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Howie

Pat Francisco turned a Saturday morning idea into a Duluth landmark

Francisco's greatest investment may have been in the future of his own community. The finest evidence of that investment is not found in an old hockey record book, a client portfolio or a Hall of Fame plaque. It can be heard inside the Heritage Sports Center on a winter afternoon.

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Top Columns

  1. Pat Francisco turned a Saturday morning idea into a Duluth landmark
  2. These Bulldogs have championship talent. They have not earned the comparison yet.
  3. Minnesota Star Tribune adds four advice columnists as it expands outside voices
  4. Duluth Playhouse names Brandon Raghu executive director
  5. Howie: Duluth schools want $103 million, but voters deserve an accounting first
  6. Howie: Hermantown football has the enthusiasm. Now comes the evidence.
  7. Hermantown girls soccer turns section final disappointment into early-season motivation
  8. Scott Sandelin remains the foundation of Bulldog hockey
  9. Howie: Duluth Schools’ referendum will rise or fall on trust
  10. City of Duluth labor deals collide with 1% growth, squeezing the 2027 budget
  11. My latest book: Minnesota 2050
  12. Duluth searches for budget ‘bloat,’ but labor costs dominate projected shortfall
  13. Howie: The Monsters have unfinished business
  14. The newspaper that started it all

