Bob Collins
Minnesota has its share of weird decisions by politicians to look good for the TV cameras, but we’ve got nothing on Cranston, Rhode Island. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for January 2016
The U.S. economy, not exactly humming along at 2 percent growth and stagnant wages, is the jewel of the global economy now. Europe is a mess. China is getting its bubble comeuppance and the daily business watch is now a debate over whether a recession is ahead.
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For many people in the East Metro, commuting to work means taking a deep breath and doing this: trying to cross the St. Croix by the ‘ice road.’ Read more →
It’s probably never a good idea to use the New York Daily News as a barometer of the state of journalism.
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The venerable Boston Symphony Orchestra has acknowledged that young people can’t sit through a concert without being connected to their iPads. Read more →
Sun Prairie, Wisc., near Madison, needs a groundhog if there’s going to be a groundhog day in the city that’s tried mightily since 1948 to be the Midwest’s Punxatawney.
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Last month Austin Roberts, of Spencer, Iowa, was wrestling in a high school championship match when he collapsed. The wrestler, who hadn’t been defeated all season, died a few hours later.
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Nancy YangIt’s been a good week for Minnesota viral videos. Not one but two videos involving Minnesotans have racked up thousands of views online. Read more →
Experts on suicide have generally succeeded in tamping down public talk about suicide by the nation’s school children. But Dan and Wanda Lienemann of Waukee, Iowa think there’s a better way to prevent the kind of thing that happened to their 18-year-old son. Read more →
The creeping — and creepy — intrusion of business and government on people’s personal Twitter musings has taken a step forward in Wisconsin where a high school player has been suspended for using profanity in a tweet on her personal account. Read more →
Paul TostoThe Northern Sun Conference admits its refs got it wrong at the end of a University of Sioux Falls-Winona State hoops game on Friday. Read more →
You are not alone in your misery. Read more →
While reading the obituary today of Lucas David Ronnei of Victoria, Minn., we realized where the young man got the courage in his struggle against depression and addiction. It was in his DNA, inherited from a family that wrote one of the most powerful obituaries we’ve ever read.
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The giant snow sculpture in New Brighton has been completed. The Bartz Brothers build a sculpture on their front yard every winter. It looked like this a couple of days ago. The brothers invited people to guess what it would be. If you guessed “octopus” you made a good guess. People who visit this year’s Read more →
Once Minnesota becomes the place where it’s not cold enough to do stuff, what’s the point of being Minnesota? Read more →