Environmentalists hail plan to allocate $18 million in additional funds to boost water quality projects for Maine’s lakes
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.
Posted inAndroscoggin County, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, News
State panel backs creation of new rail trail between Auburn and Portland
Rail Use Advisory Council endorses a 26-mile path for bicycles and pedestrians along an unused rail corridor.
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Bates College expects to pick a new president this spring
With Clayton Spencer stepping down in June, the college is scrambling to find her successor.
Posted inPolitics
Organizing principles of the Blue Dog Coalition that Rep. Jared Golden co-chairs on Capitol Hill
“We hereby organize to serve the interests of the country. “We believe that the government has an important and constructive role to play in defining an equal-opportunity-society based on principles of individual rights. “We believe that the people of America have entrusted us to represent the country, to transcend politics, in order to pursue the […]
Posted inMaine, Politics
Democratic Blue Dogs like Jared Golden can still bark, but can they bite?
Maine’s 2nd District lawmaker sees hope for compromise and progress in a narrowly divided, Republican-controlled U.S. House
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Schools & Education
Bates College plans to add 8 more professors
Seeking to bolster the strength of its academic program, Lewiston college eyes faculty growth.
Posted inAndroscoggin County, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine
Museum L-A snags federal funds for a new facility near Androscoggin River
A challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities offers a boost for plan that may allow construction to start next year.
Posted inMaine, Politics
When Dora Pinkham took office as Maine’s first female lawmaker a century ago, the Journal predicted a lot more by 2023
‘Here we are!’ Gov. Janet Mills declared Jan. 4 in her second inaugural address.
Posted inbPlus
A hero during the Civil War, Maine’s Andrew Tozier turned to crime when he returned home
Two years after gaining renown at the Battle of Gettysburg, the Litchfield native robbed a Livermore Falls clothing store and more. But another hero intervened and helped secure Tozier’s legacy.
Posted inMaine, Nation / World, Politics
Maine’s Democratic representatives criticize Republican moves in U.S. House
Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree opposed a number of measures pushed by the new congressional majority.