Bob CollinsIt’s farmers vs. anti-ethanol individuals as the Environmental Protection Agency nears a decision on an ethanol mandate. 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.
Neel Kashkari, 42, named today to be the head of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, isn’t entirely like past heads of the Fed around these parts. Here’s a few things to know about the guy.
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There’s no such person as Gil Fulbright, although the group, Represent.Us, contends that they’re everywhere; the financial elites that control politics and the candidates who take their cash. Read more →
We’re delighted to refer you to another piece of history: The day the inimitable T.D. Mischke conducted an interview with a historian, asking all of his questions as Lightfoot. Read more →
The end has come for Daniel Fleetwood, the Star Wars fan who got to see the upcoming The Force Awakens episode as his last wish.
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When students set up a camp to protest racism on campus, they declared their public space a no-media zone, then assaulted reporters who tried to do their job and tell the story. Read more →
It was a breath of fresh air on The Current this afternoon when Mary Lucia returned as afternoon host after a seven-month battle to shed a stalker. Read more →
You’ve probably heard about the ‘controversy’ surrounding Starbucks’ choice of red coffee cups for its holiday season. No mention of Christmas, or Jesus, or whatever else has never been on a Starbucks paper cup at Christmas.
It’s the kind of controversy that plays right into the hands of what fuels the Internet: outrage. Read more →
The chess pieces are moving over at Target Field and some of them are beginning to point to the beginning of the post-Mauer era. Read more →
The Minnesota Vikings coaching staff is shocked by the mentality that delivered what they insist was a cheap shot against quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in yesterday’s game against the St. Louis Rams. Read more →
We’re only two episodes in but the Star Tribune’s series this week — A Matter of Dignity — has already provided some of the most compelling journalism we’ve seen in awhile, as long as you don’t bother reading the comments, which are shamefully hateful even by newspaper comment-section standards.
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It was a good deal for drivers — they got their gas at about 20 cents a gallon less than drivers in the rest of the state — but there was just one problem: the government controls the price of gasoline. Read more →
It’s awfully hard to look up to our leaders when they look like little children. My apologies to any children who were just offended by a comparison to the Grant (Washington County) City Council, which might be suitably embarrassed by what the Pioneer Press says happened at a meeting last week. But Perhaps not.
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Someone in Litchfield might be waiting for an answer. Read more →
A neighborhood holds a second Trick or Treat to honor a young man who missed the first one because he had a seizure. Read more →