In The Maine News

mdanforth

Well-Known Member
catherine cobb ran the dhhs div that oversaw the mm program, she never spoke out against medical use. you must be confused.....

she was however a very unprofessional, rude, rulebreaking person and was most certainley fired.....if you get put on admin leave, you fucked up somewhere and thats the same as being fired......its all semantics
 

tet1953

Well-Known Member
It is probably a moot point now that patients are not required to register, but John told me once that he has staffing problems. That is bound to get worse now that they won't have the revenue from patients. He told me that he is the only permanent employee in the program. He gets temps from other departments and it isn't consistent.
 

cerberus

Well-Known Member
catherine cobb ran the dhhs div that oversaw the mm program, she never spoke out against medical use. you must be confused.....

she was however a very unprofessional, rude, rulebreaking person and was most certainley fired.....if you get put on admin leave, you fucked up somewhere and thats the same as being fired......its all semantics
I remember her speaking out against it during the election. I was a volunteer during that referendum and she came out saying the ADA doesn't support it and neither does she. If I remember correctly, (and this part I'm not 100% on) she even commented after the election about her disappointment. further more, if you go back to 99, when we first elected to legalize MMJ, the hole project got sidelined because beaurocrat worked out a no legal option to obtain said MMJ, and who was the director of DHHS then? cobb. She most certainly was against MMJ. as for her unprofessional, rude, and/or rule-breaking; I don't know any of those for fact but it seems to be the general opinion.
 

maineyankee

Active Member
Tuesday, November 29th
WCSH - TV Channel 6 News

Update on the Dover Foxcroft from Spokesman Steve McCausland: State Police say two men have been shot and killed in Dover Foxcroft this morning. The first incident took place at the Hilltop Manor where a man was shot to death by a gunman. Police then tracked the assailant to the local fairgrounds, where he was been shot by a state trooper. The wounded man later died at a hospital.
 

maineyankee

Active Member
Tuesday, November 29th
WCSH - TV Channel 6 News

Update on the Dover Foxcroft from Spokesman Steve McCausland: State Police say two men have been shot and killed in Dover Foxcroft this morning. The first incident took place at the Hilltop Manor where a man was shot to death by a gunman. Police then tracked the assailant to the local fairgrounds, where he was been shot by a state trooper. The wounded man later died at a hospital.
Again, I do not know the entire picture of what transpired, but ... Deadly Force has once again been used by the Authorities.
 

maineyankee

Active Member
Morning Sentinel Newspaper
November 30, 2011

State trooper kills man who had fatally shot a man at nursing home, police say

DOVER-FOXCROFT -- Two men were shot to death Tuesday morning -- one of them by a state trooper -- in a series of events that began at a nursing home and ended at the Piscataquis Valley Fairgrounds.
Udo Schneider, 53, of Sangerville, was shot and killed outside the Hilltop Manor nursing home about 9 a.m., according to Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Schneider reportedly was shot by Michael Curtis, 46, also of Sangerville, who then left in his pickup truck.

The truck was spotted at the Piscataquis Valley Fairgrounds, where police confronted Curtis, who was shot and killed by State Trooper Jon Brown, McCausland said.

Investigators said Schneider and Curtis knew each other, but police were still attempting to determine what sparked the violence, McCausland said.

Schneider was employed at the nursing home as a maintenance worker and Curtis worked for the Piscataquis County Sheriff's Office, McCausland said. Curtis was described as a radio dispatcher for the department in prior reports in area newspapers.

McCausland said by late afternoon Tuesday investigators had not yet determined the relationship between the two men and the motive for the initial shooting.

"Schneider was shot multiple times," McCausland said.

Brown, who joined the State Police in 2008, has been placed on administrative leave with pay, which is standard procedure, he said.

Brenda Kielty, spokeswoman for the Office of Attorney General, said the office is investigating Curtis' death because a police officer was involved in the shooting. State police are cooperating in that investigation, McCausland said.

A team of state police detectives is investigating Schneider's death, McCausland said.

