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.
From all accounts Mitchell Casado can fly an airplane. He’s also pretty good at explaining how airplanes fly, seeing as how he’s been CNN’s go-to explainer since the Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared last month.
There’s just this one problem that got him fired from his job: He dresses like a slob, his former employer says. Read more →
Last night’s final game of the season, in which the Timberwolves booted an opportunity to finish with the first non-losing season since 2004-05, was a fitting conclusion. Read more →
Golden Valley-based General Mills has inserted the fine print on its website that takes away your right to sue the conglomerate if you’ve downloaded coupons, joined its Facebook page or entered any contest.
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It didn’t take long for the soap opera to begin in Mankato, where former coach Todd Hoffner began his second term as coach of the team today. Read more →
Nobody loses money owning a professional sports team. The latest exhibit A is Herb Kohl, owner of the Milwaukee Bucks. Read more →
On the whole, Taylor sounded themes of ownership restraint in the article. But it’s clear it’s not a good time to be an old reporter at the Star Tribune. Read more →
A Woodbury family, concerned the man who killed their daughter would be paroled, can rest easier.
Tony Roman Nose, who was 17 when he stabbed and raped 18-year-old Jolene Stuedemann in her home in 2000, will not be getting out of prison ever, the divided Minnesota Supreme Court ruled today. Read more →
A man in Iowa is fuming because his daughters are no longer allowed to shoot at their favorite gun range. Read more →
Minnesota has a hard time keeping kids in school. In the state’s largest district, only about half of the students graduate. That’s not going to cut it. Ever. That’s simply raising the next generation of poverty and joblessness.
So a story on NPR this morning raises this interesting question: What if college was free? Read more →
The College Board today is releasing new guidelines for the vocabulary portion of its test, which many high schoolers have to take to prove to colleges and universities that they are worthy. Gone are the days of memorizing words and definitions. Context is in. Time.com says the emphasis will now be on Tier 2 words. Read more →
That Todd Hoffner has decided to take his old Minnesota State Mankato football job back shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s followed the story since he was accused of child pornography for using his state-owned cellphone to take bath time videos of his children. Everything about the case has been a head-scratcher from the start. Read more →
On this day in 1947, Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier. It’s a sad day to roll out this report, however. Hank Aaron told USA Today recently about the hate mail he got while he was pursuing Babe Ruth’s home run record. “We can talk about baseball. Talk about politics. Sure, this country Read more →
You could probably spend a couple of hours on the Boston Globe’s web site today, just mousing over this photo of survivors and helpers who were at the Boston Marathon finish line a year ago today Read more →
Suddenly, baseball has a new drug problem, and it’s making performance enhancing drugs look small time. Read more →
Wisconsin B-17 veterans unite for a last flight. Read more →
Bob Collins