The former 19th century sea captain’s writing and lectures helped spur the creation of the American Peace Society and, ultimately, the United Nations.
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 inMaine
A Mainer watches ‘chaos and panic’ from his window in Ukraine’s capital
Explosions, sirens and military vehicles turn once-peaceful Kyiv into ‘a real problem,’ says a Belfast native who has lived there since 2020.
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Auburn woman watches in horror as war unfolds in her native Ukraine
Olga Dolgicer says Ukrainians will resist the Russian invasion and urges Western nations to offer aid but not troops.
Posted inMaine, Politics
Congressional candidate tried to save injured snowmobilers in Maine woods
Bangor’s Garret Swazey, who hit the trails to gather signatures for his election paperwork, wound up at a ‘horrible’ scene where one man died and another was badly hurt
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine, Nation / World
Ukraine invasion unsettling and perhaps ‘very bloody,’ Bates College professor says
James G. Richter, an expert on U.S. and Russian foreign policy, questions Putin and praises Biden as war heats up
Posted inBusiness, Lewiston-Auburn
Great Falls Forum: Battling conspiracy theories is all about listening
Bates College professor Stephanie Kelley-Romano said when people feel left out and disempowered, “they are going to look for some sort of explanation.”
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Bates College plans to renovate historic Chase Hall
Displaced offices and student groups will move temporarily to the former convent the college bought last year from St. Mary’s
Posted inAndroscoggin County, Maine, Nation / World
Minot native faces more charges in light of new evidence of his role at US Capitol riot
Mitch Simon allegedly threw something at embattled police and tussled with officers Jan. 6, 2021, at a barricade.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, News, Schools & Education
Gov. Janet Mills’ plan could boost Maine’s community colleges
In Auburn on Friday, Mills laid out the case for students to attend two-year colleges for free.
Posted inMaine, Nation / World, Politics
Capitol riot not ‘legitimate political discourse,’ Maine Republicans say
But congressional hopefuls Bruce Poliquin and Liz Caruso stop short of saying Joe Biden won the 2020 election.