Autopsies on both men are scheduled at the state medical examiner's office.
Curtis's shooting death is the third officer-involved shooting this month in the state.

U.S. Army veteran Justin Crowley-Smilek, 28, of Farmington, was shot and killed by a police officer Nov. 19 in front of the Farmington municipal building on U.S. Route 2.

Crowley-Smilek was shot multiple times by Farmington police Officer Ryan Rosie. Police said Crowley-Smilek had a knife and had threatened the Rosie.

On Nov. 10 in Rumford, a Maine Warden shot an administrative officer with the Rumford Police Department.

Maine Warden Jeremy Judd, 34, shot Rumford officer Eric Richard, 46, during what police described as an armed confrontation.
 

FilthyFizzle

Active Member
U.S. Army veteran Justin Crowley-Smilek, 28, of Farmington, was shot and killed by a police officer Nov. 19 in front of the Farmington municipal building on U.S. Route 2.

Crowley-Smilek was shot multiple times by Farmington police Officer Ryan Rosie. Police said Crowley-Smilek had a knife and had threatened Rosie.
This happened in my town.. Sad story really. The cop who pulled the trigger 4 times was a rookie that started a few months prior. He was a real dick. He pulled my fiance over for a bad inspection sticker a couple days before the shooting and was an absolute prick to her. He even made fun of her name, how professional is that? Anyway they said this guy had PTSD but I heard otherwise. A close friend of his told me a few days before that he was going crazy because of how the government is controling everything in the world. I dont use the word myself because they are worthless, but he got wigged out about the Illuminati.

The cop should have tased him
 

tet1953

Well-Known Member
From the Local Dispatches in today's Press Herald:

FALMOUTH
Discovery of marijuana leads to trafficking charge
A Falmouth woman was charged with trafficking in marijuana after police seized 11 pounds -- worth about $40,000 -- from her subsidized apartment on Depot Road.
KellyJean Kelley, 47, is free on bail after her arrest Tuesday, said Falmouth police Lt. John Kilbride. Police say she had specialized lights and vents as part of a marijuana growing operation.
Police were called to the Blackstone apartments after maintenance workers said they found a marijuana plant in Kelley's apartment. The workers were inspecting the apartment as part of an effort to evict her. Police did not know why she was being evicted.
After responding officers saw marijuana in the apartment, they obtained a search warrant and later in the day seized bags of marijuana, scales and growing apparatus, Kilbride said. There was no large sum of cash or guns.
Police anticipate the felony case will be presented to a grand jury for indictment.
Blackstone apartments are predominantly an elderly, low-income housing development.
 

maineyankee

Active Member
Thanks for the post Tet :-) I guess Ms Kelley was just growing for herself here. She just has a bad habit.

I don't think that I would personally even grow any MMJ in a subsidized apartment. I think that they check up on the interior shape of the apartment at least once per year if memory serves me correctly. And then to grow an operation such as this ...

To me, this is what makes it hard for us to get a good reputation, or at least that is my opinion. I guess we are just living in hard times where we must "tweak" the law just to make a living nowadays. My heart goes out to her, really.

MaineYankee :-)
 

Bluejeans

Well-Known Member
From the Local Dispatches in today's Press Herald:

FALMOUTH
Discovery of marijuana leads to trafficking charge
A Falmouth woman was charged with trafficking in marijuana after police seized 11 pounds -- worth about $40,000 -- from her subsidized apartment on Depot Road.
KellyJean Kelley, 47, is free on bail after her arrest Tuesday, said Falmouth police Lt. John Kilbride. Police say she had specialized lights and vents as part of a marijuana growing operation.
Police were called to the Blackstone apartments after maintenance workers said they found a marijuana plant in Kelley's apartment. The workers were inspecting the apartment as part of an effort to evict her. Police did not know why she was being evicted.
After responding officers saw marijuana in the apartment, they obtained a search warrant and later in the day seized bags of marijuana, scales and growing apparatus, Kilbride said. There was no large sum of cash or guns.
Police anticipate the felony case will be presented to a grand jury for indictment.
Blackstone apartments are predominantly an elderly, low-income housing development.
Sounds like they were looking for anything to evict her and the pot just worked out for them. Which should be a lesson to us all...if you're gonna grow, even legally, you need to make nice with the folks who live and work around you. I'd be really sketchy about growing in a subsidized apartment as well. That gets too close to the federal vs. state issues...
 

mdanforth

Well-Known Member
if she had 11 pounds of dried processed pot I'll run naked through town.....from what the news showed he op was small and I'll bet my ass the cops weighed her growing plants as they chopped em.....
 

