Kate Howard (aka Connie Falconeri) is a character on the long running ABC soap General Hospital.She is portrayed by Megan Ward. She made her first appearance in May of 2007.

From Wikipedia.com:

History before the show
When the character of Kate Howard is first introduced, she is a grown woman in her 30s or 40s, famous for being the editor-in-chief of a high fashion magazine, similar to the character of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. The history of the character of Kate Howard is told through bits of dialogue, primarily between her and the character of Sonny Corinthos (played by Maurice Benard). Through these glimpses, it is revealed that Kate Howard was born Constanza Louise Falconeri, "Connie" Falconeri for short. She was raised in the blue-collar neighborhood of Bensonhurst, New York, where she worked at a bakery and attended a school called Sacred Heart in Brooklyn, New York (which may make reference to Sacred Heart School or Sacred heart School in Brooklyn).

At the age of 18, wanting a better life for herself, she legally changed her name to Kate Howard, after Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. Her desire was to choose an easily recognizable name that alluded to someone with a good background and social standing. She attended Princeton University,[5] on a full scholarship,[6] and worked her way up the ranks to become the editor of the fictional top fashion magazine, Couture. Since then, she has hid her past as Connie Falconeri, and tells people she is actually form Connecticut.

She and mob boss Sonny Corinthos dated as teenagers, and had planned to run away together, but on the night they were to leave, she stood him up. She later explained to him that she had decided that she would rather pursue her dreams of having a career, something she could not do had she run away with Sonny.

Living in Port Charles
The character was introduced to the show in May 2007 when she walked into Sonny's office unannounced and claimed that her cell phone was inoperative because of a thunderstorm. She at first pretended that she did not know Sonny, but he kept questioning her and looking at her until he realized who she was, Connie Falconeri from Bensonhurst. Diane Miller, Sonny's lawyer, later revealed that Kate Howard is considered one of the "100 Most Powerful Women in America".She purchased a mansion next door to Sonny and proceeded to re-decorate to serve as her primary residence, much to the annoyance of Carly Corinthos Jacks, Sonny's ex-wife. However, though Kate knows that Sonny is a mobster posing as a coffee importer, she is badly shaken when she witnessed Sonny physically threatening Jerry Jacks, and rethinks her desire to pursue a new relationship with him.

During a reception for a charity sponsored by the singer Eli Love, Kate was suffering from a headache. Her boss offered her some ibuprofen, which she at first declined. She later searched his pocket looking for the ibuprofen and found a libido-enhancement pill. She mistook them for the pain killers and took them. She then visited Sonny Corinthos, while she was under the effects of the drug, and seduced Sonny. On another occasion, Kate, who does not swim, rescued Morgan Corinthos from drowning in her pond. While she was in the pond, she was bitten by a snake and she was hospitalized.

Kate Howard was arrested for reckless driving and for a hit and run. She side swiped a police car and did not stop; instead, she kept driving. She also has a prior traffic violation in which she also side swiped a parked car while she was in the Hamptons, but did not stop. She received a six months suspended license for the first violation. Kate cites this as one of the reasons why she moved to Port Charles. Her lawyer had advised her to not visit the Hamptons for a while and thus, she bought the house in Port Charles. She was released into Sonny's custody on August 14, 2007, after spending the night in jail. Diane Miller was attempting to work on a plea agreement for Kate. As a thank you for her work, Kate was going to reward her by scheduling her a fitting for a custom designer dress. The interim District Attorney, Ric Lansing, refused the plea agreement seeking to take revenge on Sonny through Kate.

Kate's friend and former lover was Trevor Lansing, Ric Lansing's father and he arrived in town on August 22, 2007. He blackmailed Ric, unbeknowst to Kate, and threatened him with losing custody of his daughter Molly if he did not accept reducing the charges. The charges were reduced and a plea agreement was reached with a fine and 20 hours of community service.

Upon learning of Kate's close relationship with Sonny, Trevor contacted personal friends to remove advertisements from Couture. He wanted to blackmail Kate into choosing between him and her career or Sonny. She chose her career. After a confrontation between her and Trevor, Kate was drugged and got into a car accident. She was later arrested for reckless driving. She received 6 months of community service thanks to Sonny blackmailing the judge. She is now doing community service as part of her 6-month community service sentence. Trevor had her fired from Coture magazine due to a breach of her contract. Kate has decided to become a fashion designer and is currently seeking funding to start her own business.