Bob Collins
It’s wishful thinking to assume a call to C-SPAN signals a widespread change in the discussion of race in America, but maybe it’s at least a small sign that it’s possible to make progress. 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.
Anita Krajnc, 49, could be in jail soon. She’s in day two of her trial in Ontario on criminal charges.
She gave water to some pigs heading for the slaughterhouse. Read more →
It’s hard to throw out a first pitch with the weight of Olympic gold medals around your neck. Fortunately, Katie Ledecky had some guy around — Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper — who wasn’t doing anything. Read more →
When you move to the Midwest, it doesn’t take long to appreciate the sentries that stand watch in our communities. Read more →
People were unhappy with the picture that was used to show the driveway of the individual, whose case was at the heart of the case which tested a state law regulating these sorts of things.
So I snapped a couple of pictures this afternoon.
Read more →
The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that a search warrant that allows police to test the blood alcohol content of a suspected drunken driver can also target the use of drugs, even if there’s no probable cause to suspect drug use. Read more →
Howard Johnson’s was once the largest restaurant chain in America. And now, there’s only one. Read more →
What do coaches say when they go to the mound to talk to a struggling pitcher? Now we know, at least in Little League. Read more →
A kid can’t even take a rabbit to a county fair anymore, at least not in Steele County. Read more →
Anyone who’s had a critical prescription has to be both relieved and frustrated by the reaction to the rapid increase in the rise of EpiPen, the shot that people with severe and life-threatening allergies use to stay alive. Read more →
A Minnesota law requiring collector cars to be “screened” from public view has survived a challenge from a Cleveland Avenue, St. Paul man who buried two of them under tarps.
Read more →
There’s a racist in Tenino, Washington. That would be a fitting headline if not for the fact there are a lot more people spreading their love of neighbors and community.
Read more →
For all the love Americans rightly show the Constitution, the right to an attorney is a poor step child. Read more →
USA pole vaulter Sam Kendricks wasn’t entirely focused like a laser beam on his attempt on Saturday. If he had been, he wouldn’t have heard the National Anthem being played for someone on the medals stand in another competition. Read more →
It’s unlikely that Joe Marcella and Leonard Pylka, Iron Rangers by pedigree, wanted to be the last two of their group of 92 veterans, a distinction that allowed them to taste the cognac on Saturday that they bought upon their return from World War II. Read more →