A new law requires screenings for every child at ages 1 and 2 in bid to catch lead exposure early and minimize the health impact it can have.
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
State Senate Democrats eye programs for broadband, student debt relief and more
At a town hall session in Auburn, lawmakers discussed their “Fighting for Maine” agenda and plans for the next session in Augusta.
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Posted inElections, Local & State, News, Politics
Democrats hopeful as they bring campaigns for U.S. Senate to rural Sangerville Grange
SANGERVILLE — For a few hours recently, the 115-year-old East Sangerville Grange Hall, one of those classic white clapboard New England structures, stood at the center of what may prove the most important U.S. Senate race in the nation. That mid-October Saturday night marked the first time each of the Maine Democratic Party’s Senate contenders gathered […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Bates snags federal cash to help study Lake Auburn
Researchers hope to use more technology to help understand the algae blooms that impact many American lakes, including the one that Auburn and Lewiston rely on for drinking water.
Posted inElections, Local & State, News, Politics
Maine Republican congressional candidate Eric Brakey giving away an AR-15 to one lucky donor
Eric Brakey plans next month to hand over a $1,200 gun to someone who signs up to become a monthly donor to his 2nd District congressional campaign.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, Nation & World, News, Politics
U.S. House passes Jared Golden’s bill to help a federal small business program
A measure by the 2nd District Maine Democrat to increase funding for the Small Business Development Center program got bipartisan support this week.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State, News
CMP criticizes fake signs posted on Farmington explosion site
Central Maine Power officials say signs touting its proposed $1 billion transmission line project were meant to sour the public’s view of the New England Clean Energy Connect plan.
Posted inLocal & State, Nation & World, News, Politics
Former ambassador now living in Maine says U.S. policy in Syria ‘was always going to end badly’
Robert Ford of rural Beaver Cove says President Trump made the right decision to pull American troops out of Syria.
Posted inBusiness, Health, Local & State
Seniors find high-dose flu vaccines hard to come by
Health officials say the shortage is only temporary and supplies of the high-dose shots often used by seniors will be available soon.
Posted inElections, Local Elections, Politics
Secretive Facebook pages roil Lewiston’s mayoral campaign
Two social media pages purporting to back Mark Cayer’s mayoral bid are actually undermining it, the Democrat says.