Fairfield’s Derek Levasseur said heavy pressure from Maine Republican leaders squelched his effort to snatch party backing from the 4-term senator in next June’s primary.
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 inMaine Crime
In one of Maine’s most sensational killings, justice proved elusive
The 1922 slaying of Maine guide Otis Bean near Rangeley marked the first time a Franklin County woman ever faced a murder charge.
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Posted inElections, Local & State, Politics
Susan Collins says her longevity in the Senate benefits Maine
If the Republican wins a fifth term next year, she would be in line to chair the powerful Appropriations Committee, which oversees federal spending.
Posted inElections, Lewiston-Auburn, Local & State, Politics
Jared Golden vows to remain neutral in Susan Collins’ U.S. Senate race
Maine’s 2nd District Democratic congressman said Wednesday he won’t take sides in the heated 2020 Senate race so he can preserve personal relationships important to serving Maine in Washington.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State
Alzheimer’s disease threatens an aging Maine
With the number of Mainers with Alzheimer’s rising rapidly, research at The Jackson Lab and beyond is crucial to slowing its impact on families and taxpayers.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State, Schools and Education
Labor leader tells incoming Bates students to ‘become the missionaries of truth’
‘You are the ones who are going to have to clean up this mess,’ Dolores Huerta tells freshmen during the Lewiston college’s convocation ceremony Tuesday.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics, Uncategorized
During 1972 presidential race, Muskie faced at least 3 death threats
FBI records show details of several investigations into claims the Democratic Maine senator would be shot or bombed.
Posted inLocal & State, News
During his 1972 presidential race, Maine’s Edmund Muskie faced at least three death threats
FBI records released to the Sun Journal on Friday show details of several investigations into claims the Democratic senator would be shot or bombed.
Posted inLocal & State, News
New report hails condition of Maine’s highways
A Reason Foundation report issued this week ranked Maine as having the 4th-best highways in the country, the only state in New England called “very good” for the shape of its roads.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State
A century after Prohibition, some Maine towns are still dry
Three dozen small Maine towns — home to more than 12,000 — have maintained bans on booze, beer and wine sales long after Prohibition’s national repeal.