Bob CollinsThis probably won’t come as much of a shock to mail carriers, but this is a really lousy time to be a mail carrier, according to a new survey. 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.
By all accounts, there’ll never be another force on the Iron Range like Veda Ponikvar, of Chisholm, who died yesterday at 96. Read more →
Five years ago today, I wrote a little blog post here about this guy, Gabriel Nderitu, an I.T. worker in Kenya who had a passion to fly an airplane he built himself, using only what he learned on the Internet. For a few days, he became the darling of the Internet. Nobody had the heart Read more →
If white men are really interested in supporting diversity in the public space, the very best thing they can do to achieve it, is sit down and be quiet. Read more →
If you don’t have cable TV, the baseball postseason doesn’t exist. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the arm of the sport that controls its media presence, has locked down online access. Even as it advertises its At Bat app to view the playoff games, it’s blacked out many of the games, presumably to protect the rights of the cable TV networks who have purchased them. Read more →
The Timberwolves and Lynx announced today that the Target Center renovation will be delayed again. Times are too good in the construction business so costs have been going up. Read more →
A divided court ruled a blood draw is more invasive than a breath test and so requires a warrant. The decision reins in Minnesota’s law criminalizing suspected DUI drivers who refuse alcohol testing. Read more →
Do you have any “favorite” layoff stories to share? Read more →
The Twitter accounts of Deadspin SB Nation were suspended yesterday after the NFL and other sports leagues complained that GIFs — 6 second animated videos — were being posted.
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The secrecy with which Minnesota United has wandered the landscape looking for a soccer friend has been troubling right from the start. Now, the people in charge of the taxpayer-portion of a deal are climbing into bed and pulling the covers, MPR’s Curtis Gilbert reports today. Read more →
The Rochester City Council last night was supposed to debate whether a family could keep Emil, the domesticated fox.
The debate is moot. Emil is dead. Read more →
There have been so many “thoughts and prayers” extended after tragedies that the words no longer have any meaning, the New York Times’ Mark Leibovich says in the Magazine’s dive into politicians’ (and others’) attempts to get their name out there in the midst of tragedy. Read more →
DFL Chair Ken Martin provided a little how-to in alienating an entire city with his reaction to Jason Lewis’ announcement that he’s entering the race for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, even though he lives in the 4th Congressional District. In this case, Woodbury. Read more →
Do people think the economy is on the rails to ruin because the economy is horrible or because presidential candidates need us to believe it’s running off the rails? Read more →
Nothing makes you feel older than when the baseball players of your childhood die. Read more →