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.r1751760185otino1751760185menia1751760185meht@1751760185etak1751760185

Language(s) Spoken: English and Italian

Facing tremendous backlog, state tax review board hopes for a turnaround

‘Big box’ retailers routinely appeal to the Board of Property Tax Review. Cities and towns can’t get answers if the board fails to hear cases.

ByKate Cough

March 27, 2022

First responders attempt to search the rubble of a building that was attacked during Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Maine man and his family safe after fleeing eastern Ukraine

Now living in Croatia, Brian Milakovsky, his wife and young daughter yearn to return to Ukraine — if that will even be possible.

ByKate Cough

March 22, 2022

A sign affixed to the end of a pier reads CABLE AREA

Isle au Haut, after exploring cutting-edge microgrid, unlikely to cut cable after all

The Maine island looked into innovative, independent power sources. In the end, residents worried about reliability, cost and unproven technology.

ByKate Cough

March 13, 2022

‘Dark store’ theory: Walmart, large retailers push to cut millions in property taxes statewide

Municipalities lose hundreds of thousands whether they fight the retailers or not, and a slow-moving state appeals board doesn’t help.

ByKate Cough

February 27, 2022

A WasteManagement truck drives through the parking lot of a waste facility

Norridgewock landfill expansion moves forward

A 48-acre expansion of the Crossroads Landfill will proceed after the Conservation Law Foundation loses an appeal to halt or alter the project.

ByKate Cough

February 13, 2022

A farmer stands in a field amid his goats

Maine’s prime farmland is being lost to solar. Is ‘dual use’ the answer?

A report urges developers to build dual-use projects with elevated panels that permit farming and grazing beneath. Critics say the approach is not yet affordable.

ByKate Cough

January 16, 2022

Mary Freeman, wearing a head lamp, smiles while looking at a piece of tourmaline

Kate Cough: Lithium find prompts landowners to search for Earth-friendly solution

The Freemans say they will extract spodumene responsibly. They hope to allay local concerns, and keep the TV reporters at bay.

ByKate Cough

January 2, 2022