A University of Maine proposal to accelerate growth of the forest bio-economy is a finalist for possible funding from a federal agency
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 inSchools and Education
Booster shots encouraged but not required for Bates College students
The Lewiston college says more COVID-19 restrictions may be needed next semester, but not yet and maybe never.
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Posted inMaine, Politics
Max Linn, a colorful candidate, dead at 62
Linn privately speculated in 2020 that he may have caught COVID-19 during a trip to Wuhan in late 2019.
Posted inElection 2022, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, Politics
Jared Golden tells Democrats to favor workers, not millionaires in revised relief bill
The 2nd District Democrat calls for changes to Build Back Better bill to reduce tax cuts for the wealthy.
Posted inElection 2022, Elections, Maine, Politics
Bangor Republican announces he will run against Bruce Poliquin
Garret Swazey is the fifth Republican to jump into a congressional primary to choose a challenger to face Democrat Jared Golden
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Lawsuit: Affordable Cremation Solution kept taking bodies because it ‘needed the money’
The filing alleges malicious conduct by the former Lewiston business for showing ‘hostility and contempt’ to family members worried about loved ones’ remains
Posted inElection 2022, Elections, Maine, Politics
‘A little, weak Democrat could beat me up’: Congressional candidate Mike Perkins in hospital with COVID-19
Republican hopeful says he’s feeling ‘like I got hit by a tractor-trailer and then the truck backed up and hit me again.’
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine, Politics
Jared Golden takes flak from Democratic allies for opposing Build Back Better bill
The Lewiston Democrat was the only member of his party in the U.S. House to oppose measure pushed by President Biden.
Posted inElections, Maine, Politics
Democrats criticize Bruce Poliquin for aiding a group that opposes gay marriage
The leading Republican congressional contender in Maine’s 2nd District is scheduled to help train politically-minded Christian activists at a session sponsored by an anti-gay group.
Posted inPolitics
Wales lawmaker out of hospital after COVID-19; still speaking out against vaccine
Randall Greenwood, who is recovering at home after a 12-day hospital stay that included time on a ventilator, says he won’t get vaccinated.