Bob CollinsIf you’ve tried to buy a home in the Twin Cities, you know the impossible task for mere mortals. If you can find a half-way decent house to buy, the price is through the roof. 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.
Deanna and Mya Cook haven been accumulating detentions for violating the school’s dress code, which says hair extensions can be distracting for other students and affect learning.
The students say it singles out African Americans. Read more →
Pat Cadigan started with the station in 1961. He got into radio the old-fashioned way; he worked the overnight shift before becoming the morning host through 1974, taking time off to sell real estate, and then returning to the station in the ’80s. Read more →
David Brooks, the New York Times columnist, has never been on the Donald Trump bandwagon. Nonetheless, the more conservative (for the Times) columnist’s essay today is a bit stunning if only for the headline one doesn’t usually read about a sitting president of the United States.
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Fairly soon, many of you won’t need to talk to a human employee anymore when you check in at MSP airport. Delta is testing out a new system that uses biometrics to identify you when dropping your baggage at the check-in.
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A Minnesota man who may have tested the state’s implied consent laws more often than any other driver charged with driving under the influence, has lost again at the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Under the law, authorities can force a person to submit to breath tests without a warrant by criminalizing their refusal to do so. But previous provisions for demanding blood or urine have been struck down. Read more →
South Dakota is one of only 10 states that don’t shield reporters from being called to testify in court about stories they cover. So a Sioux Falls Argus Leader reporter has been subpoenaed amid criticism from free-press advocates. Read more →
This, in particular, is the time of year when old-timers want to give advice and wisdom to the graduates. But here’s the reality for those of us of a certain age: We haven’t got a clue how to navigate this changed world as a graduating student. Read more →
Jonathan Abably, of Blaine, Minn., wrote his college entrance essay on work, money, and class. It was good enough to get printed in the New York Times. Read more →
Periodically through the various health care debates, someone inevitably talks about people getting free health care. Who are these people?
They’re not the people on Medicare, a new study says. Read more →
Ronnie, whose real name is Ronald Wickers, is one of those fans from yesteryear, which makes sense since he’s 75 now.
He is — as they say — a character, one of those fans who becomes part of the entertainment. Some folks get tired of an old man yelling ‘Cubs…. Woo!’ through the whole game. Read more →
Because it’s Friday and it’s probably a metaphor for something Read more →
This week, I’ve started heavier moderating of comments in an effort to rid the comments sections of disruptors who are not so much interested in an exchange of ideas on an intellectual basis (go ahead, call me elitist) as they are satisfying some personal needs to set fire to the space and watch it burn. Read more →
President Donald Trump had an interesting idea for solving the problem of inaccuracies from his White House communications team: have them stop talking.
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In the list of people in Minnesota who are suffering, can anyone top the smoker of premium cigars?
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