Kaitlyn Budion

Kaitlyn Budion

[email protected]

Kaitlyn Budion is a reporter based in central Maine, where she focuses on energy and environment. She comes to Maine Morning Star from Maine Public Radio, where she was the northern Maine reporter, and covered a variety of issues in Maine's northern counties. Prior to that she worked at the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, covering local government and PFAS contamination in the region. Her work has appeared in the Massachusetts State House News Service, News@Northeastern, the GroundTruth Project and more.

In Maine’s 1st District, Pingree and Russell square off again
Maine

In Maine’s 1st District, Pingree and Russell square off again

Oct 13, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
The election in Maine’s 1st Congressional District may have fallen to the wayside amid more contentious statewide races, but the names on the ballot are still familiar — it’s the same two candidates who ran for the seat two years...
Federal appeals court dismisses Maine lobstermen’s defamation case against Monterey Bay Aquarium
Maine

Federal appeals court dismisses Maine lobstermen’s defamation case against Monterey Bay Aquarium

Oct 12, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
The First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against a group of Maine lobstermen, who sued the Monterey Bay Aquarium for defamation after the aquarium added American lobster to its list of unsustainable seafood. In a ruling Friday, the court...
Advisory group zeroes in on recommendations to regulate data center energy use
Maine

Advisory group zeroes in on recommendations to regulate data center energy use

Oct 08, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
As the Maine Data Center Advisory Council begins drafting recommendations for the upcoming Legislature to regulate data centers, energy use is emerging as a key and contentious issue. The council met Wednesday and began to refine its initial draft recommendations...
Commission denies CMP request for temporary rate increase
Maine

Commission denies CMP request for temporary rate increase

Oct 06, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
The Maine Public Utilities Commission Tuesday denied a request from Central Maine Power to enact a temporary rate increase. At the Tuesday meeting all three commissioners voted to deny the request, primarily because the parties to the rate case could...
U.S. Supreme Court declines to take up Maine lobster boat tracking appeal
Maine

U.S. Supreme Court declines to take up Maine lobster boat tracking appeal

Oct 05, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a Maine lobsterman’s legal challenge to an electronic vessel tracker requirement, putting an end to the multi-year lawsuit. In an order Monday, the court denied a request to take up the appeal by...
Collins applauds G7 oil release, says it will help Mainers struggling with costs
Maine

Sen. Collins applauds G7 oil release, says it will help Mainers struggling with costs

Oct 05, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is applauding the news that the Group of Seven European nations will release 50 million barrels of diesel and 50 million barrels of crude oil over the next four months. The release is expected to lower...
In first debate, LePage and Dunlap clash over healthcare, affordability, immigration
Maine

In first debate, LePage and Dunlap clash over healthcare, affordability, immigration

Oct 01, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
Democrat Matt Dunlap and Republican Paul LePage met for the first time on the debate stage Thursday night, where they continued their clash over healthcare and traded barbs over each other’s records in state government. The state auditor and former...
Maine Senate confirms slew of nominees including new Superior Court justice
Maine

Maine Senate confirms slew of nominees including new Superior Court justice

Sep 30, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
The Maine Senate returned for a one-day session Wednesday to confirm more than 40 nominees to assorted state positions. Senators unanimously confirmed Gerald Reid as a Maine Superior Court justice. Reid previously served as the commissioner of the Maine Department...
Public Utilities Commission staff recommends denying CMP temporary rate hike
Maine

Public Utilities Commission staff recommends denying CMP temporary rate hike

Sep 29, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
The Public Utilities Commission is poised to reject a temporary rate increase for Central Maine Power customers, after commission staff recommended denying the change. In the recommended decision published Monday, staff wrote that the many groups involved in the CMP...
Pingree, Russell to meet on debate stage once, days before November election
Maine

Pingree, Russell to meet on debate stage once, days before November election

Sep 29, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
Incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and Republican nominee Ron Russell will meet once on the debate stage this election, days before voters head to the polls on Nov. 3.. The debate will be jointly hosted by Maine Public, NewsCenter...
Dozens rally in Lewiston after landslide union vote, call for fired nurses to be reinstated
Maine

Dozens rally in Lewiston after landslide union vote, call for fired nurses to be reinstated

Sep 25, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
Roughly 80 people rallied across the street from Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston on Friday to support the facility’s newly unionized nurses and call on the hospital to reinstate nurses that were fired and suspended. The crowd held signs...
Maine AG urges residents to check eligibility for generic drug price settlement
Maine

Maine AG urges residents to check eligibility for generic drug price settlement

Sep 24, 2026
Kaitlyn Budion
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey is urging residents to check if they bought certain generic drugs, in which case they may be eligible for new settlement funds. Maine and 47 other states and territories plan to use settlement funds from...