The Minnesota Vikings want Chicago Avenue renamed. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for March 2016
NPR is about to unveil a new podcast and with any luck, it will change the too-earnest, too dispassionate culture of traditional public radio storytelling. Read more →
March is high-school tournament time in Minnesota, as you probably know. It’s a time when most of the attention around here will go to the metro-area public and private sports dynasties. Good for them and good luck to them.
But there’s always at least one team that’s a little easier to root for. Read more →
A Caribou Coffee and an Einstein Bagels shop opened up yesterday morning at 5 a.m., promising to reward the first 50 customers in line with a free cup of joe and a bagel once a week for year.
Would you sleep out on a sidewalk for more than 12 hours for that? Read more →
That short blast of summer earlier this week was a refreshing break from a mild winter, but perhaps you noticed something about it that we’ve never experienced before: guilt.
Read more →
I’ve written in this space before about the Facebook page of Kenyon police chief Lee Sjolander, whose writing reveals him as a philosopher, a healer, and counselor as well as being a cop. Read more →
The never-ending battle for validation between people who live in the cities and those who live in the suburbs featured a big win for city slickers a little over a year ago when surveys revealed that millennials are heading to the cities in big numbers. Read more →
Last week’s Minnesota high school hockey tournament has been manna from heaven for national talk show hosts. Read more →
Say what you will for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the overblown Deflategate scandal in which Brady was accused of letting air out of footballs, but it apparently is doing wonders for inspiring kids into science. Read more →
Natasha Fuller, an Oakfield, Wis., first-grader, has been sick almost since she was born. For the last two years, she’s been living with her grandparents so she can get lifesaving treatment at Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee.
She’s currently in renal failure and the girl is out of options; she needs a kidney transplant.
Fortunately, the world is full of first-grade teachers like Jodi Schmidt. Read more →
A Minnesota school district is considering a novel plan for its students on days when school is called off because of a snowstorm: Kids would have to go to school anyway. Read more →
Some people are wired to care too much at work. They’re ‘Type A’ people, the type that often get things done and keep their workplaces afloat at, it seems, tremendous personal cost.
Read more →
Anyone who watched the filming of a champion snowmobiler perform some stunts for an upcoming Red Bull commercial probably left unimpressed. But the result was pretty fantastic.
Read more →
Perhaps you’ve seen the Oscar-winning Spotlight by now, the story of how the Boston Globe and a culture of investigative reporting uncovered the pedophiles of the Catholic Church and the deferential attitude of other media that allowed it to flourish.
Today, the Boston Globe provided a little spotlight on the actual reporters and editors that did the work. Read more →
Although we are a land of assimilation, it’s always a good idea to remember your roots. Read more →