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.
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
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.
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.
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.
The skywalk was engineered for a different downtown — one built around banks, utilities and insurance headquarters moving employees between ramps and desks without touching Superior Street. That downtown is gone.
Detentions require law enforcement coordination, court time, public defenders, translators and jail space. Families separated by enforcement actions often turn to emergency assistance, nonprofit aid and school-based services. Local governments end up managing its aftershocks.
Grandma’s has endured economic downturns that emptied dining rooms across the country. It has survived shifts in tourism patterns, changes in labor laws, rising food costs and the relentless pressure that comes with operating in one of Duluth’s most visible locations.
A County-by-County Watch List
The Star Tribune did something smart: it didn’t just roll out a slogan. It put reporters in front of readers and let them explain what they were seeing, what they were verifying, what they still didn’t know, and what it costs — emotionally and operationally — to cover a story that is still moving.
The livestream itself is another step. It blends print reporting, digital-first engagement, live video, audience participation and donor relationships into a single moment. It’s a test of whether a statewide news organization can operate comfortably across platforms without diluting its authority.
In public education, trust is built through repetition — of performance, transparency and follow-through. Wayne Whitwam’s style reflects that understanding. He has avoided the temptation to overpromise, resisted reactionary pivots, and kept the district’s focus on instruction, people and systems.
Home ice is there for the taking. The Bulldogs will either take points from Denver, survive North Dakota, and handle their business against Miami and Colorado College — or they’ll finish fifth, look back at a missed weekend or two, and tell themselves they were close.
The loudest voices warning that artificial intelligence will “destroy journalism” are almost never talking about journalism. They’re talking about control. Newsrooms are entering a period they’ve avoided for two decades: a genuine reckoning with what readers actually value. And the uncomfortable truth is this — readers do not care
Minnesota’s strength, historically, has been its preference for problem-solving over posturing. That tradition is being tested now. This is not the moment for reflexive outrage or performative reassurance. It is the moment for clarity.
Minnesota does not need more outrage. It needs clearer accounting. It needs fewer slogans and more follow-through. It needs to revisit old assumptions with open eyes and accept that a reputation earned decades ago does not guarantee results today.
