Kate Cough

158 posts

Kate Cough is the editor of The Maine Monitor, previously serving as environmental reporter and enterprise editor for the newsroom.

As an eighth generation Mainer, Kate believes her responsibility as editor is deeply personal — shaping and implementing The Monitor’s coverage of the issues that matter to people, the place she calls home and where she is raising her family, is about serving her community and our future Maine. She lives in Bar Harbor.

She has received recognition from the National Headliner Awards, Maine Press Association and National Newspaper Association, among others.

Contact Kate with questions, concerns and story ideas: gro.r1751686205otino1751686205menia1751686205meht@1751686205etak1751686205

Language(s) Spoken: English and Italian

Multiple collection baskets of oysters are stacked on top of each other

Maine is experiencing an oyster boom

Maine's 2021 oyster harvest was the largest and most valuable in its history, with harvesters hauling in more than 6 million pounds, an increase of 55% over 2020, and more than twice what it was just five years ago.

ByKate Cough

June 24, 2022

The black dome of the Maine State House stands among the trees.

Four key environmental bills from Maine’s 130th Legislature you probably don’t know about

The Maine Monitor spoke with an environmental expert to break down the top four environmental bills from the 130th Legislature that were not talked about. It's the environmental legislative roundup you haven't read.

ByKate Cough

June 23, 2022

Seth Kroeck poses for a photo next to solar panels

Maine’s solar developers are benefiting from Biden’s tariffs pause

Maine gets a significant portion of its electricity from renewables, and upcoming projects will benefit from the tariff pause.

ByKate Cough

June 10, 2022

Rendering of how the flagpole on a cloudy day will look from across the body of water

Small town faces huge decision: Take on oversight of proposed $1 billion park or not

An unusual law passed by the Legislature would place the fate of a project backed by the Worcester family in the hands of Columbia Falls, population 476.

ByKate Cough

June 5, 2022

A fisherman untangles a caught fish from the net on his boat while another fisherman watches

Four Maine fish farms continue to wade through regulatory process

Amid salmon farm debates, officials are trying to figure out where aquaculture fits with Maine's other aquatic industries, and how it can be managed sustainably going forward.

ByKate Cough

June 3, 2022

A compost pile of potato and carrot skins plus broken egg shells

Maine needs to do better about how much waste we produce

Maine has generated trash at higher rates in recent years, including a 17 percent increase from 2017 to 2019.

ByKate Cough

May 27, 2022

Solar power utility panels aerial view in Skowhegan Maine surrounded by trees

Officials at all levels talk solar, offshore wind development

Maine has a goal of installing 5,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030, though experts are skeptical of that goal.

ByKate Cough

May 20, 2022