly shooting. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“Some of the survivors are back bowling or playing cornhole,” Chabot said after apologizing to the committee for her shaking voice. “But every single one of us still struggles. … Something triggers us, and we are right back there, reliving every harrowing second of that evening.”
Chabot said the center has made it possible for her to resume normal activities like going to the grocery store or out to a restaurant. “I’ve done therapy on my own regarding this tragedy weekly since two days after the shooting. … But the group meetings for the survivors that were held weekly at the resiliency center have helped me more than I can even tell you,” Chabot said.
Kathleen Walker, who lost her husband, Jason Walker, and his friend Michael Deslauriers, said some people impacted by the tragedy are only now “coming out from the fog of grief and trauma” and need support.
A recent event at the center for first responders drew 200 attendees, Walker said in written testimony filed before Wednesday’s hearing.
“This is a strong testament that THIS ISN’T OVER,” Walker wrote. “We still need the MRC, they still have a role, they need to continue.”
CONTINUING THE HEALING PROCESS
The center offers a unique model by providing free services and a low barrier to entry, Rotundo said. She said the center “meets people where they are” and doesn’t require a professional diagnosis in order for someone to receive services.
The National Center for PTSD estimates that 28% of people who have witnessed a mass shooting develop post-traumatic stress disorder. Research also suggests that mass shooting survivors may be at greater risk for mental health difficulties compared with people who experience other types of trauma, such as natural disasters, according to the American Psychological Association.
Long-term outcomes can be improved with community support and access to mental health care, the association has said.
The center was expected to be funded with federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Victims of Crime that would keep it open through January 2026. However, the grant funding is still pending, the center’s director, Danielle Parent, told the committee Wednesday.
She said the center has been operating using cash advances from the city of Lewiston and the Office of the Maine Attorney General that were expected to be reimbursed with the federal funds, as well as philanthropic funds. And the uncertainty around the federal funding has made the need for state funds more urgent as the center hopes to be able to continue and expand its work, Parent said.
In recent months, she said the center has been approached about providing services for people who were not impacted by the Lewiston shooting but who are facing other traumas from gun violence or the sudden loss of loved ones. She hopes the center will be able to say yes to those requests with state funding to keep it running.
“This bill ensures that healing continues — for those impacted by 10/25 and anyone in Maine who experiences profound trauma,” Parent said.
Health and Human Services Committee co-chair Rep. Michele Meyer, D-Eliot, listens during a hearing Wednesday in Augusta about funding for the Maine Resiliency Center in Lewiston. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office confirmed Wednesday that a grant application has been submitted but said the office has not received word on when the federal funding might become available.
Rotundo’s bill, LD 1425, has bipartisan support from Democratic and Republican co-sponsors, indicating it may also get broad support when it comes up for votes. But the $3.4 million price tag means it will have to compete with other initiatives for a limited amount of funds at the end of the legislative session.
Rotundo, who also co-chairs the Legislature’s budget committee, said it’s too early to know how much money will be left to divvy up among various bills as lawmakers are still working through the latest budget proposal.
SUPPORT FROM GOV. MILLS
A spokesperson for Gov. Janet Mills said that, while it wasn’t in the governor’s proposed budget, she supports the center.
“The governor has admired the important work of the resiliency center since the tragedy in Lewiston in October 2023,” Ben Goodman said in an email. “With Maine facing a tight fiscal environment, additional funding for the resiliency center was not part of the governor’s biennial budget proposal, but the governor looks forward to working with Republican and Democrats in the Legislature on this and other important budgetary matters in the coming weeks.”
Regina Schulman, a counselor and therapist who has been running support groups at the center since January 2024, said in written testimony that when she began her work many of the people participating in the groups were facing debilitating fear, anxiety and survivor’s guilt.
They experienced triggers when driving past the bowling alley or a Subway restaurant where several of them fled to hide the night of the shooting. Some were not able to wear or throw away clothing they had worn that night. Others were stressed by loud noises.
“After hearing from others with a shared traumatic experience, guests realized they were not alone and not crazy,” Schulman wrote. “They were grateful to know that they were experiencing a normal response to an acute trauma.”
Over the last year and a half, visitors to the center have begun reporting feeling less anxious, though triggers are still surfacing, Schulman wrote.
“It is vitally important for these services to continue, and for the MRC to continue serving even more people impacted by trauma in the future,” she said.
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This story will be updated.
The Maine Department of Transportation is moving to slash up to $400 million in projects from its agenda, a shocking and abrupt cutback that is rattling the state’s construction industry at the start of building season.
Roughly $50 million across six pavement projects have already been delayed, according to a memo exclusively obtained by the Bangor Daily News. The agency plans to cut or delay another $150 million in bridge, highway, intersection and multimodal projects later this month. A further $200 million or more in cuts are planned in the next three-year work plan.
Those figures were outlined by Transportation Commissioner Dale Doughty in the May 18 memo to Gov. Janet Mills that has since circulated widely in the transportation sector, which has been getting drip-by-drip details on the wide scope of the cuts over the past three weeks.
It comes at the beginning of the state’s relatively narrow construction season. Companies have hired workers and ordered materials for projects they expected to begin this summer. The severity of the transportation budget problems was not raised to lawmakers during the 2026 legislative session.
Kelly Flagg, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Maine, called the shortfall “deeply troubling” in a statement.
