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.
Bloomington police report there’s nothing to fear from an elderly man who lost his hat.
One can hardly blame the young girl walking home from school for saying “no” when he asked her to help look for it, or her father who called the cops, or the cops for taking it seriously. Read more →
An investigation by ProPublica and NPR into the damage inflicted by even the smallest release of private health information provides a good opportunity to re-examine a Minnesota case over who’s liable when a health care provider’s loose lips inflict damage. Read more →
The deep budget cuts in the University of Wisconsin system have hit the band kids. It’s always the band kids. Read more →
At this time of the year, we pause for an annual tradition to bow our heads and consider what on earth is wrong with people who eat lutefisk? Read more →
Authorities in Grand Forks are hoping someone will recognize the man in the video that’s been posted on the Grand Forks Herald website. He appears to be the person who torched a Somali restaurant in the city on Tuesday morning.
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The predictions that the This American Life spin-off would focus on the case of Bowe Bergdahl were correct. This year’s podcast, the first episode of which was posted overnight, shifts from ‘who did it’ to ‘why did he do it?’
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Earthcam has been keeping an eye on the construction of the new Minnesota Vikings stadium.
Today, the company released the newest time-lapse video of it. Read more →
They sure care about yearbook photos out in the Red River Valley where, not having to spend any time worrying about a nuke dropping any minute, they can concentrate on whether the school must constitutionally accept a yearbook feature no matter how silly it’s going to look at the 40th reunion.
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It’s like old times in some sections of the economy. Some companies are increasing benefits to attract and keep employees. Read more →
How old should a child be before s(he) is exposed to the way the world is?
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Among the sweetest stories we’ve relayed this year is that of Greta Perske, of Sartell, Minn., and the man who donated bone marrow to her when she was 15. Read more →
The Austin High School boys basketball team was down a bucket last night to Northfield High with 1.6 seconds left to go. Then Oman Oman got the ball.
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We were told this week that the Department of Homeland Security is going to soon announce a new terrorism warning system to replace the system that replaced the color-coded system.
If it has any degree of accuracy, it will say that America is currently at Threat Level Stupid. Read more →
She doesn’t have the visibility in this neck of the woods as other public radio staples like Keillor or the Car Talk guys, but another pioneer of public radio — Diane Rehm — is about to call it quits. Read more →
Allstate is the latest company to feature same-sex marriage and parenting as part of its advertising strategy. Read more →
Bob Collins