Seven nations touching on the Arctic are boycotting sessions with Russia and pausing their work on the council because of the Ukraine invasion.
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
Ten state boards may get the ax for doing too little
Lawmakers weighing the fate of panels watching over everything from combat sports to seaweed.
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Posted inCops & Courts, Lewiston-Auburn, Local & State
New York police make arrest in murder of former Lewiston resident Alpo Martinez
A New York City man, 27, already in custody, was charged late Sunday with the Halloween slaying of the convicted murderer and drug dealer, who moved to Lewiston and lived quietly under a federal witness protection program for five years.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State, Nation & World
Ukraine invasion unsettling and perhaps ‘very bloody,’ Bates College professor says
James G. Richter, an expert on U.S. and Russian foreign policy, questions Putin and praises Biden as war heats up
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Bates College plans to renovate historic Chase Hall
Displaced offices and student groups will move temporarily to the former convent the college bought last year from St. Mary’s
Posted inLocal & State, Nation & World
Minot native faces more charges in light of new evidence of his role at US Capitol riot
Mitch Simon allegedly threw something at embattled police and tussled with officers Jan. 6, 2021, at a barricade.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, Schools and Education
Students say free Maine community college tuition will ease financial strain
Gov. Mills touted her proposal in Auburn on Friday and some students say the plan sounds good, but they need to see details before determining how it will affect them.
Posted inLocal & State, Nation & World, Politics
Capitol riot not ‘legitimate political discourse,’ Maine Republicans say
But congressional hopefuls Bruce Poliquin and Liz Caruso stop short of saying Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
How Mainer Edmund Muskie’s tirade a half-century ago may have cost him the White House
One of the most successful dirty tricks in American political history wiped away the presidential hopes of Rumford’s favorite son in 1972.
Posted inHealth, Local & State
Newborns in Maine may soon be screened for dangerous – and common – virus
Lawmakers are poised to endorse a bill that would establish rules for checking babies for CMV, a virus that can lead to hearing loss and cerebral palsy.