Bob Collins
Winter hasn’t been much to write home about in Minnesota in the last few years, so it’s comforting to know that our reputation is intact nonetheless. 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.
If you’re a dog intent on running off in frigid Christmas Eve weather, Sioux Falls is a good place to do it. Read more →
Here’s a list of today’s topics and guests you’ll hear on MPR News. Read more →
If you’re one of the few remaining Minnesotans who actually likes winter, you’re going to have to grin and bear it for the next few days as weatherpeople struggle to describe an awful temperature in more awful terms. Read more →
Here’s today’s list of topics and guests on MPR News today. Read more →
I would have liked to have known Jon Tevlin because he wears his heart on his sleeve and that’s a good thing for a newspaper columnist. It’s also what will get you killed on social media. Read more →
Mike Justak, of Plymouth, Minn., can string 60,000 lights across 8 homes in his neighborhood, taming a blizzard of radio waves to dazzle carloads of people with a showman’s blend of theater and programming skill. But he says it’s easy compared to buttoning his shirt. Read more →
Here’s 36 minutes of a drumline showdown between the kids of Rochester’s Century High School, John Marshall High School, and Mayo High School who spent their night on Wednesday beating drums to raise money for each school’s charity. Read more →
The police in Altoona, Wis., just on the other side of Eau Claire, no doubt caused heart palpitations when they pulled people over yesterday. Nothing a ham can’t cure, though. Read more →
In telling the story of Karen Axeen, 57, of Apple Valley, KARE 11 reporter Lindsey Seavert invoked a powerful phrase — four words that can change the way we look at the world and our mortality: ‘the honor of dying.’
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It’s not Christmas until David Sedaris’ Santaland Diaries plays on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Today was that day. For the 25th straight year.
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Here are the topics and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
You look like you could use a reminder that what you hear on the news isn’t all there is to real life. So, here.
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For some time now, prosecutors who are trying to stop the practice of ‘sexting’ — sending explicit photographs to someone else — have warned teenagers that they could be prosecuted for distributing child pornography. Now there’s a case in Rice County that involves exactly that. Read more →