AUGUSTA — During the weekend before an explosion disintegrated a nonprofit’s building in Farmington last week killing one and injuring seven, nearly 400 gallons of propane leaked beneath its parking lot, some of it reaching the basement, the State Fire Marshal’s Office said Friday. Officials weren’t saying what ignited the gas Sept. 16 that sent […]
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 inFranklin, Maine
Conditions of Farmington explosion victims unchanged
LEAP maintenance supervisor Larry Lord in Boston; firefighters Scott Baxter and Terry Bell in Portland.
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Posted inMaine, Politics
Jared Golden stops shy of calling for impeachment inquiry into President Trump
Maine’s 2nd District Democrat says Trump puts political gain over national interests with push for Ukraine to investigate a rival’s son.
Posted inMaine, Oxford Hills, Politics
Retired Air Force officer opts in for U.S. Senate race against Susan Collins
Jonathan Treacy’s decision creates a possible four-way Democratic primary next June to pick the party’s preferred challenger against the longtime GOP incumbent.
Posted inMaine, News, Politics
Elizabeth Warren’s campaign puts Maine’s Frances Perkins at center stage
The Mainer who helped create the New Deal has become a staple of Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign speeches.
Posted inMaine
The climate crisis hits home in Central and Western Maine
WILTON — From moose to mud to maple syrup, the climate crisis is hitting home in Maine with an ever-greater impact. For 66-year-old Russell Black, a third-generation farmer and a Republican state senator from Wilton, it’s something with which he’s reluctantly learning to live. “It just isn’t the way it used to be,” Black said […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine, News, Politics
Bruce Poliquin picked by Trump to head federal firm that seeks to recover money for investors
The former Maine congressman tapped to lead the Board of Securities Investor Protection Corp. that has recovered billions over the years from failed Wall Street firms.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Jared Golden pursues $12 billion solution to lead paint problem
Maine’s 2nd District congressman says it would be ‘more expensive to do nothing’ because removing lead paint everywhere would lead to big savings in health care and education.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine, Politics
Eric Brakey takes aim at Golden’s 2nd District congressional seat
A Republican hopeful from Auburn formally declares his intention to win a U.S. House seat so he can take on what he views as an overreaching federal government.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine, News
No takers for some school jobs in Maine
Area districts say it’s tough to fill vacancies, but the situation is probably no worse than it was last September.