About 25,000 more would likely benefit from the proposed annual tax credit change to offer up to $2,500 to most Mainers who have student debt
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 inHealth, Lewiston-Auburn
COVID-19 testing center to open in Auburn
As the pandemic eases slightly in Maine, three more testing sites are opening statewide, including one at the YMCA of Auburn-Lewiston’s Outdoor Learning & Education Center at 151 Stetson Road.
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Posted inMaine, Oxford Hills
Lawmakers eye ban on shutting off utilities for public safety buildings after June incident in Buckfield
A hearing Tuesday focused on a measure initiated to prevent future problems like one that popped up in Buckfield last June.
Posted inPolitics
Republican challengers say Bruce Poliquin should pay attention to Maine instead of the Texas border
Liz Caruso and Garret Swazey said politicians need to focus more on needs of everyday Mainers, less on ‘grandstanding.’
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Auburn’s Adam Lee eyes a state House seat
The Democratic lawyer is taking aim at the newly created 89th District seat in Auburn
Posted inbPlus
When 3 divas put Maine atop the world stage
Three Maine women born in the middle of the 1800s were counted among the globe’s top singers during opera’s heyday.
Posted inAndroscoggin County, Maine
Minot native inside Capitol during Jan. 6 riot: ‘Free men don’t ask for permission!’
Mitch Simon admits he confronted police in bid to show Congress ‘who the f***ing boss really is.’
Posted inHealth, Maine
Lawmakers kill bill that sought to bar state from imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates
In a party-line committee vote Thursday, legislators agreed to leave the door open for possible vaccine requirements down the road
Posted inMaine, Politics
Republican congressional candidate drops out to ‘throw popcorn and tomatoes from the sidelines’
The departure of a long-shot contender from Newburgh leaves three Republican candidates for the 2nd Congressional District primary on June 14.
Posted inElections, Franklin, Maine, Politics
Liz Caruso calls for Republican congressional candidates to pledge opposition to hydropower corridor
It is not clear whether any of the three other Maine 2nd District hopefuls will follow her lead to support blockage of the New England Clean Energy Connect project.