Senators, representatives on Capitol Hill seek more help for everything from newspapers to rural hospitals.
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, Local & State, Politics
Angus King calls for investigation of Navy captain’s removal
Maine politicians spoke out Tuesday against a Navy leader, who resigned at day’s end, for his handling of the removal of a captain who sought to protect the crew of his COVID-19-stricken aircraft carrier.
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Posted inLocal & State, Nation & World, Politics
Mainers among the worst in providing answers to U.S. Census
State lags well behind the national average.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Bates College cancels its traditional commencement this year
Faced with the threat of COVID-19, the college plans to hold a virtual graduation ceremony online instead May 31.
Posted inBusiness, Lewiston-Auburn, Local & State
Bates professor partners with Colby, Bowdoin to print coronavirus protective gear
Personnel at Bates, Colby and Bowdoin colleges are working together to use 3-D printers to make visors for face shields needed by medical staff and first responders.
Posted inBusiness, Lewiston-Auburn, Politics
COVID-19 closes hot spot for campaigning, but politicians remember
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins cites Simones’ Hot Dog Stand, a Lewiston landmark since 1908, as a reason for federal COVID-19 help for small businesses.
Posted inBusiness, Lewiston-Auburn, Local & State
Maine hospitals face financial crunch but remain focused on coronavirus crisis
The state’s hospitals have seen revenues dip by 50% in recent days because they shifted from normal services to preparing for a surge of COVID-19 patients.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State, Politics
Maine congressional race turns hot after Trump scorches an Eric Brakey ally
Adrienne Bennett and Dale Crafts, challenging Brakey in Maine congressional primary, tie him to a Republican congressman Trump said should be thrown out of the GOP.
Posted inElections, Local & State, Politics
Eric Brakey denounces $2.2 trillion relief bill as a ‘rotten deal for the American people’
Eric Brakey is alone among the three Republicans in Maine’s 2nd District congressional primary in rejecting the compromise bill that won unanimous backing in the U.S. Senate.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State
Masks and other protective gear running short at Central Maine Medical Center
Like many of its counterparts, Central Maine Medical Center is ‘conserving our resources’ to ensure it has masks, gloves and more for healthcare workers dealing the coronavirus.