Mass shooting Lewiston, our BD's hometown

[Tom In DC]

Insanity. When will we get past the f'ing NRA?

[Jay Winton]

I'm texting with Jim. Unbelievable, many people dead and many more injured.

[hautbrionlover]

Jim-
Oh my god. Another horror.
I just read about this a minute ago and thought about you.
Are you, your family and friends all okay?

[Tom In DC]

Jim is okay at this time.

[Gerry M.]

This is insane. I'm sure Jim is inundated with wellness checks and I'm happy to hear he's ok.

I'm following this and it's still an ongoing threat. Really hope they get this guy fast.

[marcs]

This is horrible. I didn’t realize how many casualties at first. My heart goes out to Jim - even if he is OK the city he has lived in all his life is not.

[Harry C.]

I just saw this on the news. They’re saying 20+ people have died. Lewiston is a fairly small town and I’m glad to hear Jim is safe.

[ericp]

Terribly sad news for your hometown Jim. I pray your friends and family are safe as well.

Tom and Jay, thankfs for confirming BD is ok

[AlexR]

Does anyone here believe that incidents like this won't happen year after year, inexorably?

Those who govern us stick to a literal interpretation of the US constitution purely in order to be re-elected by conservative voters. They are like the people who do harm in the name of religion by invoking sacred texts the way that suits them.

The ease with which anyone can buy automatic weapons in the US is a national shame.

Well, as Donald Trump says, we can always “keep the victims in our thoughts and prayers”.

And move on.
Quickly.

Alex R.

[robert goulet]

Guy looked young, too young to be so jaded and fed up with society.

Hope all is well over at the JH estate and prayers to the town of Lewiston.

[Nicklasss]

Horrible! A tough time for Lewiston citizen. Very sad, how many people/families will be impacted.

Guns are "cancers" dissiminated all accross the USA.

Stay safe Jim. Hope it will come to an end quickly.

[jckba]

Was just reading the news and just wanted to pop on to say, Jim I am glad that you are okay and hope that this ordeal is over soon.

[RPCV]

Glad you are safe, Jim.

An unstable individual according to press releases. A national guard fire arms instructor? WTF? It is time to identify mental illness and eliminate legal access to firearms and ammunition; both private citizens and military/government. It certainly won't prevent illegal purchases, but it will reduce gun violence. So sad.

[JimHow]

Thanks for the kind words. We’re safe in shelter-in-place, waiting for law enforcement to catch this guy. A devastating time for my home town.

[DavidG]

OMG, how horrible. Glad you are safe Jim.

[Nicklasss]

And please Jim, listen to your good friend Nick : if they ever catch him alive, never accept to be his defense lawyer...

[Michael-P]

BD: Good news you're OK but what a horrible and sad event. Hopefully they get this unbalanced person quickly. Michael-P

[roadfork]

Horrible news! Glad you are safe!

[JimHow]

The nightmare is over.

[Gerry M.]

Good to hear. In the end, I think it's the best outcome.

It's still heartbreaking to the community but this outcome avoids a trial and and having the witnesses and families to having to relive the events. They'll still have to live with the impact but avoid another hurt.

With your ties to the area and community envolvement Jim, I suspect you have may have some personal connections to those effected. Please know we all hope they can find some peace.

[JimHow]

Very close to the situation in multiple ways, Gerry, a devastating time. I was likely going to be asked to represent him. He killed himself in a dumpster apparently, at a recycling facility where he was recently fired. It has been an overwhelming 48 hours.

[JoelD]

Such a tragedy. At least this part is over so now everyone can grieve and pick up the pieces. I'm glad that you didn't have to deal with representing him. That sounds so terrible. My condolences to you and your beloved town, Jim.

[Tom In DC]

Jim will be on Fox tomorrow at 830am EDT.

[JimHow]

It's not the national Chanel, it's only the Fox live streaming channel livenowfox.com.

[smoore4]

It's not the national Chanel, it's only the Fox live streaming channel livenowfox.com.

Here's the vid...

https://www.livenowfox.com/video/1303176

Jim...wow. Thank you so much for representing, again, Lewiston - and Maine - in such an elegant, well-spoken manner. Your words were perfect.

Steve

[JimHow]

Thanks for the link, Steve, it was cathartic.

[marcs]

Incredible interview. You stood up for the things you love about your home town and your state while at the same time fully expressing the trauma and impact of the last few days. Really vivid and heartfelt.

[Comte Flaneur]

A poignant interview with Jim

I am sure many of us were shaken as much as I was about what happened in Jim’s hometown, which as he noted has one of the lowest violent crime and homicide rates in the country.

Maybe this can concentrate minds enabling this community to unite and turn the page, draw a line under what happened on here several weeks ago, regroup and move on, and usher in a new era for BWE rather than let it wither on the vine?

From my telephone conversations with Alex Jim seems intent on stepping down from the day to day running of the site and it doesn’t run on its own.

Are there any suggestions and/or volunteers, to hold of the torch - I am thinking Greek Olympic marathon analogies here rather than simply ‘passing the baton’ which kind of metaphorically lacks imagination and ambition.

Without wishing to get ahead of ourselves I could name two inspirational and younger people on here - JC and Joel as possible candidates - just thinking aloud here.