Bluejeans

Well-Known Member
if she had 11 pounds of dried processed pot I'll run naked through town.....from what the news showed he op was small and I'll bet my ass the cops weighed her growing plants as they chopped em.....
Just in case...you're in which town? :lol:

Seriously, I'd be happy if my wet plants weighed 11 lbs...
 

maineyankee

Active Member
Morning Sentinel
December 3, 2011

Four Charged In Deal Gone Bad

FARMINGTON — Four people face multiple charges after police say a drug deal went bad and a woman was held hostage at gunpoint for several hours before she was set free on a roadside Wednesday.

Two men armed with shotguns took the woman hostage inside a New Vineyard Road residence after her male friend sold them $2,000 worth of fake drugs, according to police.

“(They) said they would release her only if the guy came back and gave them the $2,000,” according to the arrest affidavit by Detective Marc Bowering.

They held the woman at gunpoint for several hours before driving her to Hurst Lane and letting her free. She was unhurt and eventually flagged down a passerby and reported the kidnapping to police, Bowering said Friday. He would not identify the woman or give her age.

Police arrested two men and a woman on charges of kidnapping and criminal threatening with a firearm in connection with the incident. Arrested were Dahlon Campbell, 22, of Jay, Shane Webber, 25, of New Vineyard, and Sandi McAlpine, 41, of Jay.

Campbell and Webber also each face a charge of violation of conditional release, since they were out on bail on charges from a prior arrest, the affidavit states. Both men were being held on $10,000 cash bail each Friday night at Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington, with their next court dates set for Dec. 16, a jail official said. Court officials were unable Friday to provide details about their prior arrests.

McAlpine was released Thursday after posting $1,000 cash bail. Her next court date is set for Feb. 24.

Tyrell Gorham, 26, of Farmington, was also arrested and charged with criminal restraint and criminal threatening with a firearm, Bowering said. Gorham is being held at the detention center in Farmington on a probation hold and awaiting a court date in February.Gorham has convictions that include one for an assault in Waterville in 2008 and receiving stolen property in Vassalboro in 2006.

The arrests came after police searched the house Thursday where the woman was held hostage, Bowering said. He declined to release details of any evidence the police found because the investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be filed, he said.

Maine State Police and Franklin County sheriff’s deputies assisted with the investigation.

It was the second armed kidnapping in Farmington in just more than a month.

Three masked men held a couple at gunpoint inside their home Halloween night, eventually forcing the husband to drive two of the robbers to an ATM while his wife remained at gunpoint at the house, police said.

The couple, ages 65 and 63, opened the door, mistaking the men for trick-or-treaters. The men forced their way inside and robbed the home before forcing the husband to withdraw money from ATMs in town, police said.

The men charged in connection with that crime are awaiting their next court date on Dec. 16, Bowering said. They were being held in jail on cash bails that range from $30,000 to $50,000.
 

maineyankee

Active Member
Morning Sentinel
December 3, 2011

"No One Wants To Shoot At Anybody, And No One Wants To Get Shot Themselves"

PORTLAND — Maine law enforcement officers are firing their weapons more frequently in the line of duty.n November alone, there were four officer-involved shootings in Maine, including Tuesday’s fatal shooting of a sheriff’s department dispatcher who police said gunned down a maintenance man in Dover-Foxcroft.

Police have been involved in nine shootings in Maine this year, with six deaths and three injuries. That compares to an average of three shootings a year during the 1990s and an average of five a year in the 2000s.

