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’s a rare day anymore when parents get a little credit for their behavior at the extracurricular events of their kids. So give it up for the parents of the kids at Miles River Middle School in Hamilton, Mass., where a power outage threatened to curtail the winter musical performance of ‘James and the Giant Peach.’ Read more →
In a poll during the 2013 shutdown, most of those surveyed blamed Republicans. In the subsequent election, Republicans made big gains. Read more →
A chance meeting at a Kohl’s in Duluth sends a hat off to help another cancer patient. Read more →
Here’s your daily dose of sweetness. Fill in your own words.
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Students from Franklin Middle School in Minneapolis, and their teacher, Michael Bratsch, are prepared for the onslaught of ‘It’s cold, why do you live here?’ questions expected in the coming weeks. Read more →
This is the third edition of the NewsCut Guide to a Government Shutdown in its 10-year history, a fact of trivia that underscores how dysfunctional democracy and representative government actually is. Read more →
Fans have contributed money to Thomas Morstead’s foundation in New Orleans, but he’s turned around and donated it back, believing the money should stay in the community.
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Here are the topics and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
At mid-afternoon on Thursday, 2 degrees separated Daytona Beach, Florida and St. Paul, Minnesota. But you know what they’re not doing in Daytona? Trying to build a monstrous ice palace. Read more →
It’s the price Jake Reiman paid for the celebration after Stefon Diggs strutted into the end zone, giving the Vikings a playoff win over the New Orleans Saints, and spawning dozens of YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter videos of the celebrations in living rooms across the upper Midwest. Read more →
Between the Minnesota Vikings victory on Sunday, and the possibility of an end to the program that allowed people brought to the U.S. illegally as children to stay, Minnesotans are in a giving mood. Read more →
Some community members say they’re shocked it would ever happen in their city, but someone must’ve thought Minnesota’s Iron Range communities would be a good spot to recruit new members to the Ku Klux Klan. Read more →
For a time in the ’60s, La Crosse, Wisconsin’s Hiawatha statue was the largest in the country, until one was built in Michigan. It nearly was torn down a few years ago when it fell into disrepair, but enough money was raised to keep it upright. Read more →
Vikings fans noticed that Thomas Morstead, the punter for the Saints, quickly returned to the field for a meaningless extra-point attempt, after his team was beaten in Sunday’s game against New Orleans. So they started donating money to his charitable foundation. Read more →
Here are the topics and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
Bob Collins