While BWE welcomes everyone from around the globe my 2c I think it should be run by an American.

In November I am going to be in New Zealand and I I looking forward to meeting BWEer Ian Craig.

[Nicklasss]

Yes, Jim's comments on this horrific event in Lewiston were very interesting, very human, and summarizing well how the town citizens will have to live with.

I'm personnally worried about the violence hitting the USA, and the World in general. Even in Canada, a quiet country, more murders than ever in the last few years in Ottawa, and even in Québec City.

About BWE, a renewal would be good, but i guess that the latest weeks have been quiet and maybe i should take a break too. I have always been an "idealist" trying to make BWE a great place, but i feel my post are just mostly ignored, not generating any enthusiast or interesting wine discussion lately... i guess i have been a good distraction, but never been part of BWE big cheese.

[Ianjaig]

Terrible and shocking news indeed and I’m glad to hear that you are safe, Jim. It was headline news over here as well and I’m sure it brought back many unpleasant memories for those involved in the Christchurch massacre here 4 years or so ago.

Yes, I’m looking forward to meeting you in person as well Ian. I’m not high enough up the food chain to really have any say on the running of this site, but what I would like to add is that it is due to this site and the great community that exists on here that Ian and I (despite living 12,000 miles away from each other) have the chance to meet up and share some wines together. Anything that can be done to help keep the site running strong and the great community engaged and participating constructively, I fully support.

[AlexR]

Nic,

You wrote, "but i feel my posts are just mostly ignored".

Please, please don't feel that wasy! I, for one, read everything you post on BWE, even if I don't post a comment or reply.
I'm sure I'm not alone in this!

Keep up the good work Nic.
I particularly like your posts about wines from around the world, some which are not often seen in the US or France.

Ian,

I think your post here was very important.

Could you possibly start a new thread with it, or authorize me to do so?

Posts here have gone down to a trickle.
BWE needs a salutary kick in the butt

All the best,
Alex

[Comte Flaneur]

Nic you certainly are one of the big cheeses on BWE and always have been. I meant to qualify my opinion that the torch should be handed over to a ‘North’ American - and you have the natural empathy with Jim as a Quebecer - I didn’t realise that Jim had a Quebec side but I knew about the Polish side - so maybe you are the person to run the site? But I realise you have your hands full with family.

Alex you don’t need my permission to start a thread on the succession. I think that is a good idea and I hope people can chime in with their views. One thing I would say is that ever since I have known Jim he has always been very busy with his worker as a defence lawyer, so hats off to him for running the site so well over 23 years, with the help of others of course.

[Nicklasss]

English not being my first language, and with family/kids using lot of my time, i would not be ok to take care of leadership of BWE.

I understand a board like BWE is a bit "old style" vs other tools on the internet, but no of BWE members vs post or discussion ratio is at it lowest. And i undetstand not many people have the time to post.

Sometimes i feel we're now a "wine dinner dating board".

[stefan]

Each morning I read EVERY new post on BWE before I look at the news even if I am not posting much of late.

[JCNorthway]

What stefan said - I make a daily morning visit.

[marcs]

Feels like the context of the Lewiston tragedy is not the right setting to be talking about BWE internal politics, and like Joel suggested I think we should move that discussion to the other thread.

Just want to reiterate how rich and thoughtful Jim's interview was. It really helped me understand his relationship to Lewiston and what was special about it - how the spirit of the place flowed out of its natural setting, its history, and the waves of immigrants who had constituted it. Most of all he was able to full justice to the tragedy of the shooting while also showing that Lewiston was so much more than just this event. I thought what he said about how there was a lot of sorrow but no hatred in response to the shooting was powerful too.

Not many people these days are able to spend a whole lifetime in a single community and understand and contribute to it as much as Jim has, at everything from a high leadership level to directly helping some of the most disadvantaged people there in their toughest moments. It's a rare and admirable thing. I'm sure he'll be one of the people contributing to leading it forward from this tragedy too.

He didn't manage to work in fine French wine, but I guess that's a tacit admission that the essence of Lewiston is perhaps not to be found in Bordeaux, even if that's the liquid that flows through Jim's veins...

[JoelD]

Feels like the context of the Lewiston tragedy is not the right setting to be talking about BWE internal politics, and like Joel suggested I think we should move that discussion to the other thread.

Just want to reiterate how rich and thoughtful Jim's interview was. It really helped me understand his relationship to Lewiston and what was special about it - how the spirit of the place flowed out of its natural setting, its history, and the waves of immigrants who had constituted it. Most of all he was able to full justice to the tragedy of the shooting while also showing that Lewiston was so much more than just this event. I thought what he said about how there was a lot of sorrow but no hatred in response to the shooting was powerful too.

Well said, Marcus. When I switched threads, I didn't transfer over the part commending Jim's interview. It was very eloquent, from the heart and important insight into his beloved community. This was a very sad time and I hope that they can all move forward as best as can be expected. I'm sure that Jim will have a part in helping that.

[s*d*r]

A thoughtful, reasoned and measured interview. I was surprised to hear about the lack of anger among the locals but learning the history of Lewiston helped partially to explain it. Would that there were more sadness than anger when necessary in other horrible circumstances.