There’s no better example of the appearance of questionable ethics in politics than the once brewing 2008 scandal in which a lawsuitclaimed a Minnesota businessman tried to bribe then-Sen. Norm Coleman by funeling money to a business employing Coleman’s wife.
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MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for December 2014
World, we have a problem. The year we’re leaving behind was the safest, healthiest, happiest year in human history but you don’t believe it, writes Scott Gilmore today on Maclean’s.
The world has never been more peaceful, there has never been less poverty, and our societies have never been healthier.
So what’s the problem? Why do we feel as if things have never been worse? Read more →
Roger Hanson won’t be making his ice tower in Big Lake this year. Superior, Wisconsin has hired him away to make the world’s largest ice tower in the city. Read more →
Lauren Hill, the Cincinnati woman who is dying from a brain tumor, has reached another goal. The basketball player wanted to raise a million dollars for cancer research by the end of the year. In the last minutes of a telethon, someone threw $100,000 in. Read more →
The worst job in the world? Might we suggest NPR has it covered with this morning’s video on the people who collect the bodies of ebola victims.
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We kept looking for clues in the Pioneer Press story that Gov. Mark Dayton was pulling a joke on reporter David Montgomery about one of his goals for the coming legislative session. Read more →
If you need a little reminder that the country has made some progress in matters of race, pay attention to who’s riding on the ‘inspiring stories’ float at the beginning of the Tournament of Roses parade tomorrow.
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Lake Superior State University in Michigan couldn’t have been more perfect with its selection of words that should — but won’t be — banned in 2015. Read more →
Jay Wilds, the somewhat mysterious man who blew the whistle on Adnan Syed in the murder case that spawned the podcast “Serial,” has never heard the show. Read more →
A decision from the Minnesota Court of Appeals earlier this year on an unrelated case, adds more grist to the analysis mill of why Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman hasn’t charged Navell Gordon with possession of a handgun by a felon.
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Boy, if there’s one thing that gets Public Radio types in a lather, it’s the misuse of the English language.
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There’s plenty of depravity in the world, but the Duluth News Tribune today offers a timely reminder that there are still the Wayne Hoffmans among us. Read more →
A below-zero night is a small price to pay for a good look at the Northern Lights, as was the case early this morning in St. Cloud.
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The average American only gets about 10 days of paid vacation if they get vacation at all. For many, it’s a use-it-or-lose-it proposition and as 2014 is in its final days, many are willing to lose the vacation time. Read more →
Add Hennepin County attorney Mike Freeman to the list of politicians embroiled in Pointergate, the KSTP story alleging Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges was flashing gang signs with a felon during a get-out-the-vote effort in North Minneapolis in October. KMSP is reporting Freeman has refused to charge the man — Navell Gordon — with being a Read more →