The Lewiston Evening Journal looked into the issues surrounding the claims and concluded the Michigan woman probably looked something like Lizzie and likely had the same name. In other words, it said, it appeared to be a case of “mistaken identity.”
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 inElection 2022, Maine
Analysis: Golden, Poliquin, Bond: Money, ads abound as CD 2 race offers sense of the familiar
The three-way race in Maine’s divided 2nd District offers a rematch of the 2018 contest with control of the U.S. House possibly on the line.
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Posted inElection 2022
Where the 2nd congressional district candidates stand on some key issues
Here’s an overview of the 2nd District congressional candidates’ positions on four key issues. ABORTION Independent Tiffany Bond and Democrat Jared Golden said they want women to have the right to choose whether to have an abortion. Poliquin said he is “pro-life and very proud of it.” Though Poliquin said it should be up to […]
Posted in175th anniversary
Chapter 24: Life at the State Prison in Thomaston
James M. “Jim” Lowell was a quiet, orderly prisoner in Maine’s well-regulated prison.
Posted inElection 2022, Maine
Independent Tiffany Bond offers a different approach to lawmaking
The 2nd District candidate cited one bill where she differed from Jared Golden, Bruce Poliquin — and every other lawmaker on Capitol Hill
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Bates College focuses on search for a new president
A search panel hopes to recommend a successor to Clayton Spencer by spring.
Posted inbPlus
Other high-ranking politicians from the area
From the astonishing Washburns of Livermore to Auburn’s Olympia Snowe, western Maine has proven fertile ground for ambitious politicians.
Posted in175th anniversary
Chapter 23: Death warrant signed by governor
The gory tumult of the hanging of convicted murderer John Gordon caused then-Gov. Nelson Dingley Jr.’s Executive Board on July 6, 1875, to vote 4-3 to commute Lowell’s sentence to life in prison. With that, Lowell no longer faced the gallows.
Posted in175th anniversary, bPlus
Political hotbed: ‘For scheming politicans, Lewiston has the medal’
Since Maine became a state two centuries ago, Lewiston has elected 15 men to serve in Congress or as governor.
Posted inElection 2022, Lewiston-Auburn
Paul LePage and Bruce Poliquin team up to campaign in Lewiston
The two Republican candidates told seniors at the Franco Center that Maine and the nation need change.