With student testing slated to start Sunday, more than 500 employees have so far been checked without a single positive result.
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, Politics
Susan Collins’ Postal Service overhaul in 2006 becomes a hot issue on the campaign trail
Democrats who backed her bill at the time are attacking her for it today as Maine’s U.S. Senate race gets ever hotter.
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State
Growing pains on Maine’s many lakes
From mooring disputes to Jet Skis, the state’s great ponds are seeing an uptick in disputes related to ever more use.
Posted inLocal & State, Schools and Education
Bates College warns students to give up on partying this year
“Social life as you have experienced it on campus in the past is no longer possible..,” Josh McIntosh, vice president for campus life and dean of students wrote.
Posted inLocal & State
Lewiston oral surgeon accuses dental board of destroying his reputation
Lewiston oral surgeon Dr. Jan Kippax asked state court Tuesday to reverse his reprimand by dental regulators.
Posted inElections, Politics
Independent U.S. Senate hopeful Lisa Savage picks up backing of one-time Democratic rival
Bre Kidman, who finished third in the Democratic Senate primary, bucks tradition to endorse Savage instead of the primary’s winner, Sara Gideon.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State
State reprimands a controversial Lewiston oral surgeon
Dental regulators rule Dr. Jan Kippax violated professional standards in his care of one patient.
Posted inElections, Local & State, Politics
Republican powerbroker’s bid to thwart Max Linn’s U.S. Senate campaign went awry
Linn accused former state GOP leader Charlie Webster of threatening him to try to help Susan Collins’ reelection bid.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State, Schools and Education
Bates group pressures college to change its plan to bring all students back to campus
A petition circulating among students, faculty and staff at the Lewiston college says its reopening plan is too dangerous.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Ex-U.S. Senate candidate Eric Brakey heads to Texas for new job
The former Auburn state senator, who lost a congressional primary this month, is moving to Austin to raise money for a libertarian group.