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.
For minutes of cubicle fun, today’s recommendation goes to Don’t Fly Drones Here, a website that shows where you can fly your quadcopter, to be more accurate in terms. Take the Minneapolis Saint Paul area, for example. As colleague, Scott Olstad points out, he could fly his quadcopter over NE Minneapolis, but not over Saint Read more →
Rochester is the Minnesota city is the only metropolitan area in the north to make the top-10 list of happiest cities. Read more →
If there is such a thing as a “magical parenting formula,” perhaps Kou Moua and Zaaj Thao know it. The Pioneer Press profiles the couple, who came here years ago unable to even speak English, have the two most recent valedictorians at Saint Paul’s Johnson High School, and two younger children are in the running Read more →
An astronaut’s camera captures death, not tranquility, over Earth. Read more →
Ask the AP about the importance of commas when tweeting about Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Read more →
With almost no publicity outside of the Boston area, there’s a fascinating showdown taking place between grocery store workers and their corporate overlords. Read more →
The men of Minneapolis — some of them, anyway — are getting international attention for their Neanderthal ways. A Minneapolis woman — identified as 28-year-old Lindsey — has been filming men who catcall. It’s not pretty. “I am genuinely interested in what place this is coming from,” she tells Buzzfeed. She created Cards Against Harassment, Read more →
If you want a great example of how a pro athlete can be a proper role model for kids, look no further than the scene around Target Center last evening. The Lynx are the home team but it was the Atlanta Dream who seemed to be the team of choice for many of the fans, Read more →
McDonald’s, showing a rather odd mastery of the art of public relations, has fired the South Carolina single mother who was sent to jail because she let her daughter play in a nearby park while she worked at the fast-food restaurant. Read more →
The Moorhead City Council has had a change of heart — sort of — in its opposition to housing for the homeless in the city. This week the Council rescinded its resolution, passed last week, opposing an apartment complex for the previously homeless, the Fargo Forum reports. “We don’t have input necessarily on our destination, Read more →
A Minneapolis man and his two kids were thrown off a Southwest Airlines flight from Denver to Minneapolis on Sunday because he tweeted his displeasure that the two kids weren’t allowed to “priority board” with him. “In leaving I said, you know, ‘Real nice way to treat an A-list. I’ll be sure to tweet about Read more →
A little warm for you, is it? Here. This will help.
A suburban signpost spreads a little love. Read more →
As you slip on dead mayflies over the next few days, try to remember that it’s indicative of a river’s health. The annual massive mayfly hatch on the Mississippi is finally underway, a little later than usual. Read more →
Chris Kluwe is finished in this town. Don't worry folks, you'll know when I'm on tilt. The Vikings clearly think turning this dirty will scare me off. Says all you need to know. — Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) July 19, 2014 The former Minnesota Viking punter, who became a folk hero during the debate over an Read more →
Bob Collins