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.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Park Police says the story of kids being handcuffed for selling water on the National Mall has gotten blown way out of proportion.
The images spread across the Internet today after Tim Krepp posted photographs on Twitter of what he said was an undercover operation against people selling water.
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The fear that the Obama administration would take guns and ammunition away from Americans was great for the guns and ammunition business.
Now that Donald Trump, a strong gun rights advocate, is in the White House, times are tough.
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The Mark Zuckerberg ‘I’m not running for president (although I am)’ tour rolled into Minneapolis last night, according to the Facebook founder’s Facebook page. Read more →
Workplace shooting stories in America follow a predictable arc. The shooting, the profile of the killer, the debate over guns, a few fundraisers, and then we move on to the next killing without looking back. Read more →
There are certain moments when Target Field can be one of the most beautiful sports venues in America.
Yesterday was one of those days.
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It appears that it did not threaten democracy in Australia.
It did, predictably, threaten the heck out of men.
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Marilyn Hagerty, the long-time Grand Forks Herald columnist and journalism treasure was lured to the University of North Dakota campus with the story that there was a meeting there with legal representatives of UND.
Instead, there was a ceremony to give her the UND Spirit Award and an honorary masters in community engagement. Read more →
Last January, Abbey Conner, a junior at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater; and her brother, Austin, a graduating senior at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, were found at the bottom of a swimming pool in Cancun, Mexico. Their dad thinks someone put chemicals in their drinks.
Abbey died, and Austin lived to graduate late last month. Read more →
It was a great day for baseball in Alaska last night.
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John Sylvester died last Friday. Sylvester, who played professional soccer for the Minnesota Thunder and was coaching director for Minneapolis United, was diagnosed several years ago with ALS. Could it get any worse for a family?
Yes. Read more →
Where does one person’s right to free speech end and another’s begin? Read more →
In normal times, members of the Minneapolis Police Department and some other departments would march in the Twin Cities Pride parade. But these are not normal times and organizers have said the police should stay away, at least as much as police can stay away from public gatherings. Read more →
These days, we’ll take a little hopefulness anywhere we can find it, and if you’ve been reading the comments since last week’s court decision in St. Paul, we can use a little hopefulness. Read more →
In Zanesville, Ohio, somebody forgot to check what they were donating to Goodwill. That cost them $100,000. In Boston, a woman was distracted by her phone, so she lost a $40,000 violin.
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Anybody who’s ever bought lumber knows that a 2×4 isn’t a 2×4, a 1×6 isn’t a 1×6, and a 4×4 isn’t a 4×4.
A lot of lawyers have never bought lumber, however. Read more →
Bob Collins