Bob CollinsAt a dinner in Argentina last night, President Barack Obama had that look on his face that every man of a certain age has when someone asks him to dance. 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.
When the ice disappears along the Lester River in Duluth, it means one thing: It’s time to get the kayaks out.
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When it comes to civic participation and protest, 11-year-old boys don’t usually stand out.
But Taye Clinton, a student from Linwood Monroe Arts Plus Elementary School in St. Paul, had plenty to say about what life is like for an 11-year-old biracial student in the city’s school system. He spoke at this week’s raucous school board meeting at people protested a Como Park teacher who they say has written racist posts on Facebook and on his blog.
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Ketevan Kardava had a choice photojournalists sometimes have to make. When is it time to help and when is it time to take photographs?
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I recognize that this post will mean nothing to Millennials and others who never knew what it was like to sit down in front of the TV on Saturday afternoon to watch the one baseball game you’re likely to see a week.
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Zeus McClurkin makes some basketball magic in the skies above Nickelodeon Universe. Read more →
Presidential candidate Ted Cruz stirred up the melting pot yesterday when he said that the U.S. should ‘patrol and secure’ Muslim neighborhoods before ‘they become radicalized.’ Read more →
In Stillwater, a person’s home is still his/her parking lot.
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It seemed like only yesterday that the last laker of the season was pulling into the harbor in Duluth/Superior, the unofficial declaration of winter’s arrival in the Northland. Read more →
There’s a lot to be proud of when you stand in line to exercise a right to vote. The reward shouldn’t be that you feel the system is gamed. Read more →
No sooner at the Department of Natural Resources announced its new regulations for the state’s premier lake than politicians were talking about undoing them.
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Whatever the outcome of the ongoing debate over whether Minnesota should allow the operation of a massive copper mine in northeastern Minnesota, it’s not going to rest on whether Bent Paddle Beer is sold at the municipal liquor store in Silver Bay. Read more →
It’s compelling video that leads us — again — to ask: Is there ever a time to put the camera down?
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By now, you’ve probably heard the story of the 11-year-old boy who stole a cement truck in Dodge Center over the weekend and went on a joyride. Apparently, the driver had left his keys in the truck. Read more →