Steve Collins

Opinion 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.

Latest

Published
March 6, 2019

Collins says she will decide in 2020 whether to endorse Trump

Maine’s senior senator, who opposed the president in 2016, says she needs to work with Trump in the meantime.
Published
March 4, 2019

Activists take aim at Golden for pro-gun, pro-ICE votes

Maine Democrat comes under fire from gun control group and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Published
February 27, 2019

To fight cancer, Maine may allow students to use sunscreen in school

Bill would drop requirement that students bring a permission slip before possessing or using sunscreen.
Published
February 26, 2019

Jared Golden opposes Democratic bid to expand gun background checks

Maine Democrat says his district voted against same idea at the polls in 2016.
Published
February 22, 2019

Medical pioneers in Auburn and Lewiston were a mixed bag

In an era of quackery and fraud, early doctors sought to provide health care.
Published
February 21, 2019

Legislators may ease path to job licensing to bolster opportunity in Maine

New Mainers are especially likely to wind up underemployed when state won’t recognize foreign credentials.
Published
February 19, 2019

Larry Lockman’s proposal seeks to keep politics out of the classroom

The Republican’s measure draws criticism from educators and the ACLU.
Published
February 13, 2019

Maine congressional delegation takes aim at high drug prices

A bill introduced Wednesday by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden to crack down on price spikes is only the latest in a series of measures backed by Maine’s lawmakers to lower the cost of prescriptions.
Published
February 12, 2019

Truancy law may soon cover Maine’s youngest students

After falling short after vetoes by Gov. Paul LePage the past two sessions, legislators this year are likely to push through a measure to extend truancy laws to 5- and 6-year-olds enrolled in school.
Published
February 8, 2019

Critics rip into Susan Collins after abortion ruling by Justice Kavanaugh

They blamed the four-term Maine senator for providing Kavanaugh with the opportunity to join the losing side of a 5-4 ruling that blocked proposed restrictions on who could perform abortions in Louisiana.

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