Bob CollinsI’m off today working a super secret assignment. Or, I’m just doing what everyone else in Minnesota seems to be doing during the summer: treating Friday like part of the weekend. 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.
We’ll wait for the website before passing judgement, but color us interested in how people can really take control of their financial lives when their existence in the working world depends on the profiteering whims of someone else. Read more →
A Sports Illustrated reporter has apologized for his assault on women’s sports.
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The King v. Burwell decision pitted Chief Justice John Roberts against Justice Antonin Scalia. Again. Read more →
Let’s get this out of the way at the start: Nobody is going to feel sorry for journalists. They made the choice to get into the business they’re in. We get that. But here’s some breaking news: Journalists feel, which is one of the reasons they got into the business they’re in. They hurt the Read more →
The Federal Aviation Administration has been spent countless hours and probably tens of thousands of dollars trying to come up with rules for owners of quadcopters. There are already some rules in place — you can’t fly near an airport.
That’s not stopping some quadcopter owners. Read more →
The nightly hatch of mayflies is underway in La Crosse, Wis. Read more →
Memo to marketers and brand managers. When you come up with your super-memorable jingle to push your product, make sure it can’t come back to haunt you 40 years later. Read more →
There was no talk of mercy nor forgiveness when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death today for the Boston Marathon bombing. Read more →
We people in Minnesota like to poke fun at our contemporaries to the east, but we have to admit that Wisconsin has a way about life that Minnesota doesn’t. Read more →
Submitted without comment is this absolutely perfect Facebook post from the Duluth Police Department, honoring the opening of a Dunkin’ Donuts store in the city. Read more →
BB’s Pizzaria food truck is fighting the good fight to bring food trucks to the city, which still bans food trucks on public streets. Read more →
Duluth Mayor Don Ness suggested that St. Paul is just trying to be Duluth, and says while St. Paul might produce its share of beer, Duluth has the “ethic” than the capital city lacks.
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Miguel Cabrera and a kid at the game in Cleveland last night teamed up to show us why baseball remains the national pastime.
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We’re going to ease into the daily world of woe today. These things must be handled delicately, you see. We just can’t bring ourselves to start the day by showing you the latest images from Karachi, where people are literally dying in the street from the heat. Read more →