Bob CollinsThis time it’s Erhard, Minn., south of Pelican Rapids, Minn., where someone thought a Confederate flag in the Fourth of July parade was the perfect way to promote the local NAPA auto parts store. 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.
You can’t beat a song around the world to start a day. Playing for Change is a movement to connect the world through music. And why not? Nothing else seems to be working.
The video released this week honors the Grateful Dead’s final concert.
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It’s not unusual for airports to report instrument flight conditions, in which it’s legal to take off and land only if a flight is operated under instrumental flight rules. But it is unusual for the conditions to exist on an otherwise sunny day. Read more →
‘He didn’t know what he was doing. He was just being a bear,’ animal collections manager Tony Fisher told the paper. Read more →
We’re seeing the first images of the flooding along the Kinnickinnic River near River Falls, Wis., where almost 7 inches of rain fell early this morning. Read more →
When pianos were placed around St. Paul a few years ago as a public arts project, organizers never got a response like the similar project in Sarasota, Florida.
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Six inches of rainfall in six hours raises this question about life in Minnesota: Would you rather have a foot of snow, freezing temps and a dry basement? Or summertime temperatures, rain, and soggy carpet? Again. Read more →
The people of Wisconsin did themselves proud on a weekend that celebrates freedom and democratic (small ‘D’) values.
They turned aside a Republican attempt to cloak the state’s government in secrecy. Read more →
Forum Communications is a fairly conservative media outlet whose editorials and endorsements have mirrored the tax policies of the Republican Party.
So it wasn’t insignificant yesterday when the company’s editorial in the Fargo Forum acknowledged when it comes to business, Minnesota — long painted as the anti-business state — has it over North Dakota.
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Burt — his real name was Ingram — died over the weekend in the backwoods of Maine where he kept bees to make a living after moving there from New York.
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The man who drove a fire truck festooned with the Confederate flag at a parade in Albert Lea has defended his display in a common manner.
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An acquaintance said ‘You’ve got to see the Madeline Island Fourth of July Parade’ and so we checked it out on Saturday. And he was right; it was the perfect blend of what passes for a patriotic gathering on the quirkiest of the Apostle Islands.
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The plan from a private group to build high-speed passenger rail between St. Paul and Rochester probably isn’t going anywhere. Read more →
Minnesota has its political flaws, to be sure. Most of its important legislation is cut in back-room deals and we find out well after the fact that somehow, someway, an Iron Range lawmaker got a million dollars to replace an outhouse in the middle of nowhere.
Sometimes lawmakers vote for things without having a clue what the impact is and sometimes the impact is tragic, but for the most part their lack of vision is out in the open for most of us to see if we want to take a look. Read more →
It’s mayfly season along the Mississippi River. Hastings officials have turned out the lights at night to try to bring the disgust-o-meter reading down.
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