Count the insults John Oliver delivered on his HBO show last night.
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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.
The paper on the other side of the river is pushing for meters on Grand Ave., in St. Paul, over the objections of businesses on the street. Read more →
Is there anything better than raising a giant pumpkin with a crane and then letting it drop to watch it smash to pieces? Read more →
The competition isn’t that close. Read more →
Wisconsin is the #1 cranberry-growing state in the nation. From the eyes of a drone, it also was the most colorful state in the nation. Read more →
The law is the law, but sometimes the law is lame, too. A Florida woman who was choked in a domestic abuse case was sent to jail for three days because she refused to testify against her attacker.
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If you’re a city slicker and you don’t take a drive to farm country, you’re missing quite a show at this time of the year.
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Minnesota U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen is getting some online love nationwide today for his joke on Instagram. But his idea seems like the most workable plan at the moment. Read more →

Wisconsin is getting some national shaming today for its refusal to make drunk driving a crime when it’s someone’s first offense. Read more →
What kind of country have we become when we can’t even throw gourds anymore? Read more →

Venus, the moon, Mars, and Jupiter are all together in the early morning sky, something that won’t happen again for years. Read more →
The white-linen, polished silver restaurant that’s been in its Minneapolis location for 10 years, is calling it quits. Is Minnesota’s minimum wage increase to blame? Read more →
How’s the view where you work? A small group of craftsmen climbed recently to the top of St. Michael’s Church in Stillwater. The stunning drone video shows it’s not a job for just anybody.
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I had a craving for potato chips today, but there are no chips in the house.
Fortunately, Amazon started its new home-delivery service in the Twin Cities today. Read more →
Here’s what you missed if you lived in that fancy metro area well south of Duluth. Read more →