Howie: How Minnesota’s governor’s race will actually be decided
A County-by-County Watch List
Howie
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.
Howie: Arena Football One releases 2026 master schedule
Twelve games per team. A defined start in April. A defined finish in July. Balanced home-and-away slates. Built-in byes. Repeat matchups that suggest geography matters again. It reads less like a marketing flyer and more like an operating plan.
Howie: Duluth's housing needs built on fiction
Duluth’s most significant population story of the last 60 years is not growth — it is survival. That alone deserves credit. But it does not justify the current narrative.
Howie: How the City of Duluth learned to live on borrowed time
The City of Duluth now spends roughly $1 of every $7 in the general fund on debt service. That’s money that can’t pave streets, fund libraries, or expand housing programs. And yet the answer to each new challenge is the same: another bond.
Howie: Councilors Awal, Swenson and DeLuca set to leave office in early January
Awal was among the councilors who supported restoring annual funding for Duluth’s mental-health crisis response team after Mayor Roger Reinert proposed eliminating the city’s share of the program’s budget.