Psst: In partnership with the City of Duluth, Essentia Health will be breaking ground on a new parking ramp in January that will provide 350-plus new parking spaces for public use directly across 1st Street from the existing Medical District Ramp, City of Duluth Planning and Economic Development Director Chad Ronchetti wrote in a public email Saturday. Once complete, the new ramp will be owned and maintained by the city, he said.
The agency lowered the Duluth's issuer rating and several debt ratings from A3 to Baa2. Moody’s also reduced the rating on the district’s annual appropriation certificates of participation from Baa1 to Baa3. The district had about $184 million in outstanding debt as of October 2025.
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.
Plante has already given UMD a great season, another Hobey and a place back among the country’s serious programs. What he has not yet delivered is the one thing that would separate his Bulldogs career from nearly every other individual masterpiece.
The Bulldogs’ championship window is open because they have Max Plante, high-end talent and unusual roster continuity. It is believable because Sandelin is still standing behind the bench.
Championship opportunities are temporary, particularly now. Max Plante will not remain at UMD forever. Neither will Zam Plante, Shaugabay or Hanson. Professional hockey will come calling, and the roster eventually will be pulled apart by the realities of the sport.
Through his first two varsity seasons, Swanson has amassed 49 goals, 68 assists and 117 points. He will enter his junior season as a centerpiece of a Bluejackets program expected to contend for another deep postseason run.
