Bob Collins
A couple on their way to Wisconsin to rescue dogs from slaughter in Korea ran out of luck when their SUV broke down in Stillwater. But then a community service officer gave them the keys to his vehicle, the Pioneer Press reports. 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.
Baseball has been pushing hard for years to elevate ‘God Bless America’ to National Anthem status, specifically in a salute to veterans and soldiers. It’s a nice sentiment and good business. Read more →
A big chunk of ice broke off from Antarctica today and we’re running out of ways to tell you how big it is. Read more →
Little has so defined the dysfunction of a state government with a budget surplus and its citizens indifference toward people with a mental health crisis, than Minnesota’s refusal to fund a suicide hotline that’s been operating for nearly 50 years. But the Minnesota Legislature didn’t come up with any money, neither did any area foundations, and the stateline hotline will shut down on Friday. A national hotline will continue to be available, and so will some county-operated hotlines. Read more →
Who wouldn’t take every opportunity to own a record in a state that’s fishing crazy like Minnesota?
Kelsey Poshusta. Read more →
More than 14,000 people in British Columbia have fled their homes because of wildfires.
Sally Aitken and her husband, Jack, of Vancouver, were at their summer home waiting things out when the power went out.
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Any story that contains the words ‘with everything going on in the world, we still have humanity,’ will always find a home on NewsCut, which is why we’re applauding the beach-goers in Panama City Beach, Fla., who created a human chain to save a family that was being swept away by the riptide. Read more →
David Brooks, a product of private schools and two affluent parents, faced the problem that bedevils many a newspaper columnist today: He had a deadline and nothing to say.
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St. Paul has its Peanuts characters, Chicago had its cows, Bemidji has its Paul and Babe, and Faribault has its Tilt-A-Whirl cars.
Or at least it will on Thursday when the second restored Tilt-A-Whirl car will be placed outside the State Bank of Faribault building.
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It took less than 24 hours for a ring found in Detroit Lakes to find its owner in Colorado. Read more →
In a smaller community, people know who the neighbors are that want traffic to slow down on the residential street and when restrictions come to the ‘hood, the whole ‘nice people in small town’ thing gets pitched out the window. Read more →
The lesson from last weekend’s protest on Lake Mille Lacs may be that protest works. Or maybe it doesn’t.
A flotilla of fisherpeople and area business owners encircled Gov. Mark Dayton’s bought, protesting restrictions on the taking of walleye.
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If you’re going to make a mistake when writing a check, don’t make it in the part where you write out the words, and don’t make it with an insurance company. They’re ruthless. Read more →
A new poll from Pew Research shows the assault on the idea of higher education has finally connected with Republicans, who viewed it favorably just two years ago. Read more →
The minute Patton Oswalt announced his engagement last week, everyone pretty much knew what was coming. The internet commenters would not approve. Read more →