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NewsCut

MPR News Reflections and observations on the news

By Bob Collins

Bob Collins
bcollins@mpr.org • @newscut

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.

Crime and Justice

Editorial: To save lions, you have to kill them

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 30, 2015, 7:38 AM Jul 30, 2015
11

Big-game hunting is a good thing, the Star Tribune editorial board concludes today, saying that fact is the story that’s not getting any attention in the outrage over Walter Palmer’s alleged slaughter of a lion in Zimbabwe.
Read more →

Sports

Trade ‘SNAFU’ shows there is crying in baseball

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 30, 2015, 6:43 AM Jul 30, 2015
7

It was torture last night watching Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores crying on the field after learning he was being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for former Twin Carlos Gomez. But is it an example of social media running with false rumors?
Read more →

Crime and Justice

A letter from Walter Palmer, the man who shot Cecil

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 29, 2015, 1:22 PM Jul 29, 2015
75

Walter Palmer, the dentist who shot a lion in Zimbabwe, igniting a worldwide firestorm, has penned a letter to his practice’s patients. Read more →

Crime and Justice

The Great Carport Uprising of 2015 underway in Burnsville

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 29, 2015, 11:21 AM Jul 29, 2015
11

They’re coming for your carports, Burnsville! Read more →

Crime and Justice

Minnesota dentist made Jimmy Kimmel cry

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 29, 2015, 9:05 AM Jul 29, 2015
10

Jimmy Kimmel is no fan of Walter Palmer. Read more →

Economy

Should taxpayers bail out Lake Mille Lacs resorts?

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 29, 2015, 7:42 AM Jul 29, 2015
103

There are several elements to the story worthy of discussion: Can the future of the lake and the present of the lake co-exist anymore? What other business deserves a state bailout?
Read more →

Arts & Culture

Streaming media: Where the creativity goes to thrive

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 29, 2015, 6:33 AM Jul 29, 2015
14

NPR’s Linda Holmes, who writes the Monkey See blog on popular culture, has found her way — sort of — into the percolating podcast v. radio debate with her latest post about a TV show. Read more →

Poor training cited in Wisconsin skydivers midair collision

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 28, 2015, 4:31 PM Jul 28, 2015
6

The NTSB cited the lack of guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration on how pilots should fly formation flights with skydivers. Consequently, the NTSB said, the owner of the skydiving company ‘did not provide its pilots skydiving formation flight training, and it did not keep records of pilot training nor was it required to do so by the FAA.’ Read more →

Is a safe bike ride too much to ask?

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 28, 2015, 1:24 PM Jul 28, 2015
23

For many bicylists, this is rather a typical day in the life Read more →

Sports

At baseball game, kids prove they’re alright

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 28, 2015, 10:50 AM Jul 28, 2015
5

The unwritten rule of catching a baseball at a game is this: Give it to a kid. Period. End of discussion. Read more →

Crime and Justice

Report: Minnesota dentist shot Cecil the lion

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 28, 2015, 8:38 AM Jul 28, 2015
110

Cecil the lion was a pretty big deal in Zimbabwe. The 13-year-old lion was a major tourist attraction at Zimbabwe’s famous Hwange National Park, according to the BBC.

The lion was shot with a crossbow and — after hours of suffering — a rifle, before being beheaded and skinned.

The killer had bribed wildlife guards.
Read more →

Arts & Culture

Politico: Jon Stewart in Oval Office meetings

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 28, 2015, 7:29 AM Jul 28, 2015
4

In his final days as host of the Daily Show, Jon Stewart’s reputation as the Walter Cronkite of a younger generation is getting new review.
Read more →

Woman with no arms finds a fan in St. Paul girl

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 27, 2015, 3:41 PM Jul 27, 2015
2

Jessica Cox, 32, was born without arms as a result of a rare birth defect. She’s earned a college degree, two martial arts black belts, drives a car and, flies an airplane anyway. Read more →

Sports

Seimone Augustus on her marriage

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 27, 2015, 1:57 PM Jul 27, 2015
3

‘I found my place on the team and in the city very quickly. When you’re happy with your career and your environment, but most importantly, with yourself — when you’re your authentic self every single day, without shame — life sort of falls into place,’ she writes. And it did for her, she says, when she met the woman who recently became her wife. Read more →

Crime and Justice

MN Appeals Court rejects challenge to required DUI test

Bob CollinsBob Collins July 27, 2015, 12:29 PM Jul 27, 2015
0

The Minnesota Court of Appeals is running out of ways to say it: It’s not unconstitutional to impose a criminal penalty on someone who refuses to take a breath test when stopped for suspicion of drunk driving.
Read more →

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