Steve Collins
@stevecollinsyji.bsky.social
Maine politics columnist, a founder of Youth Journalism International, servant to 2 collies, with a beloved wife & 2 adult children. UVA grad. Red Sox fan. Sifter of quirky old tales & objects.
My work: https://www.sunjournal.com/author/steve-collins
My work: https://www.sunjournal.com/author/steve-collins
November 8, 1969 Lewiston Evening Journal
May 8, 2025 at 1:54 PM
November 8, 1969 Lewiston Evening Journal
I wrote about a Facebook scam today.
www.sunjournal.com/2025/04/22/m...
www.sunjournal.com/2025/04/22/m...
April 23, 2025 at 2:43 PM
I wrote about a Facebook scam today.
www.sunjournal.com/2025/04/22/m...
www.sunjournal.com/2025/04/22/m...
This death announcement appeared in Friday's Times Record in Brunswick, Maine.
Really.
Really.
April 6, 2025 at 12:56 AM
This death announcement appeared in Friday's Times Record in Brunswick, Maine.
Really.
Really.
For the record, Maine hasn't apologized.
March 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM
For the record, Maine hasn't apologized.
The professors at @colbycollege.bsky.social back in 1897.
March 21, 2025 at 1:29 AM
The professors at @colbycollege.bsky.social back in 1897.
I think I found the longest sentence in the 178-year history of the Sun Journal. Take a look at the second sentence of the attached piece from 1975.
March 10, 2025 at 8:07 PM
I think I found the longest sentence in the 178-year history of the Sun Journal. Take a look at the second sentence of the attached piece from 1975.
On May 10, 1962, The Morning Sentinel wrote about its imminent opening. Unfortunately, it didn't ask about the name.
March 2, 2025 at 12:44 AM
On May 10, 1962, The Morning Sentinel wrote about its imminent opening. Unfortunately, it didn't ask about the name.
April 1, 1982 Morning Sentinel story.
March 2, 2025 at 12:15 AM
April 1, 1982 Morning Sentinel story.
I had no clue that REO Speedwagon was more than just a rock band. This illustration is from 1925.
February 28, 2025 at 4:58 PM
I had no clue that REO Speedwagon was more than just a rock band. This illustration is from 1925.
A 1975 front page ad in the Lewiston Daily Sun touted a Waterville restaurant called The Silent Woman. It used to have a towering statue of a woman out front with no head.
February 28, 2025 at 12:50 PM
A 1975 front page ad in the Lewiston Daily Sun touted a Waterville restaurant called The Silent Woman. It used to have a towering statue of a woman out front with no head.
James Taylor urges Americans to speak out and stand up.
February 21, 2025 at 9:45 PM
James Taylor urges Americans to speak out and stand up.
It should come as no surprise, but The Boston Globe reports that rats are on the rise in the nation's capital.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/10/s...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/10/s...
February 10, 2025 at 3:35 PM
It should come as no surprise, but The Boston Globe reports that rats are on the rise in the nation's capital.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/10/s...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/10/s...
A 1990 watercolor by William Thon titled "Maine Winter" from the Bates College Museum of Art.
museum.bates.edu/objects-1/in...
museum.bates.edu/objects-1/in...
February 6, 2025 at 1:44 PM
A 1990 watercolor by William Thon titled "Maine Winter" from the Bates College Museum of Art.
museum.bates.edu/objects-1/in...
museum.bates.edu/objects-1/in...
The United States formally recognized Denmark's control of the entirety of Greenland in 1916 after reaching a deal with Denmark to purchase what became the U.S. Virgin Islands, a treaty ratified in 1917.
January 26, 2025 at 7:31 PM
The United States formally recognized Denmark's control of the entirety of Greenland in 1916 after reaching a deal with Denmark to purchase what became the U.S. Virgin Islands, a treaty ratified in 1917.
Oldest US pizza mention I've found so far - from January 1933 in New Jersey.
But I'm honestly more intrigued about "Songs by The Operatic Fish Man."
But I'm honestly more intrigued about "Songs by The Operatic Fish Man."
January 13, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Oldest US pizza mention I've found so far - from January 1933 in New Jersey.
But I'm honestly more intrigued about "Songs by The Operatic Fish Man."
But I'm honestly more intrigued about "Songs by The Operatic Fish Man."
The Sun Journal & its predecessors have churned out pages since 1847. I've had a chance to eyeball a lot of them.
This is the best.
Printed on July 4, 1895, in the Lewiston Evening Journal, it is artist D.D. Coombs' bid to capture Lewiston's history.
I hope the original survives somewhere.
This is the best.
Printed on July 4, 1895, in the Lewiston Evening Journal, it is artist D.D. Coombs' bid to capture Lewiston's history.
I hope the original survives somewhere.
