Duluth HRA awarded $8.85 million for Mission Engagement Center
“This project will change the way our city responds to serving our unhoused population.” -- Jill Keppers, executive director of the Duluth HRA
Hermantown High Sports Notebook
Hermantown High School will host a Signing Day ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Friday in the school commons area to recognize four Hawks student-athletes who will continue their academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level. The group includes: . Lillian Clemons, who signed with University of Wisconsin-Superior for women’
St. Louis County reflects on 2026 legislative session
"This was a challenging session, but it was very encouraging to see the commitment of our local representatives and senators as they advocated on our behalf." -- County Administrator Kevin Gray
Howie: John Fedo turned Duluth toward the lake
Modern Duluth continues wrestling with the same tensions Mayor Fedo governed through decades ago. Tourism success created new economic pressures. Summer weekends increasingly made portions of Canal Park feel disconnected from the working-class identity that shaped Duluth for generations.
AF1 Scoreboard
Albany 60, Michigan 57 – Quarterback Sam Castranova threw for 316 yards and nine touchdowns Saturday night as Albany (6-0) held off host Michigan (1-5) at Dow Event Center. Castranova, the reigning AF1 league and playoff MVP, completed 29 of 39 passes, receiver Isiah Scott caught nine passes for 107 yards
Howie: Why LSC is winning the local college enrollment battle
For years, America subtly treated trade education as a secondary path for students who supposedly could not “make it” academically. That narrative now looks outdated and borderline absurd. Many technical programs are competitive, mathematically rigorous and tied to industries starving for talent.
Howie: The Northland’s media ecosystem is messy
No single institution controls the public conversation anymore. The region now operates inside a decentralized information economy where television owns immediacy, newspapers own documentation, Facebook owns emotional momentum and independent publishers increasingly own personality-driven loyalty.
Howie: Duluth moves beyond emergency shelter thinking
Serious cities eventually discover homelessness sits at the intersection of housing costs, addiction, mental illness, family collapse, poverty and social isolation. Remove one piece while ignoring the others and the system keeps recycling human beings through crisis.
Howie: The real budget story begins now as Minnesota’s hidden deals start emerging
The broad framework is never the full story at the Capitol. The spreadsheets are the story. The line items are the story. The last-minute amendments are the story.
Howie: Monsters' Aeden Johnson named AF1's best kicker at midpoint of season
Johnson drilled a 29-yard field goal in his team's first possession in overtime Saturday night, lifting the Minnesota Monsters to a dramatic 30-27 victory over Michigan in an Arena Football One game that felt exactly like the kind of chaos arena football was built to manufacture.
AF1 continues rapid digital growth
Arena Football One says it is seeing major growth in digital engagement during the 2026 season, fueled by viral highlights, expanded streaming audiences and exposure on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” The league announced Tuesday that a Week 4 game-winning play by the Kentucky Barrels generated 5.6 million views after being
Howie: Monsters FB Shannon Brooks the last thing AF1 defenses want to see
Howie's daily column is sponsored by Lyric Kitchen Bar. The old arena football line — the one repeated for years by quarterbacks, coaches, and every guy selling the game as organized chaos — is that nobody really runs the football anymore. Tell that to Shannon Brooks, who is stomping through
Plante scores game-winner in World Championship exhibition
Former Hermantown standout Max Plante scored a third-period goal as Team USA defeated Germany 5-2 in its lone exhibition game ahead of the 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship before a sellout crowd of 12,909 at SAP Arena. Plante, a sophomore forward from University of Minnesota Duluth and the
Howie: Trump’s China strategy is not diplomacy. It’s negotiation.
America still holds enormous leverage over China precisely because the American consumer economy remains the most important marketplace on Earth. That is why this board concept could matter.
Howie: Rebuilding the Twin Cities core
American downtowns historically reinvent themselves every generation or two. Warehouse districts become loft districts. Industrial corridors become medical corridors. Rail hubs become entertainment hubs.
Howie: The Star Tribune’s statewide gamble paid off
The Pulitzer validated more than excellent reporting. It validated the strategic vision behind what the Minnesota Star Tribune has been becoming. Not simply a city newspaper with statewide aspirations. But a statewide institution capable of helping Minnesota understand itself in real time.