Bob CollinsHere’s why we’ll be seeing more stories from sad homeowners in the face of rising seas and stronger storms — a government policy that helps them make the same poor decision disaster after disaster. 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.
It’s hard to top the sort of passionate squabbling that accompanies sports teams, but with the Rolling Stones concert tonight, this is one of the few days when old rock fans — and maybe a few young ones — can give the jock talkers a run for their money. Read more →
It’s duckling rescue season. The small fowl aren’t real smart when it comes to storm sewers so they tend to fall in with great regularity. And we’re still a people who will go out of our way to rescue them. Read more →
When you’re 99 years old, a veteran Marine, and you paid your dues to this country, shouldn’t you be allowed to go ‘home’ in your final days?
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We’ve heard weirder rumors than the one that’s been circulating in the Twin Cities in recent days about Wednesday night’s Rolling Stones concert, but we’re hard pressed to recall when.
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It’s been four years and two weeks since a tornado ripped apart north Minneapolis and while there are still homes in need of repair, you might think that viewed from several thousand feet, you wouldn’t know a tornado dropped down on the city.
But that notion was dispelled when Reddit user AcerRubrum posted this image this afternoon on his/her flight into Minneapolis. Read more →
We’re pretty much at a complete loss to understand a ranking of baseball cities today that brings Minneapolis in at #10.
It’s not that we’re not convinced Minneapolis is the 10th-best city in America in which to be a baseball fan — although we’re not. It’s just that there are some entries in the survey that make us question its methodology Read more →
In a small town Minnesota, is it better to have a police chief that’s locally grown or one from out of town? Read more →
In Orange County, Texas, police Lt. Eric Ellison had the worst job any cop can have: He had to tell Kazzie Portie, 18, that his parents were dead.
Young Kazzie was to graduate from high school last weekend, but now his parents wouldn’t be there to watch him get a diploma.
So Lt. Ellison filled in. Read more →
In a state where getting an umlaut added to a road sign required gubernatorial intervention, it’s unlikely the idea will work here but a movement is growing to appeal to drivers’ hearts to get them to pay attention and stop killing people. Read more →
There’s certainly a debate to be had over whether the Gaia Democratic School, a private school in Minneapolis, should’ve taken kids in a sex education class to the Smitten Kitten on Lyndale Ave., which calls itself a ‘progressive sex toy store.’ Read more →
The FBI confirmed to the Associated Press that the flights, which operate without a judge’s order, are being used for “ongoing investigations” and the companies that own the aircraft are fronts for the government.
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The extent to which the adults were shamefully using kids to make their point in a beef at last February’s Minnesota state high school dance tournament seems underscored by a decision by the Minnesota State High School League yesterday to award medals anyway to the girls who refused them. They had previously been disqualified because of their display.
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There have been enough of these types of stories lately to declare that society is witnessing a significant shift when it comes to bullying.
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Country radio executive Keith Hill is telling radio programmers at country radio stations that if they want to get better ratings, they need to get female singers off the air.
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