A new Maine study calls rising pollen levels a public health threat as respiratory problems worsen.
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, Politics
Troy Jackson seeks transparency for online news sites trying to influence elections
The Allagash Democrat said sites that masquerade as news organizations ought to include a disclaimer so people know who paid to put them online.
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Upstream towns worry they’ll pay the price for a cleaner Androscoggin River
Rumford and other towns urge more testing, better communication before plunging ahead with controversial upgrade for river’s water quality.
Posted inNation & World
Minot native pleads not guilty of crimes at U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6
Federal agents seized Mitch Simon’s cellphone this month and intend to check it for potential incriminating evidence.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
District attorney in Lewiston pushes to decriminalize prostitution for victims of sex trafficking
Some worry the move might spur more commercial sex in Maine as pimps tell young exploited women ‘you won’t get in trouble because it’s legal in Androscoggin.’
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Schools and Education
Bates students support Palestinians, denounce college
Bates College student government and others decry decision to call police over anti-Israel graffiti as ‘a censure of student voices.’
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Androscoggin River upgrade delayed for at least a year
Rep. Ralph Tucker, a Brunswick Democrat, called it “a great idea” to put off consideration of the proposal in part because he would like to see upstream towns and industries included in the discussion about what ought to be done.
Posted inNews, Schools and Education
Bates to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all students
The college said Tuesday it won’t allow students to return in the fall unless they are vaccinated.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Anti-Israel graffiti at Bates College sparks state investigation
Slogans were written in chalk on the side of at least one building on the Lewiston campus.
Posted inNation & World
Minot native faces federal charges in connection with U.S. Capitol siege
Mitch Simon, 30, charged with joining the insurgents who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 in bid to stop Joe Biden’s succession to the presidency.