Officer-involved shootings have been on the rise because police are facing more threats than ever, said Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Maine Chiefs of Police Association. There are more guns and knives, more drugs, more people with mental illness on the street and more people acting aggressively toward police, he said.

“I think law enforcement more than anyone would like to find a way so this doesn’t happen,” said Schwartz, who served 30 years on Maine police departments. “No one wants to shoot at anybody, and no one wants to get shot themselves. That’s the bottom line.”

The uptick in police shootings come even as Maine crime rates are low. Maine had the lowest violent crime rate nationally in 2010, FBI statistics show.

Statistics from the Office of the Attorney General show there were 30 police-involved shooting in the 1990s and not a single police shooting in 1995. There were 51 shootings from 2000-2009. And in the first two years of this decade, there have been a total of 14 shootings. The attorney’s general office declined to comment on the increase.This year’s shootings have taken place across much of the state, involving the York County and Androscoggin County sheriff’s departments, Maine State Police, the Maine Warden Service and police departments in Kennebunk, Portland, Belfast, Lewiston and Farmington.

Being a police officer is inherently a dangerous job, said Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck. Nationally, 56 law enforcement officers were killed and nearly 54,000 officers were assaulted last year in the line of duty. No Maine officers have been killed in the line of duty this year.

In recent years, Portland police have gotten more calls for service overall and have arrested more people for weapons violations, Sauschuck said. Criminals are also more likely now than years ago to be antagonistic and come at officers aggressively, he said.

“There’s undoubtedly been an increase in the disrespect level overall,” he said.

There’s no national database on the numbers of officer-involved shootings where police fire their weapons at somebody, said Charles Miller, who heads the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted program for the FBI. But it wouldn’t surprise him if the numbers were rising.

The number of unprovoked attacks on police has risen 150 percent since 1980, he said, and it stands to reason that police would defend themselves.
 

maineyankee

Active Member
Morning Sentinel
December 3, 2011

Doctors, Addicts Decry Drug Limit

A proposed two-year limit on Medicaid coverage for a widely used medicine for opiate addicts would lead to increased addiction and overdose deaths at a time when the state is trying to turn the tide on a prescription drug abuse epidemic, according to physicians and addicts.

The proposal to limit Suboxone prescriptions would save the state an estimated $787,000 a year, according to the Streamline and Prioritize Core Government Services Task Force. Task force members included the limit in a $25 million package of proposed cuts submitted to the Legislature this week.

Opponents say it would ultimately cost the state much more in health care and crime costs related to addiction, however.

"They are not going to see the savings they expect to see form this strategy," said Eric Haram, president of the Maine Association of Substance Abuse Programs and director of the Addiction Resource Center at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick.

Some recovering addicts need longer than others to taper off the medication, just like some diabetics need to take insulin longer than others, Haram said. "If you make everybody get off insulin (at the same time), my guess is the health care costs would go up."

And cutting off addiction treatment will cost more than dollars, the doctors said."Ninety percent of my patients will relapse and a significant percentage of them will die from overdoses," said Dr. Mark Publicker, addiction specialist with Mercy Recovery Center in Westbrook.

While a relatively small piece of the $25 million streamlining package, the proposal has been one of the most controversial. Opponents plan to take their case to the Legislature's Appropriations Committee when it holds a yet-to-be scheduled hearing in the package in the coming weeks.

The proposal is moving forward a little more than one month after a statewide summit to address a growing prescription drug abuse epidemic that has caused more than 1,000 fatal overdoses in Maine in the past decade. Gov. Paul LePage appeared at the summit and pledged to support renewed efforts to fight addiction, including treatment for addicts.

"We need to get these drugs out of the hands of the wrong people. Those who have addictions, we need to treat them," LePage said at the time.

Administration officials supported the proposal during meetings of the task force. But a spokeswoman in the governor's office said Friday LePage may be open to alternatives.

"The governor did sign off on that recommendation. However, the governor has continued to get more information surrounding this since the recommendation has been put forward," Adrienne Bennett said. "It's important to note that while the two year limit is the task force's recommendation, this is not set in stone."

