Bob CollinsPrivacy rules are requiring the public to try to piece together the shards of information stemming from an alleged rape in a University of Minnesota dorm last Sunday morning. 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.
South Dakota has had some weird marketing campaigns lately, but maybe they should just turn things over to Rebecca of sunny Vermillion. The way the White House described it today, she’s behind his decision to finally visit the one state in the country he’s never visited. Because who can pass up a state known for Read more →
Last month, while celebrating his eldest son’s birthday, Jeremy Sartain accidentally left the door to his East Side garage open for about an hour. Just long enough for a couple of thieves to steal two of his bikes that were worth more than a combined $13,000.
And because of that theft, kids in the area are going to get their broken bikes working again.
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It’s been awhile since a newspaper’s investigation has caused the nationwide stir that today’s New York Times probe into nail salons had. And with good reason; slave labor isn’t supposed to happen here.
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After several seasons of poor smelt runs, the tiny fish are back in Lake Superior, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports today. That’s a big deal because it’s brought smelt anglers back to the Northland.
Both the smelt and those in search of them only come out at night.
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A bear was stuck in a tree in Duluth yesterday– or maybe it was just fine up there; it’s hard to know unless you’re a bear. Nothing was working to get the bear down. Not even a radio guy dressed up as a bear as part of a shtick for a local radio station.
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Duluth-based Cirrus Aircraft is one of the state’s success stories, especially considering its location. So why are they building a new $15 million facility in Tennessee? Read more →
Today’s lesson that real life is not Hollywood comes from Boston, where Boston Marathon runner Barbara Tatge of Tennessee, on a dare from her daughter, stopped to kiss the first man she saw in Wellesley. Read more →
On this date 45 years ago, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on students at Kent State protesting the war in Vietnam. Four people died. It’s impossible to forget. Read more →
The battle of Berlin ended 70 years ago Saturday with the unconditional surrender of the Nazi garrison in the Reichstag to the Red Army.
Today, Chronos Media, the largest independent film archive in Germany, released this video of life in the city just two months later. Read more →
Be careful what you do at a football game; it might be the first line of your obituary.
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Julio Salazar has struggled with depression for most of his life but it was only a few years ago that he sought help. This week he’s running across Minnesota to raise awareness of mental illness and the availability of that help. Read more →
Three-year-old Evan Tulk and his grandma went to the Minnesota Zoo on Saturday and during a presentation at one of the exhibits, his father, Sgt. Joseph Scott, surprised him
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A New York Times story today reveals the extent to which one’s lot in life is luck — the randomness of where someone is born and raised. Read more →
The news that blues great B.B. King is now in hospice is a painful reminder that when you have a chance to see a legend, don’t miss it.
I’ve been a B.B. King fans for decades, which puts me in the minority of most people in the radio business, judging by the refusal of radio stations to play the blues with any regularity. For some reason, it doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Read more →