Bob CollinsThe engineering report, funded by a quarry, has now set off a dispute with the U.S. Geological Survey which insists the blast, registering 2.8 on the Richter Scale, was caused by blasting. But the report says that an earthquake occurred seven seconds after the quarry blast, two miles below the ground and a mile south of the quarry.
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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.
We have another story of a high school valedictorian wresting control from the school administrators who don’t want to give it up. Read more →
County boards are faced with a choice: Provide the leadership on transportation issues that state leaders are unable or unwilling to provide, or wait for someone to somehow change the reality that Minnesota state government does not work. Read more →
A Colorado man is trying to do what anti-smoking activists did years ago; he’s trying to get restrictions on cellphone sales to kids.
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What does it say about America that a guy can’t dress up like a bear and play some music without getting jumped?
It happened again to Keytar Bear, who is an iconic busker in Boston.
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Chrisopher Cline, of Buffalo, Minn., reports he was helping with a newborn calf on the farm when he was attacked by the calf’s mother.
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That assertion that Hennepin County roads were built so wide to accommodate the space shuttle in the event of emergencies? It’s satire, people. Really good satire. Read more →
When Philando Castile was shot to death last July, many people expected the National Rifle Association to leap to the defense of Castile, who had a permit to carry the gun he was carrying. It’s what the NRA does, of course.
But not this time. Why not? Read more →
Tim Cernohous collapsed near the end of the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth on Saturday morning. When rescuers rushed to him, he had no pulse. But he still had a goal to finish the race. Read more →
In the event you thought politicians are able to view the world through anything but the lens of political strategy, we give you Brad Carver, chairman of a political party in a Georgia congressional district, near where a special election will be held this week to replace Tom Price. Read more →
The Stanley Cup has had a busy week since the Pittsburgh Penguins won it — again — a week ago.
Everyone on the team gets to spend a day with it. It goes boating, and hits a few bars, maybe a school or two.
Penguins equipment manager Danny Kroll had a more worthwhile trip for it. Read more →
Add this verdict to the evidence that it’s nearly impossible to obtain a conviction of a police officer for killing an African-American in the United States. The law allows police to shoot if they’re afraid. It’s a lousy system. But the jury got it right, because that system wasn’t on trial. Read more →
Every now and again the Minnesota Supreme Court will take a tiny step forward, authorizing pilot programs to allow the cameras in, and every now and again they also give judges the power to say ‘no.’ Judges almost always say ‘no.’ Read more →
The Savannah Bananas slogan is ‘We Make Baseball Fun’ and ‘Fans First. Entertainment Always.’
You know how it is for some minor league teams that don’t consider a baseball game to be a church service, right? Read more →
Here’s an idea that probably won’t catch on at the Minnesota Legislature: If you’re going to use taxpayer funds to bail out a single resort on Lake Mille Lacs, how about naming it? Read more →