A new report on campus safety urges more residential life staffers and greater effort to ease tensions between safety officers and students at the Lewiston college.
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
New state law aims to help former prisoners get jobs
In most cases, employers will not be allowed to ask applicants about criminal history on applications, though they can do so during job interviews.
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Posted inMaine, News, Sports
At the 1924 Olympics, Maine’s Bob LeGendre leaped into history
For several years in the 1920s, Americans hailed LeGendre, a world-record holder and Olympic medalist, as the best athlete in the country and possibly the world.
Posted inMaine
America’s water systems are vulnerable to a Pearl Harbor-level cyberattack, Angus King warns
Maine’s junior senator said the nation faces “an extremely dangerous situation” until it bolsters its security against web-based attacks on critical infrastructure.
Posted inElections, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, Politics
Youngest state senator eyes challenge to Jared Golden for Maine congressional seat
Trey Stewart of Presque Isle is the second Republican to enter the 2nd District race in hopes of unseating a two-term Democrat.
Posted inMaine
How browntail moths became such a big problem here in Maine
Efforts to defeat the moth started within days of its discovery in 1897 but, so far, the Old World invader has managed to hang on in New England.
Posted inMaine, News, Schools and Education
Bates College encourages staff to get COVID-19 vaccines but opts not to require them
Though its students must get inoculated before the fall semester, staff say employees can choose to go without as long as they wear masks and maintain distance.
Posted inElections, Maine, Politics
Former Gov. Paul LePage, who is running for his old office, remains an active voter in Florida
In violation of Florida election law, LePage, who is registeredto vote in Maine, failed to notify Flagler County that he is no longer a resident of that state, where he registered to vote in 2019.
Posted inMaine
Franklin, Oxford counties now face severe drought
Experts categorize a growing section of a parched Maine as a severe drought.
Posted inMaine, Maine Crime
Janet Mills says no to making Maine first in nation to decriminalize prostitution for its victims
The governor this week vetoed a bill that sought to increase penalties for buying sex and drop them for selling sex.