Archives

  1. Pat Francisco turned a Saturday morning idea into a Duluth landmark
  2. These Bulldogs have championship talent. They have not earned the comparison yet.
  3. Hermantown girls tennis opens 2-0 behind senior captains, experienced lineup
  4. Minnesota Star Tribune adds four advice columnists as it expands outside voices
  5. Duluth Playhouse names Brandon Raghu executive director
  6. Howie: Duluth schools want $103 million, but voters deserve an accounting first
  7. Hermantown boys soccer faces immediate test as Hawks open with four games in eight days
  8. Howie: Hermantown football has the enthusiasm. Now comes the evidence.
  9. Hermantown girls soccer turns section final disappointment into early-season motivation
  10. Howie: West Duluth doesn’t need another plan. It needs its turn.
  11. Tim Meyer: West Duluth needs investment, not another redevelopment plan
  12. Duluth’s school referendum is a local test of public trust
  13. Howie: Hibbing star Rewertz commits to Bulldogs
  14. Chamber names interim president; Seyfer, Stella Maris girls tennis enters defining season
  15. Four injured in three-vehicle crash in Rice Lake
  16. Howie: Bulldogs have the forward firepower to win a national championship
  17. 50-Yard Football: The IFL’s most important work in Tucson happened before kickoff
  18. Howie: Rewertz is the Northland’s preseason hockey standard
  19. Construction to begin Aug. 24 on 40th Avenue West in Duluth
  20. Howie: Duluth Schools’ credit downgrade is serious
  21. Cirrus opens expanded Grand Forks manufacturing facility
  22. Max Plante’s Hobey season changed everything for the Bulldogs
  23. Scott Sandelin remains the foundation of Bulldog hockey
  24. Howie: The Bulldogs are built to win now
  25. Hibbing/Chisholm standout Cole Swanson commits to Western Michigan
  26. Howie Live
  27. Moody’s downgrades Duluth school district’s credit rating as reserves decline
  28. Howie: Minnesota’s primary map points to Klobuchar, but gives Demuth a path
  29. Vikings name Kyler Murray starting quarterback for 2026 season
  30. Howie Live: Wednesday, August 12
  31. Howie: Jim Oberstar kept northern Minnesota on the federal map
  32. Hermantown man cited in Canal Park fountain soap incident
  33. Chicago man arrested in downtown Duluth shooting
  34. Howie: Duluth Schools’ referendum will rise or fall on trust
  35. Task force seizes cocaine, fentanyl following Hermantown arrest
  36. Willie Howard named Minnesota Monsters head coach
  37. 18-year-old arrested after gunfire near North Star Township bonfire
  38. St. Louis County installs solar renewable energy systems on three Public Works facilities
  39. Hawks enter fall with contenders, questions and unfinished business
  40. Howie: Durrwachter has become the council’s most trusted voice
  41. Downtown Duluth leaders outline five-year strategy aimed at crime, homelessness, addiction and mental health
  42. Howie: Duluth should vote yes on both school referendum questions
  43. Stella Maris trap program takes aim at breakout fall season
  44. Steve Anderson Legacy Scramble nears capacity for 15th annual event
  45. DECC to celebrate 60th anniversary with free public tours
  46. Nashville dominates AF1 All-Arena selections
  47. Not-Too-Early Prep Preview: Hermantown turns to seven seniors as scoring roles undergo major reset
  48. Howie: Mark Wilf draws a championship line for Vikings
  49. Tim Meyer: Prepare our children for a future that is already here
  50. Duluth chamber president out after new DWI charge
  51. The Hermantown Six: Ty Hanson is UMD’s blueline engine
  52. Howie's Top 5 prep boys basketball players to watch next season
  53. Six decades later, DECC Arena remains Duluth’s classic stage
  54. Defending champion Albany outguns Minnesota in AF1 semifinal
  55. Howie on Vikings Training Camp: Murray leans on repetition, experience in quarterback competition
  56. Funding for Scandia Cemetery shoreline restoration clears important hurdle
  57. Howie on Vikings Training Camp: Flores begins reshaping Vikings defense around Adams, Turner
  58. Howie on Vikings Training Camp: O’Connell outlines Murray-McCarthy competition
  59. Howie: Reinert must answer Duluth’s $4.5 million budget question
  60. Monsters face Albany in AF1 semifinal Saturday afternoon in NY
  61. Henry throws seven TD passes as Arsenal rout Barrels 70-36 in AF1 playoffs
  62. Duluth’s 2027 mayoral election will test the DFL’s progressive turn
  63. Chloe Johnson’s national profile grows with elite summer invitations
  64. Tim Meyer: Lester Park Golf Course Redevelopment Observations
  65. Hockey Notebook
  66. Bulldogs land hard-nosed Flyers prospect
  67. Wendy Durrwachter has become the council’s independent conscience
  68. Wendy Durrwachter has become the council’s independent conscience
  69. An invitation to support independent Duluth journalism
  70. Duluth schools have not earned another tax referendum
  71. Vikings can settle quarterback in camp
  72. Hermantown hockey teams set for three-day summer scrimmage series
  73. Duluth should not raise the 2027 levy. The money is already there.
  74. Duluth should not fear its voters on Lester Park
  75. Medved gave Gophers basketball a pulse. Now he needs more talent
  76. Brett Larson has earned college hockey's biggest job
  77. Gophers got this one right: Brett Larson has earned college hockey’s biggest job
  78. Subscribe to HowieHanson.com (and the daily enewsletter)
  79. UMD men’s hockey attendance slips despite turnaround; women remain fourth nationally
  80. Harvey Solon gave Duluth a ringside seat to wrestling history
  81. Duluth East announces five-member Hall of Fame Class of 2026
  82. St. Louis County Public Health shares air quality reminders and resources
  83. Vikings have playoff talent, but quarterback decision will define 2026 season
  84. UMD adds U.S. Under-18 exhibition to 2026-27 schedule
  85. AF1 reports 61% growth across social media platforms during regular season
  86. Minnesota Duluth extends three-time national champion Scott Sandelin through 2029-30
  87. Howie: Defense should keep the Bulldogs in the NSIC title hunt
  88. Howie: Experience raises Gophers’ ceiling, but brutal Big Ten road limits their climb
  89. Johnson leads late rally as Monsters edge Beaumont at Amsoil
  90. Duluth’s budget debate is missing millions
  91. Fred Friedman: Rachel Robinson, at 104, is a civil rights hero in her own right
  92. St. Thomas’ $183 million arena strengthens its Division I ambitions
  93. The bill comes due: Inside Duluth’s 2027 budget reckoning
  94. NCHC’s new 10-team race starts with Denver on top — but barely
  95. Eau Claire forward Mack Diggins commits to Bulldogs
  96. City of Duluth labor deals collide with 1% growth, squeezing the 2027 budget
  97. Cloquet football brings experienced core into 2026 after late-season improvement
  98. Man arrested on fentanyl, methamphetamine sale allegations
  99. Hazardous air quality cancels Park Point 5-Miler
  100. Hanft Fride attorneys named to 2026 Minnesota Super Lawyers list