One of the many newspapers around the country following the trial, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, said after all the evidence had been heard — but before the jury’s decision — “there is not, probably, a single trial to be found on the criminal records of this country so marked by dramatic sensationalism as that of James M. Lowell for the murder of his wife, the evidence for which was all completed in the Supreme Court at Auburn, Maine on Monday last.”
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, Nation / World
U.S. Mint likely to put Lewiston’s Bernard Lown on a dollar coin in 2024
The inventor of the defibrillator, educated at Lewiston High School, to represent Maine in the American Innovations coin program
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Posted in175th anniversary
Chapter 20: Lowell takes the stand
The eagerly awaited moment came Monday, Feb. 16, 1874, when Lowell rose from his chair, walked to the witness stand beside Judge Charles Walton and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Posted inMaine, Oxford Hills
Fate of a rural Maine chapel worries neighbors
It was built years ago as an interfaith chapel by Ellis Pond residents and later given to the Portland Diocese. Residents would like it back, but silence from the diocese has them worried.
Posted inElection 2022, Maine, Politics
Three contenders clash in what may be the only 2nd District congressional debate
Candidates in televised debate offer different takes on a wide array of issues.
Posted inElection 2022, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine
Tiffany Bond is only candidate to attend first 2nd District debate
Rep. Jared Golden and Bruce Poliquin skipped event hosted by Maine Public
Posted in175th anniversary, Androscoggin County, Lewiston-Auburn
Odors from a polluted Androscoggin River used to peel paint off houses
The river’s staggering stench in days past defied description, though many tried in newspapers, politics and even poetry.
Posted in175th anniversary, Androscoggin County, Lewiston-Auburn, News
The Androscoggin River has been an ever-changing resource
A quick overview of the river that made the growth of Lewiston and Auburn possible.
Posted in175th anniversary
Chapter 19: A dramatic moment in the trial
The high point of the trial, without a doubt, occurred just before Maine Attorney General Harris Plaisted called Thomas Dwight, an anatomy professor at Bowdoin College who became the father of forensic anthropology, to take the stand.
Posted inElection 2022, Maine
Jared Golden earns support from gun rights advocates
In 2nd District race, Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine gives Golden an A+ and challenger Bruce Poliquin an A.