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.
While reading the obituary today of Lucas David Ronnei of Victoria, Minn., we realized where the young man got the courage in his struggle against depression and addiction. It was in his DNA, inherited from a family that wrote one of the most powerful obituaries we’ve ever read.
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The giant snow sculpture in New Brighton has been completed. The Bartz Brothers build a sculpture on their front yard every winter. It looked like this a couple of days ago. The brothers invited people to guess what it would be. If you guessed “octopus” you made a good guess. People who visit this year’s Read more →
Once Minnesota becomes the place where it’s not cold enough to do stuff, what’s the point of being Minnesota? Read more →
The whereabouts and reasons for the disappearance of a Lakeville pilot will remain a mystery. Read more →
Of course the airline has gone no-frills, so you’ll pay extra for baggage, including carry on, but any time a carrier takes on the ‘big airlines’ — now down to a very few — it’s worth watching whether other airlines try to match the fares in some way. Read more →
Because it’s Friday, it’s January, and it’s a surfing pug, that’s why.
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Wired profiles photographers Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruber, a husband-and-wife team from Minneapolis that stumbled on the sport a few years ago.
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Lake Elmo, a city famous for its insistence to remain a pre-sprawl town, has taken a big club to sprawl with its refusal to allow bus rapid-transit stations in its community.
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When should someone abandon the job he’s paid to do — documenting events, in this case — and put the camera down to pitch in to help? Read more →
Somebody shot a county commissioner of Meeker County and a local newspaper is running up against a law on data in Minnesota in its effort to find out who.
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I don’t really know where to begin in assessing this obituary of a woman in North Carolina who died last month at 94. There’s a little bit in there about the life of Wilma Black, but it seems much more aimed at her son.
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In the last days of the 2014 legislative session, the Minnesota Legislature tried to pass tougher legislation against payday lenders. Several religious groups whose members were being decimated by triple-digit interest against future paychecks were stymied when Republicans blocked the measure, arguing it removes options for low-income families.
It’s an option for getting ripped-off as PBS NewsHour proved yet again last evening with a focus on a Sioux Falls, S.D., family living paycheck to paycheck.
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I don’t know if you can see the video of what happened around Keller Park last night, Facebook settings being what they are and all, but it was a pretty astounding statement that a man who took his own life last fall mattered, and his loss is a loss for us all. Read more →
Art, especially art from wood, isn’t always meant to be forever.
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A gull, native to the Arctic, makes a mysterious appearance in Duluth and fans migrate to the the city to watch it. Read more →
Bob Collins