Bob CollinsThe Minnesota Daily, operated by journalism students at the University of Minnesota, told a story that needed be told — excessive drinking at parties run by fraternities and sororities, specifically the February death of Mitchell Hoenig. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
By Bob Collins
Bob Collins retired from Minnesota Public Radio in 2019 after 12 years of writing NewsCut and pointing out to complainants that posts weren’t news stories. A son of Massachusetts, he was a news editor 1992-1998, created the MPR News regional website in 1999, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started several blogs, and every day lamented that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.
It started Monday morning when the city’s police chief, acting under orders from the mayor, shut down the sale of chicks at Strand Hardware, according to owner Matt Strand’s Facebook post. Read more →
If there’s one TV show in history that has not held up well over the years, it’s ‘All in the Family’, perhaps the most groundbreaking television show of my generation. It, of course, confronted things — racism, for example — that TV steadfastly avoided.
There hasn’t been anything like it on TV since, really. Read more →
Unquestionably, there is a right to free speech; that’s not the issue. This is: Does journalism have a responsibility to give it a megaphone? Read more →
It took a newspaper article to let freedom ring at Minneapolis City Hall on Wednesday, the anniversary of the killing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Read more →
About 200 Colonial wannabees showed up over the weekend to practice for the annual recreation of the battles of April 19, 1775,using their muskets, which many of them insist is not a gun.
Read more →
Here are the topics and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
Tasha Lynn Schleicher, 41, of New Hope, Minn., is in familiar territory: in jail and charged with drunk driving. It’s Illinois’ turn to have a crack at Schleicher, who has had 11 of her 12 children taken away from her — all for reasons related to her drunk and impaired driving. Read more →
Cleophus Smith is one of the most popular sanitation workers in America this week. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 50 years ago today, shortly before King was shot to death by James Earl Ray. Here’s the thing that is worth thinking about on this day: Mr. Smith is still working, picking up trash in Memphis at the age of 75. Read more →
Some big names are about to be taken off, the latest move to keep the Cup from being too big to parade about. Read more →
Logan Morrison, the new Minnesota Twins player, has learned an important lesson.
When it comes to baseball players complaining about the weather, don’t. Read more →
The days of political rhetoric that can lift us up are over in the United States, but today, the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., is a good day to remember one of the finest speeches ever delivered in the colonies. Read more →
If Minnesota is the state of hockey, where is the city of hockey? Read more →
A 12-year-old girl took her own life in Bismarck, N.D., on Saturday. Her obituary didn’t hold anything back.
Read more →
Here are the topics and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →