Bob Collins
In Idaho, Harley Brown is running for governor. The perennial candidate stole the show at this week’s GOP gubernatorial debate.
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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.
Vikings and/or Chris Kluwe fans will be playing the ‘Guess the Uncooperative Person’ game today as the probe continues into whether the former Vikings punter lost his job because of his outspoken views on same-sex marriage. Read more →
Don’t you just hate it when you stick $40,000 in your couch and you forget you put it there? Read more →
Each speaker tried the impossible today: finding the rhetoric to describe meaning to the day two planes destroyed the icons of American financial power in the world. But words seemed to fail them all. Things don’t fail, however. The red bandanna Welles Crowther used to protect himself while he helped people out of the buildings and which was later used to identify his body. There are wallets and shoes that are now part of the museum. Read more →
Pam Whitfield, profiled on NewsCut a few years ago, has a way about her that allows her to reach students that other teachers and professors can’t.
But she can’t reach — or save — them all, she writes in an article this week for Insider Higher Ed. Read more →
The experts say there’s no way the Minnesota Twins could’ve known David Ortiz would become a feared hitter. They’re wrong. Read more →
Someone’s son, daughter, wife, husband, brother, and/or sister is going to work in California today, risking their lives to rescue people caught by the terrible wildfire north of San Diego. It’s what they do.
The fire is already a tragedy that could be made much worse because of people like this. Read more →
Isaac Kolstad, beaten nearly to death outside a Mankato bar last weekend, remains in a coma. Philip Nelson, the former University of Minnesota quarterback, is facing up to 25 years in prison. Both men’s lives will never been the same.
Was it racist of me to point that last part out? Read more →
The New York Times is in the eye of the hurricane in the storm over the different treatment of women in the workplace compared to male counterparts.
The Times fired its editor, Jill Abramson, today, replacing the first woman to hold the job with the first African American to have it. Read more →
Someone in Minnesota knows something about a mysterious letter sent in World War II. Step forward!
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Here’s a nice thought from Mankato today, where students at Mankato East High School lined up to show support for former player Isaac Kolstad, who was beaten into a coma at a Mankato bar over the weekend. Read more →
These are not happy times for Team Target at the headquarters in Minneapolis. The company’s chief marketing officer this week responded to an unhappy team member. Read more →
Smith College is the latest institution of higher learning that didn’t want to listen to someone with whom they disagree. Read more →
Among the elements of our society, few are more despicable than scrap-metal thieves. The Rochester Post Bulletin reports they’ve been hitting cemeteries hard recently, and a particular target is veterans cemeteries because of the brass and copper markers that denote a veteran’s service and hold a small flag. “It’s sacrilegious,” said former Marine Bernie Melter, Read more →
You know you’ve made it, Minneapolis, when the New York Times turns to you for fashion advice. Read more →