The gory tumult of the hanging of convicted murderer John Gordon caused then-Gov. Nelson Dingley Jr.’s Executive Board on July 6, 1875, to vote 4-3 to commute Lowell’s sentence to life in prison. With that, Lowell no longer faced the gallows.
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 in175th anniversary, bPlus
Political hotbed: ‘For scheming politicans, Lewiston has the medal’
Since Maine became a state two centuries ago, Lewiston has elected 15 men to serve in Congress or as governor.
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Posted inElection 2022, Lewiston-Auburn
Paul LePage and Bruce Poliquin team up to campaign in Lewiston
The two Republican candidates told seniors at the Franco Center that Maine and the nation need change.
Posted inElection 2022, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine
Mayors warn that Paul LePage will hurt Maine cities if he wins governor’s race
Trio of Democrats say Gov. Janet Mills has helped fund municipalities since taking office, while LePage reduced their funding during his two terms.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Alan Jackson’s bar in Nashville to honor a superfan from Auburn
Mary Ann “Marie” Gallant of Auburn died last year at the age of 80. Her ashes will stay in Maine, not Nashville.
Posted in175th anniversary
Chapter 22: Lowell sentenced to hang
The public “betook themselves to the courthouse to hear one of the last, and most solemn, of the many scenes which the Switzerland road tragedy has afforded,” the Journal reported an hour later. “There they were, promptly on hand to hear the doom which the law should affix to the guilt it had already decided.”
Posted inElection 2022, Politics
Shenna Bellows: Why voting matters
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows: “Voting is fundamental to everything else we care about. “School boards decide what is taught in schools. Town and county officials decide whether a road will be paved (and much more). State officials determine the laws on abortion and voting rights among many others. “From the speed limit you drive […]
Posted inElection 2022, Politics
How to vote in Maine
Maine takes voting so seriously that its state constitution guarantees every Mainer the right to vote, including prisoners, and even bars authorities from arresting voters going to and from the polls except in cases of treason, felony or breach of peace. There is no requirement to register to vote ahead of the Nov. 8 election, […]
Posted inElection 2022, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, Politics
The election is Nov. 8; these are the reasons you should vote
Political leaders and political scientists say America’s democratic roots require people to head to the polls and that the nation’s future depends on it.
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Daughter hopes country music star Alan Jackson will let her spread mother’s ashes at his Nashville home
Sue Castle is flying south to fulfill her mom’s wish to stay forever close to singer Alan Jackson.