Kate Heston is a reporter at the Daily Inter Lake in northwest Montana, awarded the best daily paper statewide in 2024 by the Montana Newspaper Association.
As a 2022 graduate of the University of Iowa, Hearst award finalist, photographer and writer, she is currently based in Kalispell, Montana. She formerly was a Carnegie-Knight News21 Fellow in Phoenix, Arizona in 2022, where she produced a major depth project on police reform on a national level alongside journalists from across the country.
At her current position, Kate reported on the 2023 Montana Legislative session, the 2024 election cycle, how drought impacts the local community, a deep dive into the presence of fentanyl in the community, continuous coverage of Montana's relaxed DUI laws, state wildlife management decisions, as well as a number of features, profiles and first person accounts about her community, and her own life, in Northwest Montana.
She is passionate about digital media and storytelling through multiple mediums, utilizing a combination of written words and photography to reach audiences.
Originally a Midwesterner, Kate has lived across the country, from Austin, Texas to New York City, but northwest Montana has been home since 2022.