Little-known Natasha Alcala takes aim at one of nation’s most hotly contested U.S. Senate seats.
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.
Maine’s state dog may become the Seppala Siberian sled dog
Legislators sympathetic to push to honor the legendary Togo’s descendants
Maine’s coldest case: Police still don’t know who killed Kenny Wood Jr. in Auburn in 1954
Despite years of investigation, authorities have never figured out who murdered the 12-year-old from Gray.
Maine’s cannabis chief investigated for possible conflict of interest
A legislative panel agrees to look into ties between John Hudak and a firm hired to track marijuana plants from seedling to sale.
A Frenchville Republican challenges Susan Collins
Susan Collins will face at least one primary challenger if she opts to run for reelection in 2026
World War II hero from Maine is new namesake of Fort Bragg in North Carolina
World War II Pfc. Roland L. Bragg lived in Maine until his 1999 death and is remembered as a hero. He replaces the fort’s original namesake, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg.
Cities push Maine lawmakers for more revenue-sharing cash
Hoping for more aid to cope with rising budgets, municipalities eye possible increases in revenue sharing rates
Golden bill would force federal agencies to have offices outside DC
Bureaucrats should operate closer to the people impacted by federal rules and regulations, the lawmaker said.
Retired Maine general says Pete Hegseth unqualified to lead Pentagon
Democrat Jon Treacy of Oxford warns Trump’s choices for his Cabinet are ‘buffoons and clowns.’
Rep. Jared Golden backs 2 constitutional amendments
The Democrat is seeking term limits and an amendment that would require a supermajority to pass almost all bills before the Senate.