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Howie: Aspirus St. Luke’s hits 500th heart valve milestone

Howie is powered by Lyric Kitchen · Bar 1:55 p.m. Aspirus St. Luke’s Heart & Vascular Care has completed its 500th Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, a minimally invasive procedure for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are not candidates for open-heart surgery. “Reaching this milestone means our

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Howie: Minnesota math still doesn’t add up for Republicans
Howie / HowieHanson.com

Howie: Minnesota math still doesn’t add up for Republicans

A governor nobody loves but nobody can topple, against a Republican bench that looks like the Twins’ middle relief corps. Jensen is the blown save, Qualls is the preseason hype, Robbins is the protected rookie, and Stauber is the guy smart enough to stay in the dugout.

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Howie: Finally, tourism marketing is returning home
Whipper Snapper Races are held every summer at Bayfront Festival Park. Howie / HowieHanson.com

Howie: Finally, tourism marketing is returning home

Duluth doesn’t need outsiders to tell its story. It never did. The lake tells it. The bridge tells it. The sports teams tell it. The old bars tell it. People tell it every time they complain about the snow in April and brag about the sunset in July.

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Howie: Boldly, Reinert holds the line while others play catch-up
Reinert campaign ad.

Howie: Boldly, Reinert holds the line while others play catch-up

But here’s the bet: Duluthians are sick of the excuses. They’re sick of levy hikes passed off as inevitabilities. They’re sick of being told to feel guilty if they say no. And they’re ready to support someone who actually treats their money with respect.

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Howie: Consultant’s plan aims to redefine Duluth’s downtown
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Howie: Consultant’s plan aims to redefine Duluth’s downtown

On Superior Street, the contrast remains: laughter spilling from one door, papered windows a few steps away. The Imagine Downtown plan will not erase that reality overnight. But it offers a vision, backed by community and guided by outside expertise, that says decline is not destiny.

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Howie: Readers don’t want content. They want columnists.

Minnesota publishers aren't listening to readers when they cut print or redesign their websites for the hundredth time. The future isn’t in the layout. It’s in the personality. It’s in having columnists embedded in every neighborhood, every small town, every city council chamber, every rink and gym.

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Howie: Neal Pionk and the Olympic dream

So here’s Neal Pionk, sitting in the back row of orientation camp, probably wondering if anyone will remember that winning hockey games requires more than highlight-reel goals and “branding initiatives.” If history holds, they won’t.

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Hermantown rolls past Denfeld in Northeast Red opener

“Overall it was a beautiful night for football … a big crowd, a new flag pole dedicated to a tremendous man and coach (former Hawks coach Gary Bowen) and a Hermantown win … really couldn’t ask for much more than that.” -- Hermantown Coach Mike Zagelmeyer.

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Howie: St. Scholastica readies another batch of wide-eyed freshmen
The College of St. Scholastica. Submitted

Howie: St. Scholastica readies another batch of wide-eyed freshmen

And lest anyone think St. Scholastica is just a nice regional option, the rankings folks beg to differ. U.S. News puts them among the Best National Universities, Money magazine says it’s one of the “Best Colleges for Your Money,” and the Princeton Review keeps listing it among the Midwest’s best.

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Howie: Thielen’s back

The real story is simple: the Vikings needed a guy who knows the offense and won’t panic on third-and-six. Nostalgia just happened to be the bonus prize.

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Howie: Fred Friedman, one of Minnesota's Greatest Giants

I’ve met many people eager to be called heroes. Fred is the opposite. He shrugs away attention. He’d rather talk about his students than himself. But the truth is this: Fred Friedman is the greatest man I’ve ever met in my career — a hero who never wanted the title.

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Howie: Duluth’s new motto is 'Cost of Living'
Roger Reinert. Howie / HowieHanson.com

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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Howie: Chloe Johnson’s NIL payday awaits
Chloe Johnson. Howie / HowieHanson.com

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’

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