Kay Fate has been a reporter with the Steele County Times since 2021 but has been a journalist for 35 years.

She has worked at several newspapers in the state, and also served as a TV news producer for a couple of years. She hated that. Fate was born and raised in Iowa, where she graduated from college with a degree in education. She taught high school English for a few years, but pivoted to journalism when her children were born, allowing her to work nights while the babies slept.

She stepped back into the classroom as a substitute teacher when her sons were school age. They hated that. Fate covers a variety of local government entities, as well as public safety and the occasional feature. She has won multiple awards for her investigative journalism, and prides herself on building strong working relationships with sources. She was an instructor for the most recent Citizen Journalism University, which is sponsored by the Minnesota Newspaper Association and the Minnesota News Media Institute.

In her spare time, Fate enjoys reading, watching crime stories on TV, volunteering for her church and trying to explain to her family how those things work together. She and her husband Russ have six children and 10 grandchildren ... so far.