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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Howie: The skywalk once symbolized ambition. Today it symbolizes hesitation.
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.
Howie: How Minnesota will remember this moment
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.
Howie: In a city that keeps changing, Grandma’s has stayed put for 50 years
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.
Howie: How Minnesota’s governor’s race will actually be decided
A County-by-County Watch List
Howie: The Star Tribune livestream a must-watch
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.
Howie: Why Tuesday’s Star Tribune livestream matters — and what I’ll be watching
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.
Howie: Hermantown sets the standard for public education in Minnesota
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.
Howie: Bulldogs fighting for home ice in the playoffs
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.
Howie: The great AI panic is about power, not journalism
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
Howie: Minnesota at the edge of authority
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.
Howie: Minnesota has outgrown its stories
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.
Howie: Thursday Community News
Ten search warrants were executed. Twenty-four people were arrested. Cash, drugs and guns were taken off the streets: $28,609 in currency, more than 330 grams of methamphetamine, nearly 140 grams of fentanyl, close to 80 grams of cocaine, and an illegal firearm.
Howie: Minnesota didn’t just lose Tim Walz. It lost a political skill set.
Walz connected emotionally with parts of the Democratic base in a way Klobuchar never has. Progressive activists tolerated him because he felt authentic, grounded, unpretentious. Klobuchar does not inspire that same patience. Her politics are transactional, not aspirational.
Howie: Hermantown Schools chosing accountability over applause
In an era when public trust in institutions is fragile, Hermantown Schools has earned its credibility the old-fashioned way: by respecting taxpayers, confronting reality, and governing with integrity.
Howie: Hughes trade, DECC to host World Junior Championship exhibitions
This is a bet that Hughes ages cleanly, that his body cooperates, that the cap continues to rise, and that the surrounding cast can be managed without suffocation. It’s a bet that Minnesota can finally pull off the superstar contract that doesn’t end in regret.