Maine Human Rights Commission rules that the authority and one of its workers discriminated against a Black tenant amid a dispute over her water-damaged, mold-filled apartment last summer.
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
An Auburn forum tackles a big question: ‘What if we go on this way?’
Three community leaders oversee a community discussion on the future of education, incarceration and housing.
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Posted inBusiness, Local & State
Efficiency Maine may add electric bikes to its rebate program
Boosters say more e-bikes will help Maine meet climate action goals and help Mainers get around.
Posted inLocal & State
Push made for full funding for Maine Climate Corps
Legislators are considering whether to bolster the corps’ ranks with $3.7 million to pay for four leadership positions and 50 participants.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Lawmakers urged to increase funding to protect Maine’s many lakes
Environmentalists hail plan to allocate $18 million in additional funds to boost water quality projects for Maine’s lakes
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State, News
State panel backs creation of new rail trail between Auburn and Portland
Rail Use Advisory Council endorses a 26-mile path for bicycles and pedestrians along an unused rail corridor.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Democratic Blue Dogs like Jared Golden can still bark, but can they bite?
Maine’s 2nd District lawmaker sees hope for compromise and progress in a narrowly divided, Republican-controlled U.S. House
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
When Dora Pinkham took office as Maine’s first female lawmaker a century ago, the Journal predicted a lot more by 2023
‘Here we are!’ Gov. Janet Mills declared Jan. 4 in her second inaugural address.
Posted inLocal & State, Nation & World, Politics
Maine’s Democratic representatives criticize Republican moves in U.S. House
Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree opposed a number of measures pushed by the new congressional majority.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Schools and Education
RSU 16 chooses superintendent from Phillips school district
Current SAD 58 superintendent Todd Sanders will take the helm over the Poland-based regional school district in July.