Saco lawyer Bre Kidman readily admits to being weird, but hopes Mainers will identify with the independence and authenticity.
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.
Bates education expert talks about ‘screen time’ with Diane Sawyer for TV special
Anita Charles, a Bates College lecturer who has researched cellphone use in schools, is slated to appear on an ABC News show Friday evening.
Bates students fear college will become ‘playground for elites’
Students call for administrators to cancel planned 3.4% hike in price tag for the next academic year.
Auburn’s high-seas mutiny hangings
One of Maine’s last executions took place in Auburn in 1858, when two men went to the gallows before a crowd of 7,000 for murder and mutiny aboard a Bath brig in the Caribbean.
New York City eyes Quebec hydropower in bid to go green
Mayor Bill DeBlasio calls for new transmission line down the Hudson Valley that would be nearly as large as one sought by Central Maine Power.
Saco lawyer Bre Kidman seeks Democratic backing to challenge Susan Collins
Seeing no other Democrats stepping up, the 31-year-old said hard work is needed to win in 2020.
Seth Carey’s unsuccessful DA race spurs effort to change law
Turner legislator sponsors bill to prevent lawyers who have been suspended from practicing law from becoming district attorneys.
Lewiston the big winner in controversial power line project
The city would gain more than $8 million in additional tax revenue annually if New England Clean Energy Connect gets a green light.
Opposition mounts to Trump plan to extend work requirement for SNAP benefits
Jared Golden said he might support the change, as long as it doesn’t hurt children or seniors, while Maine’s senators and Chellie Pingree oppose it.
Bates College, Gallup report: Grads want ‘purposeful’ work
Gallup and Bates issue report calling on educators to focus on what students need to find happiness in employment.