Bob Collins
A school in Grand Junction, Colorado has determined that a little common sense still has a role in educating kids. 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.
Judging by the reports from Fort Meyers, the Minnesota Twins better get their laughs in while things are still funny. Read more →
While MNsure says it has exceeded its goals, it’s still far short of its original goals. Read more →
Barkhad Abdi, the Minneapolis resident who played the pivotal role in Captain Phillips, has some explaining to do with Customs officials. Read more →
Bemidji can’t have nice things, apparently. Busby Big Buck has been stolen, the Bemidji Pioneer reports. Busby is the fairly iconic deer sculpture that graces the entrance to the Bemidji Woolen Mills. Bill Batchelder, the owner of the firm, says the theft of the life-sized statue probably happened overnight on Thursday. Batchelder said the nearly Read more →
Steals may be a bigger part of the game that is generally believed, a FiveThirtyEight statistician says. If true, it means Ricky Rubio is as elite as Kevin Love. Read more →
That’s some rock-solid security they’ve got at the new World Trade Center in New York. A group of base jumpers successfully got into the new skyscraper and jumped off it. One of the jumpers, James Brady, is a former ironworker on the building. It actually happened last September but police were unable to figure out Read more →
One of the great mysteries (for now) of aviation is how a talented pilot who can do this, flies into the side of a mountain while merely piloting a plane to another destination. Read more →
Three Coast Guard ice breakers arrived in Duluth yesterday, sailing under the Aerial Lift Bridge in the closest sign of spring that we get around here anymore. Read more →
Joe Mueller was in the right spot at a bad time today when a series of collisions closed the westbound lanes of the Mendota Bridge during a snowstorm. He was able to film the crashes that involved an estimated 60 vehicles. Read more →
Some years ago, the Star Tribune sports department decided to stop using team nicknames that people might find offensive. Out were the ‘Indians’ and ‘Redskins,’ for example, and in was ‘the team from Cleveland’ or the ‘team from Washington.’
It lasted for about a season and then the policy quietly disappeared.
Should NPR consider following suit? Read more →
With college tournaments well underway, we’ve reached the usual point in the winter sports season where people point out the obvious: Women’s sports aren’t getting anywhere near the attention of the men. Read more →
With a little time to reflect on his journey, he’s been featured in this just-released TEDx talk at Florida State. Read more →
At Fond du Lac (Wis.) High School last month, student journalist Tanvi Kumar’s article about the student body’s casual attitude toward rape included three victims of sexual assault at the school, a visit to an an abuse treatment center, and included evidence which she said showed the blame-the-victim culture. Read more →
Nicolas Foubert spent almost two years traveling the world. But he didn’t want to miss his sister’s birthday. Read more →