Lawmakers are weighing a bill that would prevent cities and towns from blocking homeless shelters.
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 inLocal & State
Muslim holy days should be state holidays, Lewiston lawmaker says
Rep. Mana Abdi, D-Lewiston, is pushing for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha to join Christmas, Thanksgiving and others on the state calendar of holidays.
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Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Paul LePage may be eyeing another campaign in Maine
LePage, who is registered to vote in Florida, is said to be weighing a run in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Auburn rail line to Portland should be a trail, lawmakers told
Opponents of the proposal to create a 26-mile bicycle and pedestrian trail along the route say the tracks should stay in place in case passenger rail service returns.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State
Mainers are howling about coyote hunting proposal
A legislative committee in Augusta got an earful from both sides about a bill that would limit coyote hunting.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
First Democratic challenger to Sen. Susan Collins emerges
Little-known Natasha Alcala takes aim at one of nation’s most hotly contested U.S. Senate seats.
Posted inLocal & State
Maine’s state dog may become the Seppala Siberian sled dog
Legislators sympathetic to push to honor the legendary Togo’s descendants
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State
Maine’s coldest case: Police still don’t know who killed Kenny Wood Jr. in Auburn in 1954
Despite years of investigation, authorities have never figured out who murdered the 12-year-old from Gray.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State
Maine’s cannabis chief investigated for possible conflict of interest
A legislative panel agrees to look into ties between John Hudak and a firm hired to track marijuana plants from seedling to sale.
Posted inElections, Lewiston-Auburn, News, Politics
A Frenchville Republican challenges Susan Collins
Susan Collins will face at least one primary challenger if she opts to run for reelection in 2026