Bennett also said the governor wants to make sure there is a strategy to move people off of the treatments over time. "This is treatment that is being paid for by taxpayers forever and that's not something the Governor supports," she said.About 12,000 Mainers received a prescription for Suboxone or another form of buprenorphine, its active ingredient, in the past year, according to the Maine Office of Substance Abuse. Treatments cost about $300 per month for each patient and a large percentage of those patients are covered by MaineCare.

The treatment limit is one of many difficult cuts that are necessary given the state's financial situation, said Joseph Bruno, a former House Republican leader and member of the task force who supported the two-year limit.

Bruno, a parmacy owner, said he believes a significant number of patients getting suboxone are abusing it or other drugs. Those are the people the task force wants to cut off, he said.

The task force has agreed to include an exception to the two-year limit when a physician believes it is a medical necessity to continue Suboxone treatment beyond two years.

"It's not like we're cutting people off cold turkey," Bruno said. "If there's a medical necessity and an explanation of why they need to go beyond two years (and) if somebody is working and doing well," they should be allowed to stay in treatment.

Guy Cousins, director of the Maine Office of Substance Avenue, said the medical necessity exception means the limit could be imposed without worsening the state's addiction problem. "We felt like this was certainly something that could make the proposal workable," he said.

However, physicians who treat addicts say such exceptions would likely be restricted and difficult to get. If not, every patient would qualify, they said.

"What's medical necessity? If I have somebody who is stable, living a great life, supporting a family, has great health? The benefit of the drug is long-term chronic care," Publicker said. "Everyone who's on it who is going to be abruptly withdrawn is going to relapse."Doctors said they try to taper addicts off Suboxone as soon as they can, starting a few months into treatment. The physicians are limited to 100 Suboxone patients each and most have waiting lists of addicts who want treatment.

Steven Weisberger, a primary care doctor in Jonesport, said he has 30 people waiting for treatment but it can take a long time for an addict to recover when they face joblessness and other problems that fueled their addiction in the first place.

James Cox of Jonesboro has been taking Suboxone for three years after a 10-year addiction to painkillers. The 33-year-old has tapered down to just three miligrams a day.

"I've tried going a couple of days without (Suboxone) before and it's tough. Your bones hurt and you feel sick and you can't do anything," he said. He said he and other recovering addicts would likely have to travel to a methadone clinic or buy drugs on the street again.

"It's going to be a real big temptation," he said. "I'll need something for a while."
 

Maine Brookies

Active Member
Officer-involved shootings have been on the rise because police are facing more threats than ever
"But Yer Honor - i didn't mean to rape her. She was asking for it with the way she was dressed!"

Victim blaming at it's finest. We did nothing wrong, it was all the other guys fault.
 

Maine Brookies

Active Member
A proposed two-year limit on Medicaid coverage for a widely used medicine for opiate addicts would lead to increased addiction and overdose deaths at a time when the state is trying to turn the tide on a prescription drug abuse epidemic, according to physicians and addicts.
How can we justify our bloated prison budget if we allow programs that will keep people out of jail to remain in place?
 

cerberus

Well-Known Member
private prison industry? lepage says lets bring it to maine, and has even appointed an old private prison CEO as a high level cabinet position.. (the name and position elude me)

capitalism run amuck
 

MYWhat?

Active Member
This area is just getting crazy!

All the home invasions, murders and kidnapping that have been going on around Maine. Not to mention officer involved shootings. Am I crazy to be posting my personal grow?
I thought it was bad enough we couldn't trust our Government. Hell we can't even trust our fellow man! All these prescription drugs out on the streets is really taking a toll on the youth of Maine. No one has any morals anymore. Yet they want to cut these programs, they are f----g crazy!!
 

Maine Brookies

Active Member
private prison industry? lepage says lets bring it to maine
His stated position on this during the election was that he was in favor of building private prisons for the import of other state's problems but would not put favor privatizing Maine's prisons. I'm pretty sure i don't believe him, but that's all he's said on it as far as i know.
 
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