Bob Collins
If two photos could capture the intensity of the heroin epidemic in America at the moment, these are the ones. 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.
Your assignment is to go search the far reaches of the Internet and find something that doesn’t leave the rest of us feeling the way we felt too often this week.
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In making the announcement that the squad will wear a patch with the number 11, the Twins said the Wetterling family encourages people to wear the number and live by these 11 principles. Read more →
Can we get a little bit of love for the Star Tribune today? Specifically, for reporter Liz Sawyer who has solved the mystery caused by this photo, uploaded to Facebook on Sunday by award-winning 17-year-old photographer Gabrielle Bremer of Barnum. Read more →
The Minnesota Twins are in the death rattle phase of 2016 season. Other than Brian Dozier and a clearly rejuvenated Byron Buxton, previously known as the savior of the franchise, there’s no reason to go to a ballgame.
So you can hardly blame the Twins for resorting to a fade and disgraced fashion to try to get fans into the ballpark: Zubaz, the fashion version of the mullett. Read more →
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse students have joined the growing list of young men at colleges proud to promote a rape culture on campus through stupid signs displayed to incoming freshmen. Read more →
The attack on Wednesday evening by Star Tribune gossip columnist C.J. — she never uses her real name — on KARE 11 journalist Jana Shortal because of her clothing while reporting the Wetterling story seems an indecency all its own. Read more →
Elaine Harmon today finally got the respect she more than earned as a member of the Womens Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS). Read more →
We celebrate good lives. We rarely consider good deaths. In Saskatchewan, Jim Jeffery, 95, had a good death, as described by the CBC.
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A Florida congressman appeared to threaten to unleash a virus on the U.S. House of Representatives over its inaction. Read more →
Is there a town in Minnesota with more character and history than Bovey? Read more →
Deadspin’s Drew Magary wasn’t even writing about beer when he penned his Green Bay Packers preview a couple of weeks ago. The insult to the state’s hops just sort of fit right after calling Green Bay “a disgusting fraud.” Read more →
Poor Brian Dozier. It was obvious in Paul Molitor’s post-loss news conference that now people will consider it a disappointment if he doesn’t hit 40 homers every season. Read more →
It was all smiles a couple of weeks ago in Mankato when a mural on a new flood wall was unveiled featuring images of fishes painted by several artists. Who could create controversy out of a flood wall?
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If you’re reading news tweets from the hearing for the killer of Jacob Wetterling this afternoon, you might get the sense that we’ve turned another corner in journalism with the removal of another filter. Read more →