Bob Collins
In Fertile, Minn., Ryan Strem has built a baseball field in the shadow of a corn field for the local kids to play ball for free.
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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.
The people of Crow Wing County are bummed, realizing that a once-local corporation isn’t quite as ‘local’ anymore, now that it’s been bought by a conglomerate.
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An all-time catchSome Facebook users reached a new low today — even for Facebook users — when someone thought it was a good idea to post the image of a man in St. Paul who took his own life.
The St. Paul Police Department — and cops see the worst in us every day — was shocked at the callousness toward a man who had lived with mental health issues.
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Thanks to my long-time MPR colleague, Euan Kerr, I’ve come to realize there’s nothing ballet can’t do. Read more →
Roderick Cox, the associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, has gotten some well-deserved national attention, thanks to an extensive profile by NBC News. The 29-year-old made his subscription concert debut for the Orchestra this year. Read more →
There has likely never been a better piece of advice than this ancient directive: Don’t be stupid.
Just ask Ken Pagan, whose life will never be quite the same since he did something stupid.
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Even by the standards of the new Washington crowd, NPR reporter David Folkenflik’s scoop today on how a Trump booster and a Fox News consultant conspired to create a phony story about the ‘murder’ of a young aide for the Democratic National Committee is shocking and frightening. Read more →
Without snail slime, life itself would be impossible. Read more →
Linda Koelman and Jeffrey Stewart had one of the most difficult jobs after the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. They had to tell 13 families that their loved one was dead. Read more →
Chicago Cubs fans are patting themselves on the back today for supporting a franchise with enough class to give Steve Bartman a World Series ring.
Winning a World Series can make bygones be bygones, but it doesn’t erase history in which many of the same Cubs fans made Bartman’s life a living hell. Read more →
Shamus Evans, 11, has cerebral palsy and the spirit of a runner. His dad, Shawn, 39, is a runner with the power of a father’s love.
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The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld a district court judge’s decision to dismiss a charge against Christopher Prigge, who was stopped by a Maple Grove police officer for suspected driving under the influence in April 2016. A later search of the car discovered the gun in the center console, and, thus, the additional charges. Read more →
There’s a game that broadcasters had to play last week when Anthony Scaramucci’s
interview in the New Yorker included a heaping helping of junior high school lewd comments. Read more →
These kids today with their music and clothes and wild hair.
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