Howie: Essentia Health is the power behind northern Minnesota’s health care
Essentia’s strength in Duluth lies in its scale, integration and specialty depth. Without that concentration, northern Minnesota would export far more complex care to the metro. The region would lose physicians, revenue and economic stability. Its vulnerability lies in the same concentration.
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Howie: Essentia Health is northern Minnesota’s economic engine
Howie Hanson is Minnesota’s Columnist, writing about power, money, sports and civic life across the state. His daily column is sponsored by Lyric Kitchen . Bar of Duluth. Healthcare systems now hold more economic sway in parts of Minnesota than mining companies once did. In northern Minnesota, Essentia Health sits
Howie: Minnesota has a fraud problem. The real question is who pays for it?
The responsible posture is straightforward: acknowledge the verified damage, pursue every recoverable dollar, prepare for the possibility of additional exposure and insist on public updates as investigations progress.
Howie: Healthcare is Minnesota’s economy
Healthcare is Minnesota’s largest employer. It should become Minnesota’s greatest public priority — not merely in charity or philanthropy, but in economic and civic strategy.
Howie: Is this Amy Klobuchar’s moment?
This may be the moment Klobuchar has been preparing for since she first entered public life — not to campaign, not to negotiate from the sidelines, but to run the place she has spent a lifetime studying.
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Lot D nabs cleanup funding
Lot D is the last undeveloped mixed-use site located along Duluth’s 26 miles of waterfront. Located in the Bayfront District, this site offers opportunities for equitable public experiences including view of the iconic Aerial Lift Bridge and the shipping harbor.
Hermantown boys basketball
Hermantown's boys basketball team is 7-17, and there is no hiding from that number. But inside the Hawks’ locker room, the conversation has shifted from record to playoff readiness. With two regular-season games remaining, Hermantown is leaning into a late-season gauntlet designed less for optics and more for
Bulldogs' Hunter Anderson wins NCHC rookie award
Anderson is the first UMD player to earn Rookie of the Week honors this season and the ninth Bulldogs player to receive a weekly conference award in 2025-26.
Tim Meyer: Is there hope for the redevelopment of West Duluth?
Tim Meyer is a Duluth architect and community builder writing about Downtown Duluth, politics, business, sports and economic development. Reach him at tim.meyer@meyergroupduluth.com West Duluth doesn't need another glossy plan. It needs a pulse. If we’re going to talk about downtown redevelopment — and we