Bob CollinsSt. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman has taken the bait set by Pioneer Press columnist/troll Joe Soucheray.
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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.
The fine Duluth News Tribune columnist Sam Cook asks an important question worthy of dominating the public discourse: Why do we distrust people? Why do we expect the worst? Read more →
Minnesota Vikings fans were feeling their newfound oats on Twitter last night as the Green Bay Packers closed in on another loss, this time against the perennially pathetic Detroit Lions.
And who could blame them? After years of dysfunction, the Vikings are relevant in the NFC North again and there’s plenty of payback due for the fans of the team next door. Read more →
One of the things I taught my kids when teaching them to drive was that stop signs and red lights don’t stop cars, especially in a state that loves its booze the way this one does. Read more →
Who says people aren’t interested in space anymore? Read more →
It’s often difficult for those of us in Minnesota to see just how tough the economy is in the United States. This map, released today by the Census Bureau, shows why. Read more →
Star Tribune blogger Michael Brodkorb, who has publicized the case of two missing Lakeville girls over the last few years, has written a stunning post today explaining why he, a political insider, was so interested in the whereabouts of Samantha and Gianna Rucki, who were found two weeks ago, nearly three years after running away following a custody battle between their parents.
In his post, Brodkorb raises ethical questions about a Twin Cities television station, which conducted an interview with the missing children a month after they disappeared. Read more →
The cultural phenomenon known as the ‘yule log’ — the video of a fire burning endlessly for those who don’t have a fireplace yet long for the romance of a warm blaze, has been updated.
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In Kenyon, Minn., when a cop says ‘show me your hands,’ he wants to hear a story.
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This afternoon, we’re going to get some specifics on the what the United States will look like under Republican rule.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, seeking to put some definition to the choice in the upcoming elections, will outline his vision in his first major policy speech since taking the job. Read more →
Minnesota is about to reach the point where fewer than half of the state is married. So what? Read more →
I’m fresh out of words for mass murder and yet a blog about the news should say something about the news of the day.
So here’s a picture. Read more →
Two-thirds of all home equity is owned by 55 and older, with a total value of about $8 trillion. They’re not giving it up.
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In mid-October, someone vandalized cars at a Subaru dealership in Sioux Falls.
Neither of the families of the boys responsible could afford the restitution.
So the dealer went in a different direction.
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We all have those times in our lives when we recall a moment in our past and shake our head over our stupidity. If we’re lucky, we don’t have many of them. But we all have them.
Collectively, the nation’s AIDS epidemic is one of them. It wasn’t that long ago when our ignorance, fear, and lack of compassion conspired to condemn thousands of people. Read more →