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Today's Column
Bulldogs men's hockey names 2026-27 captains, all former Hermantown standoutsDULUTH — Minnesota Duluth will enter the 2026-27 men's hockey season with a leadership group built entirely from Hermantown. The Bulldogs announced their captains Friday after a midweek
HowieHanson.com Section
Last school year, Duluth schools recorded more than 1,000 incidents resulting in in-school or out-of-school suspension. They included 156 fighting incidents, 63 major assaults, 99 physical-contact incidents, 52 threat or intimidation cases, seven terroristic threats and nine weapons incidents.
"Redirecting those dollars to the enormous backlog of aging and deferred capital needs was a deliberate financial decision, and one I continue to strongly support. As I said in my 2026 State of the City, Duluth has too much of everything, and much of it is too old." -- Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert
The fund balance declined by roughly $11.5 million, an outcome almost $8.8 million worse than projected. A district that misses its own financial target by that margin cannot reasonably expect voters to accept a 10-year financial plan without examining the assumptions behind it.
Duluth does not have one governmentwide financial crisis. It has a school district in a precarious position and a city government that is beginning to encounter some of the same cost-versus-revenue pressures.
Financial need alone will not carry two operating referendum questions across the finish line Nov. 3. The district must confront a trust issue that has accumulated over two decades and explain why voters should believe the next 10-year, $103 million plan be better than the plans that preceded it.
The council is not an advisory committee to the mayor. It is a separate branch of city government, obligated to scrutinize administrative proposals, protect public money and represent residents whose voices cannot be heard from behind the closed doors of City Hall.
Duluth Public Schools is not asking voters to finance a cure-all. It is asking for enough stability to protect student learning while the district continues the harder work of controlling costs, correcting financial procedures and reshaping operations.
The City of Duluth administration cannot warn taxpayers about a projected $5.5 million deficit while refusing to explain a recurring $4.5 million funding stream redirected from general operations. The account now has nearly $9 million.
Duluth taxpayers are not prepared to approve another vague promise that new money will stabilize a system the district admits will remain financially unstable.
Early-term labor agreements, sluggish revenue growth and familiar levy politics have left City Hall confronting a projected $5.5 million deficit.
Roger Reinert's winning pitch against incumbent Emily Larson was simple and effective: Duluth, he argued, needed a mayor focused on basics — core services, discipline and execution. However, Reinert’s mayoralty remains heavy on messaging and light on visible results.
The city estimates its recently negotiated labor agreements will increase personnel costs by approximately $9.9 million over three years, according to the 2026 city budget. There is your deficit, dressed in a collective bargaining agreement and scheduled to arrive on time.
Mayor Reinert is an experienced and politically skilled communicator. He regularly uses video to promote city projects, explain policy and shape his administration’s message. That makes his reluctance to participate in unscripted questioning during a public-safety scare more conspicuous, not less.
The next generation may build digital infrastructure that allows world-class medical expertise to reach every corner of northeastern Minnesota without asking every patient to make the trip to Duluth. That's a vision worth discussing.
The first step is honesty. Residents already know homelessness, addiction and mental illness exist. They also know downtown remains home to exceptional restaurants, successful small businesses, major employers, recognized attractions, a spectacular Lake Superior shoreline and people who work there.
People rarely visit Duluth only once. They come for a weekend and return for a season. They bring children who later bring their own families. They discover a city that offers something increasingly valuable in modern America: authenticity.