Sunday River Brewing Co. has tried to reopen twice in defiance of state pandemic restrictions.
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
Bethel brew pub owner says he will reopen again in defiance of state order
Rick Savage plans to begin serving customers Tuesday.
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Posted inBusiness, Elections, Local & State
Gov. Mills becomes a target for Republicans aiming at U.S. House seat
Three congressional contenders in Maine’s 2nd District call for state to reopen more quickly than the governor’s plan envisions.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State, Schools and Education
COVID-19 has already cost Bates College up to $2 million
It is likely to sock the Lewiston college for millions more in the months ahead, despite the school’s efforts to control costs — including pay and hiring freezes.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Max Linn may wind up on this year’s U.S. Senate ballot
Retired Bar Habor financial planner, Max Linn, filed paperwork Friday to try to secure a spot as an independent in the state’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Posted inLocal & State
Evicted in Maine, purported cult leader arrested 1,700 miles away
From a jail cell in South Dakota, Gary Blankenship, whose activities in St. Agatha created a furor over the winter, is awaiting extradition to Tennessee.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Jared Golden says Congress should stay in session
Lewiston congressman says there’s too much critical work for him to do everything at his kitchen table.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State
Maine Turnpike anticipates many more people on the road by summer
After seeing half its traffic volume vanish since mid-March, highway officials anticipate they’ll be down 10% per month from July through December.
Posted inLocal & State
Paul LePage wants to help Maine cope with COVID-19
“I would offer my services to fly back right now and to sit” with Janet Mills to work to deal with unemployment claims and more, LePage said.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
When protesters gathered in Augusta, one candidate stayed home with her sign
Bangor’s Adrienne Bennett held a virtual protest rather than risk attending a rally in Augusta calling for the state to reopen, a position she endorsed.