“We stand ready to work with policymakers, stakeholders, and industry partners to identify both immediate and long-term solutions,” Flagg said. “Maine cannot afford to fall further behind.”
Insiders saw this first.
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The cuts stem from a structural funding gap of at least $130 million in the state’s current work plan, according to Doughty’s memo. Losses are magnified because state money from the gas tax and other revenue sources is matched by federal funds. Lawmakers have long grappled with politically difficult long-term problems with the state’s transportation budget.
A Mills spokesperson said Wednesday morning that the administration was working on a response to questions from the BDN. The department says it needs roughly $240 million more in state capital funding annually to maintain the existing system, and that anything less than $200 million will erode it over time.
Doughty’s memo the only near-term solution is a series of bonds beginning as soon as possible. Lawmakers would have to return to Augusta to authorize that if one is going to appear on the November ballot.
The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Michael Capeci is the former chairman of the Bangor GOP.
Let’s be honest about Maine’s current state.
For many families, the cost of living has become unsustainable. Housing is out of reach for many young people. Energy bills keep rising. Many small businesses are struggling under taxes and regulations that make it harder to grow. Rural hospitals are under strain and despite years of increased state spending, the results are not showing up in people’s daily lives.
Concurrently, Maine continues to lose young workers to other states. That is not a statistic, it is a warning sign.
To me, the question in this Republican primary for governor is not about slogans. It is whether we continue with a political approach that has failed to reverse these trends, or whether we nominate someone with new ideas. I think that someone is Owen McCarthy.
Owen is not a political insider. He is an entrepreneur from Patten, a small town where opportunity is not assumed, it is built. He grew up in a working-class family, became the first in his family to graduate from college graduating from the University of Maine, and founded MedRhythms, a healthcare technology company focused on neurological treatment.
He didn’t just talk about opportunity. He built it. That distinction matters, because Maine’s problem is not a lack of debate it is a lack of results. We have seen the trajectory: higher costs, slower growth, and a steady outmigration of young workers. I believe Owen McCarthy represents a break from that pattern.
His Maine 2040 plan focuses on creating 50,000 new jobs in sectors where Maine has real advantages — maritime and defense, advanced forest products, and life sciences. These are export-driven industries tied directly to Maine’s workforce, geography, and institutions. What sets Owen apart is not only what he proposes, but how he approaches governing.
He prioritizes modernizing permitting so projects do not stall. He supports using technology to reduce costs and increase efficiency. He focuses on making it easier to build, hire, and expand in Maine.
That same practical mindset extends to healthcare. Expanding telehealth, strengthening EMS systems, improving provider flexibility, and shifting toward earlier intervention are not abstract reforms. They are system upgrades designed to improve access while controlling costs.
Maine voters consistently respond to competence. They reward candidates who understand problems and present plans to solve them. I believe they are tired of rhetoric that does not translate into results, and skeptical of politics that prioritizes messaging over execution.
Owen’s approach is grounded in solving the issues that shape daily life — affordability, healthcare access, job creation, and government efficiency. That is not just policy positioning. It is a governing model that speaks directly to voters.
Some will point to his lack of political experience. But I believe Maine’s core problems are not the result of insufficient political experience; they are the result of policies that have failed to deliver measurable improvement. Experience inside a broken system, by itself, is not a solution.
If Republicans want to win, this primary must be taken seriously. From my perspective, it is not about choosing a nominee for governor who can energize the base. It is about selecting someone who can compete in a broader electorate that is frustrated and looking for change.
That requires a candidate who can speak beyond the base, not by abandoning principles, but by demonstrating competence and a credible plan to address Maine’s challenges. I believe Owen McCarthy offers that combination. He represents a shift away from managed decline and toward economic execution.
This is not just another primary. It is a decision about whether Republicans position themselves to win Maine or whether they remain trapped in a cycle of repeating the same strategies and expecting different outcomes.
If Republicans want to compete for Maine’s future, they cannot afford to nominate a candidate who only motivates part of the electorate. They need someone who expands it.
I believe Owen McCarthy is that candidate.
And if the goal is to win Maine, then the choice should be unmistakable
The only notable change in the top-seven of the Varsity Maine baseball poll is that Gorham now has eight first-place votes, two more than last week. The order of the seven teams is identical. In fact, the only change in the top-seven over the past three polls is the swap at the top after Gorham’s win over South Portland on May 19.
Furthermore, Gorham, South Portland, Oxford Hills, Cheverus, Bangor, Mt. Ararat and Fryeburg have been ranked in the top seven for four straight weeks, and six of those squads have been among the top seven in every poll this spring.
Meanwhile, Scarborough is ranked for the first time since May 5, and Ellsworth and Thornton swapped spots.
The Varsity Maine baseball poll is based on games played before June 2, 2026. The top 10 teams are voted on by the Varsity Maine staff, with first-place votes in parentheses, followed by total points.
1. Gorham (8) 89
2. South Portland 79
3. Oxford Hills (1) 75
4. Cheverus 55
5. Bangor 42
6. Mt. Ararat 41
7. Fryeburg Academy 30
8. Ellsworth 27
9. Thornton Academy 25
10. Scarborough 12
Also receiving votes: Washington Academy 8, Monmouth Academy 4, Cony 4, Leavitt 2, Falmouth 2.
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