Three dozen small Maine towns — home to more than 12,000 — have maintained bans on booze, beer and wine sales long after Prohibition’s national repeal.
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 inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Racism at Edward Little highlighted in The Boston Globe
Auburn officials say racial issues at high school deserve more attention but insist the city’s high school is typical in the problems it faces.
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Bates College receives its largest-ever federal grant
Nearly $4 million from the National Science Foundation will allow the college to create a new database of video images useful for research on artificial intelligence and neuroscience.
Posted inMaine, News
The strange tale of a Maine balloonist who vanished in 1885
Wealthy Frederick Gower disappeared after his balloon wound up in the English Channel and put an end to his plan to develop a way to drop dynamite on London or Paris in future wars with the help of wind-borne bombing.
Posted inElections, Maine, News, Politics
Democratic ‘dark money’ group targets Sen. Collins
Maine Momentum has reserved $722,000 worth of advertising through early January to ‘educate’ voters about Maine’s senior senator as she heads into a reelection year.
Posted inElections, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, Politics
Eric Brakey files to challenge Rep. Golden in 2nd Congressional District
Auburn Republican Eric Brakey filed with the FEC Monday as a formal candidate in the sprawling rural district that’s up for grabs in next year’s race.
Posted inMaine
Do you know this man? Mysterious marble bust unearthed in Brownfield backyard
Antiquarians are trying to identify a bust that somebody found buried in a Brownfield backyard in Oxford County.
Posted inMaine, Nation & World, Uncategorized
Bucking trend, Rep. Golden opposes House impeachment inquiry
Maine’s 2nd District congressman says going after Trump would only contribute to partisan rancor.
Posted inElections, Maine, Politics
Eric Brakey raises over $100,000 for possible congressional run
The Republican former Auburn state senator appears likely to challenge Democrat Jared Golden in 2020’s 2nd District election.
Posted inElections, Maine, News, Politics
State treasurer backs Buttigieg for president
Henry Beck’s endorsement marks the first by a top Maine Democrat as his party tries to winnow the field of possible challengers to President Donald Trump.