Minnesota Star Tribune announces initial speaker lineup for 2026 North Star Summit
National and regional leaders will gather Sept. 22-23 in Minneapolis to discuss issues shaping the Midwest and the nation
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Top Columns
- Howie: Duluth schools want $103 million, but voters deserve an accounting first
- Howie: Hermantown football has the enthusiasm. Now comes the evidence.
- Hermantown girls soccer turns section final disappointment into early-season motivation
- Scott Sandelin remains the foundation of Bulldog hockey
- Howie: Duluth Schools’ referendum will rise or fall on trust
- City of Duluth labor deals collide with 1% growth, squeezing the 2027 budget
- My latest book: Minnesota 2050
- Duluth searches for budget ‘bloat,’ but labor costs dominate projected shortfall
- Howie: The Monsters have unfinished business
- The newspaper that started it all
- The AI detector economy is chasing the wrong story
- Howie: Downtown Duluth's next chapter will be built with trust.
- Don Ness and the reinvention of Duluth
- Duluth's civic theatre at 6 and 10 p.m.
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Rethinking the response: Duluth could cut public safety costs by changing who answers 911 calls
Houston uses an emergency telehealth program that allows selected 911 patients to speak remotely with a physician. In one reported year, 92% of the 6,008 people served by the program were directed to transportation other than a Houston Fire Department ambulance.
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Duluth searches for budget ‘bloat,’ but labor costs dominate projected shortfall
The city cannot eliminate a multimillion-dollar structural deficit without confronting employee costs, service levels or taxes. That is where the money is — and where the difficult decisions will be.
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AI’s Reach Extends From Consumer Tech to Jobs, Finance and National Security
Artificial intelligence is moving beyond the familiar cycle of chatbots, smartphone features and corporate marketing claims, becoming a force shaping national-security policy, employment decisions, financial-risk assessments and the global race to build computer chips. A series of developments this week underscored how quickly the technology is moving from
3 MIN READ
2026 Duluth Denfeld Girls Soccer Schedule
Aug. 28 — at Grand Rapids, 2 p.m. Aug. 31 — Roseville, 6 p.m. Sept. 8 — at Two Harbors, 6 p.m. Sept. 10 — Proctor, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 12 — at Hibbing, noon Sept. 15 — at Hermantown, 6 p.m. Sept. 17 — Duluth Marshall, 7:30 p.m. Sept.
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2026 Duluth Denfeld Boys Soccer Schedule
Aug. 28 — at Mahtomedi, noon Aug. 29 — at Chisago Lakes, 11 a.m. Sept. 3 — Lakeville South, 4 p.m. Sept. 4 — Lakeville North, 10 a.m. Sept. 8 — Duluth Marshall, 7 p.m. Sept. 15 — Hermantown, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 17 — Hibbing, 5:30 p.m. Sept. 19
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2026 Duluth Denfeld Volleyball Schedule
Aug. 24 — Cloquet, 9 a.m. Sept. 1 — Aitkin, 7 p.m. Sept. 3 — at Rock Ridge, 6 p.m. Sept. 8 — at Hibbing, 7 p.m. Sept. 15 — Moose Lake, 7 p.m. Sept. 17 — at Superior, 7 p.m. Sept. 19 — Duluth East Invitational, 9 a.m. Sept.
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2026 Duluth Denfeld Football Schedule
Sept. 4 — Hermantown, 6 p.m. Sept. 11 — at Two Harbors, 7 p.m. Sept. 18 — Grand Rapids, 6 p.m. Sept. 25 — at Pequot Lakes, 7 p.m. Oct. 2 — Rock Ridge, 6 p.m. Oct. 9 — at Duluth East, 6 p.m. Oct. 14 — at North Branch, 7
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2026 Cloquet Girls Soccer Schedule
Aug. 22 — Bloomington Jefferson, 10 a.m. Aug. 27 — at St. Francis, 5 p.m. Aug. 28 — Two Rivers, 4 p.m. Sept. 3 — Esko, 3 p.m. Sept. 8 — Proctor, 7 p.m. Sept. 12 — Hermantown, 4 p.m. Sept. 14 — Hibbing, 7 p.m. Sept. 17 — at St.
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2026 Cloquet Boys Soccer Schedule
Aug. 27 — Two Rivers, 4 p.m. Aug. 29 — Columbia Heights, 11 a.m. Sept. 1 — at Chisago Lakes, 6 p.m. Sept. 2 — at Mesabi East, 5 p.m. Sept. 10 — Hermantown, 7 p.m. Sept. 14 — at Hibbing, 4 p.m. Sept. 17 — Duluth East, 7 p.m.
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2026 Cloquet Volleyball Schedule
Aug. 22 — at Hibbing Invitational, TBA Aug. 24 — at Duluth Denfeld, 9 a.m. Aug. 27 — Aitkin, 7 p.m. Sept. 1 — at Duluth East, 7 p.m. Sept. 8 — Princeton, 7 p.m. Sept. 10 — at North Branch, 7 p.m. Sept. 12 — at Becker Invitational, 9 a.m.
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2026 Cloquet Football Schedule
Sept. 3 — at Grand Rapids, 7 p.m. Sept. 11 — Esko, 7 p.m. Sept. 18 — North Branch, 7 p.m. Sept. 25 — at Hermantown, 7 p.m. Oct. 2 — Mora, 7 p.m. Oct. 9 — at Rock Ridge, 7 p.m. Oct. 14 — Duluth East, 7 p.m. Oct.
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Howie: The Monsters have unfinished business
Willie Howard, the former NFL linebacker recently named the Monsters’ senior consultant, understands that the AF1 carries responsibilities beyond winning. Most of its players are still chasing something. They need film, exposure and an opportunity to demonstrate that they can play professionally.
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Nashville secures top AF1 seed; final playoff berth remains undecided
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — The Nashville Kats completed the Arena Football One regular season with the league’s best record, the defending champion Albany Firebirds secured the other first-round bye and the Minnesota Monsters guaranteed themselves a home playoff game. Only one question remains entering the final weekend: Will Washington or
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Monsters secure No. 3 seed
The six-team playoff format gives Nashville and Albany first-round byes. Minnesota will host Washington or Beaumont in the No. 3-versus-No. 6 quarterfinal, while Kentucky will host Michigan in the No. 4-versus-No. 5 matchup.
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2026 Hermantown Volleyball Schedule
Aug. 24 – Hibbing and six other teams at Princeton, 9 a.m. Aug. 27 -- at Duluth Marshall, 7 p.m. Sept. 1 -- Esko, 7 p.m. Sept. 3 -- Princeton, 7 p.m. Sept. 8 -- at Duluth East, 7 p.m. Sept. 10 -- Proctor, 7 p.m. Sept. 12 -- North Branch
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