Bob Collins
The latest fence jumper may put the White House farther out of Americans’ daily view. 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 been almost 25 years since Ryan White died. He was the Kokomo, Indiana teen who was shunned by his school — expelled from middle school — after it was revealed he became infected with HIV from a contaminated blood treatment. We’ve come a long way from our ignorance then. Read more →
When Kyle Bradford tried to share his school lunch with a friend who didn’t like the cheese sandwich the cafeteria gave him, he became a school scofflaw and got detention. Read more →
One of these days we’re going to have to calculate the impact — if any — a hockey ad makes in Minnesota. Is it, for example, as big a boost as a Scandanavian name?
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In the nick of time, a third season of ‘It’s Aaron’ has debuted.
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To protect a dog, a Texas A&M cadet through the best block of the day in college football. Read more →
A guy without a leg walking the Appalachian Trail inspires a guy who paddles a canoe the length of the Mississippi River, who inspires a guy to get in an airplane and fly to Point B. Read more →
That’s the question to debate in the wake of Minneapolis police chief Janeé Harteau’s decision to pull out of a ‘listening session’ last night to address concerns by people of color in the city. Read more →
The Wild suspended goaltender Josh Harding, the feel-good story around here for a time last year when he came back after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Read more →
What on earth is being taught in history and civics classes? Apparently it’s neither history nor civics.
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What have you got against people killed by drunk drivers, Wisconsin? Read more →
Fall is a time of melancholy.
Baseball, which has never looked better, is ending.
And with it goes Derek Jeter. So Gatorade has put out one more Jeter-themed ad today, aimed straight at the feels. Read more →
If the United States ever thinks it needs something more to be outraged about, it always has the one thing it’s ignored for generations: the treatment of Native Americans. Read more →
Over the years, Minneapolis Rep. Phyllis Kahn has elicited a few guffaws with her occasional bill to lower the voting age in Minnesota to 16. Maybe it’s time for Scotland to be our guide. Read more →
It could be a cold winter for people who heat their homes with firewood. There isn’t any. Read more →