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Howie: Duluth’s new motto is 'Cost of Living'

Howie: Duluth’s new motto is 'Cost of Living'

If Mayor Roger Reinert wants to prove he was worth the risk, he better deliver more than slogans. Because otherwise, the next election’s motto writes itself: We voted for change, and all we got was “cost of living.”

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Howie: Duluth's next chapter can’t be written in St. Paul

We can either keep patching potholes with pennies, or we can get bold — not reckless, but bold — about what we already have: a city on the edge of the world’s largest freshwater lake, in a century when water, livability, and resilience will decide which cities thrive.

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Saturday Prep Sports Notebook

Benilde-St. Margaret’s broke open a tie match with three second-half goals to defeat Hermantown 4-2 in boys soccer Saturday. Henry Scroggins put the Red Knights on the board in the 21st minute, but Hermantown answered with two goals from Quinn Raukar — assisted by Hunter Nelson in the 25th and

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Howie: Chloe Johnson’s NIL payday awaits

Howie: Chloe Johnson’s NIL payday awaits

They’re already whispering about Chloe Johnson the way Minnesotans used to whisper about Gophers hockey legends who walked out of Iron Range barns like they owned the world. Only this isn’t the 1970s and Johnson isn’t some elitely-talented kid headed to a smoky college fieldhouse. She’s

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Howie: Fix the house, not the cabin

Howie: Fix the house, not the cabin

The numbers are stacked against the status quo, and the clock is ticking. In 2025, Duluth shoveled $1.2 million in tourism tax money into Spirit Mountain, propping up a ski hill meant to stand independently. That annual subsidy has turned into an open-ended drain, all while one of the

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Thursday Prep Scoreboard

Hermantown started its volleyball season with a straight-sets victory Thursday night, rolling past Duluth Marshall 25-17, 25-15, 25-23 in the Lake Superior Conference opener for both teams in Duluth. Setter Anna Bergerson handed out 16 assists to pace the Hawks’ attack. Outside hitter Lilah Conley finished with nine kills, 17

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Howie: Duluth firefighters honored in ceremony of service

Public ceremonies like this one don’t always make the evening news. But they should. They are checkpoints in the life of a department that few of us notice until a siren wails down our street or a medic kneels over a loved one.

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Howie: Downtown Duluth doesn’t need another study. It needs a pulse

Howie: Downtown Duluth doesn’t need another study. It needs a pulse

In Milwaukee, people struggling with addiction or mental illness weren’t being cycled through ERs or dumped onto downtown sidewalks. Instead, they had real places to go, real people to meet them, real pathways to stability. That shift gave residents confidence to come back.

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Today’s Prep Events — Thursday, August 21

By Howie Hanson DULUTH — Boys soccer opens the prep sports season today across the Northland, with four Duluth-area programs taking the field. Duluth East, Grand Rapids, Proctor and Duluth Marshall each host nonconference matchups to start their fall seasons. No football, girls soccer or volleyball contests are scheduled locally today,

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Howie: Yes to our hometown kid, Pionk

I’ve seen enough of these USA Hockey Olympic rosters to know the ending before the credits roll. Forty-four names were dropped Tuesday for what they’re calling an “orientation camp” in Plymouth. Translation: a few days in a hotel ballroom, no ice, no sticks, just endless PowerPoint slides and

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Howie: Just make sure I get my check on Friday

Howie: Just make sure I get my check on Friday

Silence is the danger here. Duluth is a city where speaking the truth gets you branded an alarmist. Shut up, smile and nod along while your neighbors drown. That’s how the people in power like it. Just the steady rhythm of their Friday checks clearing while the walls cave in around everyone else.

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Howie: Don't forget the people who struggle

Hubert Humphrey wouldn’t mince words. He’d say: Don’t forget them. Don’t forget the little guy. Don’t forget the people who don’t have lobbyists, who don’t have PACs, who don’t write $5,000 checks at fundraisers. Don’t forget the seniors who built our towns and now count pills at the kitchen table.

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