Bob CollinsCleveland is already treating Kevin Love with the adoration Minnesota never did. He’s not even the top player on his team and he gets the mural-on-the-side-of-a-building treatment. So this is going up in downtown Cleveland as we speak. #Love pic.twitter.com/v2xZfrvNFm — Dustin Fox (@DustinFox37) August 25, 2014 Coincidentally, the mural replaces another one on the Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for August 2014
The Ice Bucket Challenge, you’ve probably heard, has caught on in a big way to raise money for ALS research. If someone you know hasn’t posted a video of dumping him/herself with ice water, you probably need more friends. Here’s an offshoot that probably won’t catch on. Ayman al Aloul, a Palestinian journalist, dumped a Read more →
Marketplace’s David Brancaccio raises a fascinating question today: If a municipality starts a business that could compete with private business — say, a municipal liquor store like the one in more than 200 Minnesota communities — is it socialism? Brancaccio reports on a town in Kentucky that was frustrated by high gasoline prices charged by Read more →
Today’s sign that the educational apocalypse is upon us comes from the Washington Post, which reports that kids in kindergarten now face final exams, have homework and are subject to standardized testing. And in Elwood, N.Y., the Post says, the principal sent a letter to parents canceling the annual play so the kids can buckle Read more →
It’s a happy ending for a Duluth man who lost his wedding ring while golfing in Neillsville, Wis., six years ago. He had taken it off to put on sunscreen (Guys, don’t take off your wedding ring to put on sunscreen. Don’t take your wedding ring off for any reason) and he forgot to put Read more →
We were driving home from our visit back East on Saturday when we came across an SUV full of a mostly enthusiastic — we guess — Illinois family at the Tomah, Wis., rest stop, heading for one of the great passages of life: the moment when you’re dropped off to be on your own in Read more →
That was quite a PSA that ran during this evening’s MTV video music awards tonight. The network said it wanted to start a discussion on race among those who still watch it, which makes it hard to believe there wasn’t one already. But the PSA is part of a larger campaign called “Look Different.” “Eighty Read more →
David Cazares
A Demonstrator protesting the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown holds up a sign on August 13, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) There is a tendency among many in the United States to view young black men as dangerous. As Morehouse College professor Marc Lamont Hill has said, many whites view Read more →
Brigette Mengerson, one of our favorite readers from North Minneapolis, is an unabashed fan of NoMi as we’ve noted in the past. She hardly overlooks its flaws, not the way many people do with the good stories that exist there. Like this one, which she forwarded today. It’s certainly good enough for me to pause Read more →
The difference in reactions to the disturbances in Ferguson, Mo., where a white police officer shot an unarmed young black man nearly two weeks ago, sadly isn’t surprising. Many white Americans reportedly think the black community’s anger over Michael Brown’s death – indeed, the growing movement in Ferguson to address longstanding inequities — and the Read more →
When President Obama addressed the nation Monday on crises in war-torn Iraq and Ferguson, Mo., millions likely waited with anticipation for inspiring and defining words. Across the country, the attention was focused not on the Middle East but on what the president would have to say about Ferguson, which has swirled in turmoil since police Read more →
Bruce MacDonald
There’ll be no school this week in the Ferguson, Mo., school district, as efforts to quell violence related to a police shooting fail to stop the unrest. The announcement appears on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website: “We believe that closing schools for the rest of this week will allow needed time for peace and stability Read more →
I admit to having a minor phobia about blood-sucking insects and arachnids. I empathize with volunteers enlisted to drag sheets through fields to gather specimens in the pursuit of scientific research. As kids, my friends and I used to push our bikes across a dewy meadow at dusk and sneak into adjacent woods to watch Read more →
In what looks like a super-sized version of the popular vintage toy called Electric Football, scientists at Harvard University have revealed what they say is the largest robot swarm ever. Read more →
Thirteen-year-old Trisha Prabhu of Naperville, Illinois, has devised a project to help stem cyberbullying, the practice of posting mean or hurtful messages on social media. Read more →