January 13, 2025 at 12:27 PM
The Sun Journal & its predecessors have churned out pages since 1847. I've had a chance to eyeball a lot of them.
This is the best.
Printed on July 4, 1895, in the Lewiston Evening Journal, it is artist D.D. Coombs' bid to capture Lewiston's history.
I hope the original survives somewhere.
This is the best.
Printed on July 4, 1895, in the Lewiston Evening Journal, it is artist D.D. Coombs' bid to capture Lewiston's history.
I hope the original survives somewhere.
In 1938, pizza was still such a new thing in Maine that a restaurant in Lewiston took out an ad in the Evening Journal asking "HAVE YOU TRIED PIZZA?"
The Dec. 23, 1938 Steckino Liberty Cafe's ad was the first time the newspaper mentioned pizza.
The Dec. 23, 1938 Steckino Liberty Cafe's ad was the first time the newspaper mentioned pizza.
January 13, 2025 at 2:54 AM
In 1938, pizza was still such a new thing in Maine that a restaurant in Lewiston took out an ad in the Evening Journal asking "HAVE YOU TRIED PIZZA?"
The Dec. 23, 1938 Steckino Liberty Cafe's ad was the first time the newspaper mentioned pizza.
The Dec. 23, 1938 Steckino Liberty Cafe's ad was the first time the newspaper mentioned pizza.
Happy 200th birthday to Maine's oldest newspaper, the Kennebec Journal!
Not many papers have so rich a history and so important a place in the communities they serve.
I hope it can keep reporting the news and celebrating more birthdays for decades to come!
Not many papers have so rich a history and so important a place in the communities they serve.
I hope it can keep reporting the news and celebrating more birthdays for decades to come!
January 8, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Happy 200th birthday to Maine's oldest newspaper, the Kennebec Journal!
Not many papers have so rich a history and so important a place in the communities they serve.
I hope it can keep reporting the news and celebrating more birthdays for decades to come!
Not many papers have so rich a history and so important a place in the communities they serve.
I hope it can keep reporting the news and celebrating more birthdays for decades to come!
Got this 3" copper medal from 1914 that was handed out during a Maine Grange reception in Lewiston.
The Lewiston Evening Journal at the time called it "a beautiful gift and a rare work of art."
I just think it's cool.
The Lewiston Evening Journal at the time called it "a beautiful gift and a rare work of art."
I just think it's cool.
January 3, 2025 at 3:22 AM
Got this 3" copper medal from 1914 that was handed out during a Maine Grange reception in Lewiston.
The Lewiston Evening Journal at the time called it "a beautiful gift and a rare work of art."
I just think it's cool.
The Lewiston Evening Journal at the time called it "a beautiful gift and a rare work of art."
I just think it's cool.
I woke up to this email from a gun shop.
December 25, 2024 at 1:17 PM
I woke up to this email from a gun shop.
The House Ethics Committee re Gaetz, the man Trump wanted to serve as attorney general:
December 23, 2024 at 4:10 PM
The House Ethics Committee re Gaetz, the man Trump wanted to serve as attorney general:
A century ago, in the United States, 140 of every 1,000 children died before they turned five.
Today, the rate is 7 per 1,000.
The biggest reason for the vast improvement? Vaccines.
Why vaccines are now controversial is utterly mystifying.
Today, the rate is 7 per 1,000.
The biggest reason for the vast improvement? Vaccines.
Why vaccines are now controversial is utterly mystifying.
December 13, 2024 at 8:24 PM
A century ago, in the United States, 140 of every 1,000 children died before they turned five.
Today, the rate is 7 per 1,000.
The biggest reason for the vast improvement? Vaccines.
Why vaccines are now controversial is utterly mystifying.
Today, the rate is 7 per 1,000.
The biggest reason for the vast improvement? Vaccines.
Why vaccines are now controversial is utterly mystifying.
Sad to see the proposed federal shield law for reporters die in the Senate. Ever since I narrowly escaped jail decades ago for refusing to disclose a leaked lab report, I've sympathized mightily with the need for more legal protection for journalists!
December 12, 2024 at 2:51 PM
Sad to see the proposed federal shield law for reporters die in the Senate. Ever since I narrowly escaped jail decades ago for refusing to disclose a leaked lab report, I've sympathized mightily with the need for more legal protection for journalists!
Part of my childhood was the thrill of crossing one of the bridges onto Cape Cod each summer and heading to my grandparents' little houses there.
Now those two bridges are going to be replaced, no doubt of necessity. www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2...
Now those two bridges are going to be replaced, no doubt of necessity. www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2...
December 10, 2024 at 12:41 PM
Part of my childhood was the thrill of crossing one of the bridges onto Cape Cod each summer and heading to my grandparents' little houses there.
Now those two bridges are going to be replaced, no doubt of necessity. www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2...
Now those two bridges are going to be replaced, no doubt of necessity. www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2...