Bob Collins
Here are the stories, topics, and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. 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.
The Sunday paper ‘outdoors’ section carries an article or column almost every week that laments the threat to the sport of hunting whether it’s the threat to wildlife, the hunting environment, or the lack of young people interested in it.
So, perhaps, Dick’s Sporting Goods testing the idea of getting rid of its hunting gear shouldn’t be all that surprising. Read more →
As we’ve noted before, we are not big fans of the touch screens that have sprouted up at the renovated McDonald’s. We like human contact and, besides, it takes much longer to order through the technology than to simply walk to the counter.
But now some research in the UK has confirmed the wisdom of our disdain. Read more →
We know more about the death of a young mother, whose obituary acknowledged her addiction to opiods. A subsequent lawsuit reveals she sought help, but was instead arrested. Her family says she was denied medical care by police. Read more →
Rob Summerbell has had a goal in life: trying to get you not to take life so seriously. Read more →
For generations, lawmakers have pushed their most important work to the end of the legislative session, resulting in last-minute, late night discussion and votes on huge bills — the stew of smaller bills known as omnibus bills — that legislators don’t really have the time to read before they vote. Read more →
A United Nations report says although men are most likely to be the victims of homicide, women are far more likely to be killed by someone they know, and are most likely to be killed at home. One in five homicides is carried out by someone the victim knows, and the vast majority are women and girls.
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Here are the stories, topics, and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
We strongly favor being hopeful for the future even though there are times when it’s difficult to find it in the day’s news.
One in seven Minnesota drivers has a drunk driving conviction on their record. That seems low, judging by this press release from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which details the folks the police were meeting on the roads over the holiday weekend. Read more →
Washington County, that forgotten metro county, got a little attention today when NPR cited it in its analysis of several suburban areas which are purportedly shifting left. There are lies, damned lies, and statistics, so caution is advised in trying to prove the existence of the shift, particularly when NPR cited only votes for House races. Read more →
We find the story suspect while acknowledging that perhaps McCarthy has changed his ways. First of all: it’s Jacksonville in all of the anecdotes. Jacksonville. Read more →
The U.S. Forest Service has released this video of one gone awry. A couple actually thought putting an explosive — Tannerite — in the middle of a tinder-dry wildland in Arizona was a good idea.
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Stop me if you’ve heard this before. A man from another country flies to an airport, but then is stranded there because the country won’t let him in and he can’t get back. So he lives in the airport — for seven months — until he finally catches a break. Read more →
A performance by the Theater of Public Policy was shut down this month by Enbridge pipeline opponents. Both sides debated the appropriateness of silencing voices, with dueling op-eds in the Star Tribune. Read more →
Jazz, the uniquely American art form, is dying in Duluth in one of the most unique locations: a strip club.
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