Bob CollinsIt took a lot of effort to find a music teacher for the Lancaster, Minn., school system. The school in the town of 335 got one applicant. Now, immigration rules are sending her back to Canada, Valley News Live reports today. 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.
How is it possible that flight attendants aboard a Minneapolis-bound Delta Airlines flight got into a fistfight on board the airplane and there’s no video posted online? Read more →
Some drivers are apparently frustrated that they can’t get the automated pay systems to work right.
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When we get something for nothing, we feel as if we’re putting one over on the world.Except that often it’s just the opposite. Read more →
We’re guessing the trumpeter swans who congregate in the open, warmer water from the Monticello nuclear plant on the Mississippi River, would be just fine on their own.
But a man made a promise to his dying wife.
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Bloomington is the latest community to go with a single-hauler, amid promises it’ll save the average homeowner about $100 a year. The response was predictable.
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Jad Abumrad, the creator of RadioLab, loves radio. So it was a little disconcerting last evening, though understandable, when he seemed to bury terrestrial radio. “I don’t know a single 20-year-old who has a radio,” he told PBS NewsHour. He passionately and correctly describes the creative beauty of radio in which the listener is a Read more →
Paul Kantner, an original member of Jefferson Airplane, was supposed to play the Medina Entertainment Center tonight with his version of the band, Jefferson Starship. But he died yesterday.
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The local food shelf might appreciate it if we were all better at math. Gavin Thompson is good at math, so the Ottawa mathematician has taken $150 and turned it into $1,500 worth of donations.
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It’s a day of commercialism and a lot of people in love don’t like it anymore. People shouldn’t feel obligated to express their love; that’s not the way love works. But go ahead and try to get through Valentine’s Day without running up a big tab.
Save yourselves while you still can, kids. Read more →
Jessica Taylor, a pilot for a Denver-based regional airline, won a big fight this week with the Federal Aviation Administration on behalf of people just like her. Read more →
I have a friend who is about to do what most of us are too afraid to do: He’s about to follow his dream. Good for him. Literally, it’s good for him, some recent research suggests. Read more →
Although they’re the least supported major sports team in the Twin Cities, the Minnesota Timberwolves are quietly revolutionizing how you’ll buy tickets to sporting events, and, in the process, increasing the price you’ll pay.
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How bad is the University of Minnesota men’s basketball team?
They can be beaten and outrebounded even if the opposition plays with shoes in their hand.
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There really aren’t that many “where were you when” moments in our individual histories. The day the space shuttle exploded is one of them. Unbelievably, it was 30 years ago today. Read more →