Martinez lived in Lewiston for five years in the witness protection program before returning to New York, where he was murdered in 2021.
Steve Collins
Columnist
Steve Collins became an opinion columnist for the Maine Trust for Local News in April of 2025. A journalist since 1987, Steve has worked for daily newspapers in New York, Connecticut and Maine and served as the State House reporter for the Sun Journal since 2016. The Maine Press Association named him Maine's Journalist of the Year in 2022. Among his other awards are the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2016 Ethics in Journalism Award, the I.F. Stone Whistle-Blower Award in 2015 and the Bob Wallack Community Journalism Award from the New England Newspaper & Press Association. Steve is a founder and board president of Youth Journalism International, a charity that teaches students around the globe about news writing, media literacy and issues of the day. His wife, Jackie Majerus, serves as its executive director. Born in Massachusetts, he grew up in a military family that took him to Norway, Ohio and Virginia, where he earned a degree in history from the University of Virginia. He and Jackie live in Auburn. They have two adult children, two collies and not enough time.
Lewiston firm in a pickle over Pickle Juice clampdown
Lawsuit against a Texas beverage maker seeks to restore ability to sell products on Amazon.
Remembering Lewiston legend Bill ‘Rough’ Carrigan
He was a star Maine athlete, played with Babe Ruth and managed the Red Sox to two World Series, before returning home to a much more normal life.
The deadliest-ever day for public safety officers in Auburn and Lewiston
75 years ago, two fire trucks crashed into each other in Auburn, killing three men.
Jared Golden seeks to honor actor James Earl Jones
Congressional Gold Medal eyed for actor who provided the voice of Darth Vader in the original “Star Wars” movies.
Auburn psychologist killed in Maine Turnpike crash
A 49-year-old refugee, husband and father who built a successful life in America died Monday after a tire hit his car.
Rep. Jared Golden says Donald Trump will win ‘and I’m OK with that’
The Lewiston Democrat predicts Joe Biden will lose the presidential election in November, and that democracy will not fail because ‘no one man is strong enough to take it away from us.’
Angus King, Jared Golden called ‘centrists’ who deserve reelection
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin includes both Mainers among moderates he’s endorsing from both parties.
Maine’s Susan Collins wins ‘Whole Hog Award’ for bringing home the bacon
Longtime senator snagged more money for her state than any of her colleagues.
Documents reveal police officers’ ‘courageous’ response to Oct. 25 mass shooting in Lewiston
Firsthand reports by individual Lewiston, Auburn and Androscoggin County officers describe courage, caring in the horrific first hours.