A history of the newspaper in Lewiston from 1847 to the present
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 in175th anniversary, Lewiston-Auburn
Almost a murder
A Lewiston Weekly Journal story from June 9, 1885 reported that Mrs. Spaulding was scuffling with her husband. She had her hands before her face. After the officers entered the door, he fired at her.
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Posted in175th anniversary, Lewiston-Auburn
Challenging the ‘old fogeys’ by starting a newspaper
The Lewiston Falls Journal, the community’s first newspaper, rolled off the press 175 years ago today.
Posted in175th anniversary, Lewiston-Auburn
Starting Sunday: The story of Maine’s most spectacular murder case
The story of that man and that murder, arguably the biggest ongoing news story that ever occurred in Lewiston, will be told in full this year as part of the newspaper’s 175th anniversary.
Posted in175th anniversary, Lewiston-Auburn
How Lewiston Learned The Terrible Titanic Story: First and Only Complete Account of Wreck Given in Lewiston Journal Extras
This story, which appeared in the Lewiston Saturday Journal on April 20, 1912, is reprinted in full.
Posted in175th anniversary, Lewiston-Auburn
Another disappearance
A Lewiston Evening Journal story from Nov. 11, 1896.
Posted in175th anniversary, Lewiston-Auburn
A typical report in the Lewiston Weekly Journal in 1886
Let’s just grab a handful of the news items reported on that day to get a sense of what the paper’s local coverage was like in those simpler times.
Posted inAndroscoggin County, Schools & Education
Poland middle school student suspended pending probe of ‘Kill List’
POLAND — A middle school student at Bruce M. Whittier Middle School was suspended and removed from the Route 26 campus Friday after administrators learned he had created a “Kill List” on his school-issued laptop that included the names of other students and staff. A joint message to parents from RSU 16 Superintendent Ken Healey […]
Posted in175th anniversary, Lewiston-Auburn, News
A former Auburn man’s high-flying ‘airship’ caught the world’s attention in 1897
The true story of the once-acclaimed but now forgotten “Professor Barnard” and his fabulous flying machine
Posted inBusiness, Health, Lewiston-Auburn, News
‘A very difficult day’: St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center to end maternity services
The hospital cites declining birth rates as part of the reason for ending its women’s health services at the end of July.