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.
The mission was clear: Quickly get to know a Litchfield resident I’d never met before, figure out a way to get into the passenger seat of his airplane on one particular Sunday when he might not be interested in flying and coordinate an air rendezvous with a refurbished 1963 Debonair airplane at which time Steve Lagergren, 43, would be told he had won the airplane.
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Early in the summer, I was driving the back way from Hibbing when I stumbled across Kalavela, MN., and, in particular, this church, which was built in 1915.
It was a delight to explore and I wrote about it here, imagining this place as the center of town and retracing the steps of Finnish pioneers.
Or maybe not.
We heard this week from Owen Gaard, who calls Soldotna, Alaska home now. Read more →
The New York Times’ Michael Powell makes Minnesotans look like suckers in his I-had-to-see-for-myself column in his newspaper today. Powell visited Minneapolis to see the taxpayer-funded palace being built for Zygi Wilf and his Minnesota Vikings. There’s not a lot of “new” in the column — the Vikings put one over on Gov. Dayton by Read more →
Bangladeshi commuters board a train as they rush home to be with their families in remote villages, ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. Read more →
Political campaigns make otherwise reasonable people go over the edge.
The latest example surrounds Michelle Obama’s campaign visit to Milwaukee this week in support of Mary Burke, who is trying to unseat incumbent Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
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Cropdusting is as good of an aerial show as you’ll find in rural Minnesota but it’s gotten more dangerous as cellphone towers and wind turbines sprout from the land.
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The Ebola outbreak, which has spread to the United States by way of a man in Dallas, is likely to test the power of the government to force us to stay inside our homes.
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Eric Holthaus stopped flying and started taking the scenic route. Did he really help save the environment? Read more →
In Corona, California, firefighters rescued a man yesterday, known only as Willy G, when he became dizzy while mowing his lawn. Read more →
Forbes tells the story of a Minnesota woman who went into debt to be a lawyer, and likely will never recover. Read more →
Whether things are going good or bad, it’s still an amazing planet.
A couple of images drive this home today.
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In the world of great athletes, Krystal Niu probably doesn’t ring a bell. Unless you’re an NBA fan, perhaps even Red Panda doesn’t register.
But which of the world’s great athletes that you do know can ride a unicycle with one foot, while using the other foot to toss bowls on top of your head? Read more →
Jerrie Mock was 38 when she took off from Columbus, Ohio, in 1964, two days after another woman tried to follow Amelia Earhart. Read more →
His batting-title days are over, and he won’t hit home runs. In short, the Joe Mauer of the future is — at best — the Joe Mauer of the present. Read more →
NASA wins the Internet today for posting a picture showing fall colors visible from space. Read more →
Bob Collins