Hardee’s has reportedly apologized to a police officer in Milaca, Minn., after a cook refused to make any food for her because she’s a cop, the West Central Tribune says.
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MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
By Bob Collins
bcollins@mpr.org • @newscutBob 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.

What should the U.S. do about Afghanistan? I don’t know. Read more →
If it becomes law, it’ll be over the strident objection of the Star Tribune, which ran a lengthy editorial today against the city’s involvement in private business. That’s a notable adversary, considering the generally left-leaning principles of the editorial board. Read more →

Mary Norris’ job at the New Yorker includes pulling out the two spaces that some people leave after a period, leaving one, an issue that tears newsrooms and offices apart.
Who would do such a thing? Read more →

Showtime’s ‘Homeland’ has long been criticized for Islamophobic stereotypes. ‘In just a few steps, the show has neatly stitched together all the current bogeymen of U.S. foreign policy,’ filmmaker Laura Durkay said last year as the show got more and more critical acclaim from the Hollywood press.
Now, a group of street artists, including a former Minnesota college student, has exacted some revenge. Read more →

Lies, damned lies and statistics. Once a month, Benjamin Disraeli’s characterization of the power of numbers is on display when economists release unemployment figures. Read more →
Vincent will close at the end of the year after a 14-year run.
Chef Vincent Francoual says he wants to try something new. Read more →

‘Everybody was saying stuff that they didn’t know.’
That right there is the kind of keen insight about social media that only a 12-year-old can deliver. Read more →

The young man — Oscar Wood, 9 — went to yesterday’s deciding American League Divisional Series dressed as his favorite player, Jose Batista. Read more →
There are currently about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan.
How does this compare with other countries where U.S. troops are deployed? Read more →
The City Council last night voted to reconsider the resolution, which it had previously adopted. Read more →
Lincoln Chafee probably isn’t going to become president of the United States and Lincoln Chafee probably knows that. Read more →
The owner of a film production company in Seattle wanted to shame school administrators and politicians after he saw a story that parents at a school were trying to raise $90,000 to save a first-grade teacher’s job. Read more →
The Minnesota Supreme Court today removed a judge from a district court after it found that he had violated the rules that require a judge to live in the district in which he serves. From January to June of last year, he lived outside of Anoka. Filing an affadavit that you know is wrong is Read more →
In suburban Columbus, Ohio, a church ordered a pizza during a service and when the delivery person delivered it, the pastor asked her what was the largest tip she’d ever received.
Told it was $10, he delivered this. Read more →