Some parts of Maine have among the lowest rates in the country for responding to census takers.
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 inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State
VIDEO: Calling for justice, Black Lives Matter rally draws crowd in Lewiston and Auburn
Protesters marched in Lewiston and Auburn on Monday demanding justice in the wake of the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.
advertisement
Posted inElections, Local & State, Politics
U.S. Senate candidate complains that pandemic politics are unfair
U.S. Senate hopeful Tiffany Bond has 2,500 of the 4,000 voter signatures she needs to get on the ballot, but securing the rest in a time of social distancing will be tricky.
Posted inLocal & State
After violating face covering rule, Bethel brew pub loses health license again
Sunday River Brewing Co. opens Friday without state permit.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Local & State
A ‘bleak outlook’ for Bates as college tries to cope with COVID-19
Worried about ‘an existential threat’ to Bates, its staff and junior faculty want more say in how the college plans for the pandemic.
Posted inLakes Region Weekly, Lewiston-Auburn, Local & State
A bipartisan plea to reopen Poland, New Gloucester and other rural towns
Democoratic state Sen. Ned Claxton and Republican state Rep. Amy Arata teamed up Tuesday to make the case for the state to lessen COVID-19 restrictions in more places.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State
Rick Savage among those suing Janet Mills in a new federal court case
Bethel brew pub owner joined a federal class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday that argues Mills is violating Mainers’ rights as she tries to clamp down on COVID-19.
Posted inLocal & State
Tucker Carlson creating studio in Bryant Pond
WOODSTOCK — It appears “the northernmost bureau of Fox News,” just down the road from Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s vacation home, is almost ready to go on the air from inside the old town garage. Carlson, who purchased the building in Bryant Pond village last fall for $30,000, told the town he plans to […]
Posted inLocal & State
Federal mental health grants canceled because Maine has legal marijuana
A federal agency wipes out $3.3 million to students who have medical authorization.
Posted inBusiness, Lewiston-Auburn, Local & State
Avangrid sues to block November referendum on hydropower line
The power company asked a state court Wednesday to reject plans for a Nov. 3 statewide public vote on the controversial project.