Bob Collins
Having never had our car towed, we have no idea whether ESPN reporter Britt McHenry’s tirade is typical of life at the impound lot.
We do know this, however: There’s always a camera on you. Always. 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.
Minnesota is getting another test of whether First Amendment rights extend to private functions on public property.
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The Fargo school administrators Thursday rejected a constitutional challenge to their refusal to allow ‘pro-life clubs’ at two high schools. Read more →
Remember a month or so ago when we sports fans had tears in our eyes as Kevin Garnett returned to the hardwood of Target Center?
If you see your colleagues dabbing the eyes this afternoon, it’s because of this: Star Wars is back. Read more →
Like Dunkin’ Donuts, it’s becoming quite the fad to worship at the feet of Minneapolis, even if there’s a fair amount of mythology in the process. The Atlantic seemed to have started the trend a month or so ago when a reporter, without visiting the city, described it as a “miracle,” which it is so Read more →
Joan Cheever has a non-profit food truck and every Tuesday for about a year, she feeds the homeless near a park in San Antonio.
Last week she got a ticket because it’s against city law. Read more →
Every year around this time, journalists — especially ex-newspaper journalists — embrace the survey that shows that theirs is the worst job in America. It’s as good an example of the victim mentality as there is. Read more →
If Paige Lazorenko, 17, of West Fargo, can’t go to her prom, the prom will come to her.
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Yesterday’s gyrocopter flight into the heart of Washington, DC, which illuminated the incompetence of those entrusted to provide air defense over the nation’s capital, has also started a debate in journalism circles around this question: What duty — if any — did a newspaper have to alert authorities? Read more →
When Target Field was built, the Minnesota Twins placed a statue of Calvin Griffith on the plaza. It still doesn’t sit well with some people, the latest of whom is Jack Moore, who writes on Vice Sports that Jackie Robinson day yesterday would have been a good day to tear it down.
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And now let’s pause for a little reminder of why we’re willing to put up with the occasional misery of Minnesota winters.
It’s for Minnesota springs, of course. Read more →
The most outrageous part about the man who landed his gyrocopter undetected on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol today is that the Secret Service knew he was coming, and still didn’t stop him. Douglas Hughes, 61, a mailman by trade, landed his aircraft this afternoon to deliver letters of protest urging campaign finance reform, Read more →
In the aftermath of the great ‘what color is this dress’ debate, the Internet reminded us this week that it is capable of providing viral questions that actually stimulate the brain. Read more →
The latest entry in our collection of public marriage proposals comes from local TV today. Read more →
Jerry Severson of Rochester, who was walking on a bridge crossing the Zumbro River just north of Byron Sunday morning when he saved the lives of two people he didn’t know. Read more →