A witness describes a chaotic scene when a man in a hospital gown crashed a police car, shot at officers, took off in another police vehicle before crashing again and finally being apprehended by police.
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.
The presidents of Bates College
1863-1894, Oren Cheney 1894-1919, George Colby Chase 1920-1944, Clifton Daggett Gray 1944-1967, Charles Phillips 1967-1989, Thomas Reynolds 1989-2002, Donald Harward 2002-2011, Elaine Tuttle Hansen 2012-2023, Clayton Spencer 2023-present, Garry Jenkins
Garry Jenkins formally installed as 9th president of Bates College
‘A joyful day’ for college as it recognizes its first Black and gay leader.
Just-In-Time Recreation one of few mass shooting sites in country to reopen
This week’s planned reopening of Lewiston bowling alley at 24 Mollison Way runs counter to national trend.
Maine lawmaker warns Nebraska not to monkey with its electoral votes
Maine state House majority leader says if Nebraska tries to help Donald Trump, Maine may act to boost Joe Biden
Steve Collins: Oct. 25’s darkness a constant reminder of the need for greater kindness
As the first flowers begin to bloom and potholes proliferate, life in Lewiston seems normal. Then a glimpse of a “Lewiston Strong” sign in a window or an overheard snatch of somber conversation at Hannaford or the sound of sirens wailing in the distance brings it all back. Six months have somehow passed since that […]
Bates College taps journalist Mary Louise Kelly to speak at its commencement in May
Kelly, a well-known voice on National Public Radio, will also receive an honorary degree.
‘Love Always Wins’ signs in front of Oct. 25 mass shooting sites may be preserved
Maine MILL plans to preserve the wooden signs and perhaps make it possible for them to go on permanent display.
Nonprofits receive community support funds from mass shooting donations
Twenty-nine nonprofits each received $63,000 from a $1.9 million fund created with donations after the Oct. 25, 2023, mass shooting.
Congressional hopeful Mike Soboleski says House Republican leader ‘sold out’ America
Soboleski questions House passage of foreign aid bills and why his primary opponent has remained mum on the issue.