Bob CollinsIn a blistering op-ed in the New York Times today, a University of Minnesota bioethics professor says the rot that infected an industry-funded anti-psychotic drug study, leading to the suicide of a research subject, extends beyond the department to the administration. 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.
Photographer Craig Blacklock announced in an email today that he’s been recovering from burns he received in a bad electrical fire in November. He said he didn’t say anything before because he wanted to protect his wife, honey, and daughter, Charis. And he wasn’t sure how the recovery was going to go. Read more →
Accompanying the usual Memorial Day observances these days is an increasing criticism that Americans are not paying enough attention to the sacrifices of the military. Writing in today’s New York Times, op-ed columnist Charles Blow gives voice to the tension that arises on days like Memorial Day — is it really possible to properly observe Read more →
With any luck, this is the story people will tell about Randy Moss instead of that one about the parking enforcement officer in Minneapolis. Read more →
In my idealistic world, it’s hard to believe that a journalist would be stupid enough to donate money to a politics-based organization, but Judy Woodruff was just that stupid. Read more →
We have limitless admiration today for the family of Clay Shephard, whose obituary in the Raleigh News and Observer this week was an honest assessment of his death. He died from a drug overdose.
Read more →
University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler today pretty much said tuition at the University of Minnesota will increase because a higher education bill isn’t enough to maintain a tuition freeze at the U. “Minnesota students and their families deserve more consideration at a time of significant state budget surplus,” Kaler said in a statement. “We Read more →
The most interesting quote from this week’s Robin Huebner story about a Fargo TV reporter/anchor who was the victim of domestic abuse is this one: ‘She’s the last person you’d ever expect that this would happen to.’
Read more →
I flew the official airplane of Team NewsCut to the Berkshires of Massachusetts on Friday, to attend the wedding of my niece on Saturday.
With the ceremonies out of the way, Sunday was chance to give airplane rides to family members who were so interested, including our grand nieces, two young girls, sharp as whips and destined for great things. Smart, inquisitive, and soaking up what’s around them.
These sorts of things don’t just happen.
Read more →
Gymnastics gives kids coordination , confidence, and strength.
It can do wonders for a town, too.
Read more →
You knew that Savage, Minnesota was a shipbuilding port during World War II, right? Me, neither. Read more →
Mary Steiner specialized in listening and transformed from a full-time author and editor, to full-time humanitarian, raising money to form a grassroots organization — Give Us Wings — which got its name because she was listening when someone said ‘it’s nice if you give us money once in awhile, but we need access to information and education. We need wings.’ Read more →
Indeed, at one time, La Crosse was the center of the clown universe. Read more →
Had Joe Plut, the Crosby-born retired English professor, left Minnesota for good, he wouldn’t have become — from all accounts — one of the most beloved people in the Lakes Region. Read more →
If you’ve ever attended a Twins game and sat upstairs behind home plate at the Metrodome, the chances are pretty good that you know Wally Englund, 85, of Richfield. For 14 years he was an usher at the Dome and other sports facilities in the Twin Cities.
But only his wife, a few family members and some season ticket holders who’ve become his close friends over the years know the secret that, until recently, he couldn’t talk about: He is still suffering from his time in the South Pacific during World War II. Read more →