Bob Collins
The day terrorists hit a lucky shot, with this ring she brought jobs to Minnesota, the failure of the railroad vision, the Star Tribune Bachmann editorial, and the people who wash windows. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for September 2013
About three dozen people in Duluth are being tossed out of work because the rest of us aren’t drinking enough milk. Kemps announced today it’s closing its Franklin Foods milk processing plant in the city next month. It’s not Obamacare. It’s not state taxes. It’s not the cows. It’s not, apparently, any of the things Read more →
What does Arctic ice tell us, shopping Moorhead and Moorhead only, trading your adopted child, teaching our kids to be criminals, and ballooning the St. Croix Valley. Read more →
Rep. Walz says ‘no’ to bombing Syria, George Zimmerman can’t stay out of the news, the disaster special session ends in Minnesota, the State Police defends the high-speed chase that killed an innocent person, a woman in a hijab violates Abercrombie’s “look policy,” which violates the law, and Diana Nyad answers skeptics. Here’s today’s news Read more →
If you’re a woman under 50 wondering whether you should get a mammogram, you are basically on your own. Read more →
An Asian cast member of the local production of “Miss Saigon” is stepping in to defend the production against allegations it’s a racist play. Read more →
Nate Minor
I met Siji Saula and his wife in Fargo earlier this summer, and had the opportunity to meet David Saula in Lagos last week. Their ongoing bond is a good example of how leaving your home to start a new life — halfway across the world in this case — can change important relationships. It’s an even better example, though, of how those relationships remain strong. Read more →
The Minnesota Court of Appeals today rejected an attempt to stop the state’s sale of mining leases without any environmental review. Read more →
The search for common ground in the mining debate, the smartphone addiction, why Sioux Falls has won James Fallows’ heart, struggles of mainline churches, and yeah, you’re gay, now how about cleaning your room? Read more →
The key to lifting the rural poor in countries like Nigeria may well be agriculture. Read more →
Before this city became what it is today — a monstrous destination that’s probably more than twice as large as New York City (depending on which survey you believe) — a neighborhood between the mainland and the posh Victoria Island started spreading into the sea. That was more than 100 years ago.
Now, at least 85,000 Lagosians live in Makoko. They still do what their ancestors came for: the fishing. But the state is trying to evict the area, citing health concerns among other reasons. Read more →
A fairly surprising percentage of the best and the brightest got where they are by cheating.
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Far too often, journalists act as stenographers, dutifully reporting bilge that professional spokespersons distribute that everyone knows to be nonsense. Read more →
In my absence over the next few days, perhaps you’d like to help keep things “fresh” on NewsCut, as some regular readers have. Just send me things you stumble across that fit the NewsCut vibe — that is: things that are a little off the beaten path, have the faint aroma of news, and get the rest of us to think a little bit.
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Bob Dylan has had a cult-like following ever since he figured out how to get out of Minnesota. Now, however, he has a cult literally following him.
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