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.
If you’re one of the few remaining Minnesotans who actually likes winter, you’re going to have to grin and bear it for the next few days as weatherpeople struggle to describe an awful temperature in more awful terms. It’ll be sickeningly cold; everyone understands that. So why do weatherpeople work so hard to make it Read more →
There’s a great story behind the life of almost every World War II veteran but relatively few can match that of Bill Overstreet. Overstreet was a P-51 fighter pilot in the European theater. He flew in Chuck Yeager’s unit — the 357th Fighter Group, which shot down more German aircraft than any other unit, based Read more →
The reality for Baby Boomers nearing retirement is most of them know that if they lose their jobs today, they’re done. Read more →
Where are the NFL activists, dispatches from winter, blaming the victim in car crashes, the lack of diversity in fire departments, and what a Fargo teen did for love. Read more →
A body has been discovered in the aftermath of the Cedar Avenue explosion in Minneapolis, an extended conversation on the Chris Kluwe article, and why your dog may be the best compass. Read more →
Long before there was Obamacare, an underpinning of the health care debate in the United States has almost always been that with health care, people won’t use much-more-expensive emergency rooms at hospitals for primary medical care. Read more →
When the NFL season ended last week, it meant punter Chris Kluwe went an entire season without an NFL job (he was cut by Oakland in preseason) for the first time in eight years. Known for eschewing the usual lack of interest in social issues shared by other football players, Kluwe could not have been Read more →
A divided Minnesota Supreme Court today rejected protection for a former security guard who says she was fired in retaliation for filing for unemployment benefits after her hours were cut. Read more →
Could you forgive the person who killed your daughter, how Aaron Gleeman remade himself and discovered Aaron Gleeman, the people we meet every day, the credit card thieves, and nothing is safe in your ice house. Read more →
A quick before-and-after of today’s fire in Minneapolis: Before (via Google Maps) After (via KARE 11) Fire maybe out but MFD continues 2 work in this frigid weather. Should be here thru the night. Latest @10. pic.twitter.com/d4F88RO45Q — Jay Olstad (@jayolstadtv) January 1, 2014
In Johnston, Iowa Jonnie Wright stood by the side of the road on Christmas Eve. A few people stopped to help the apparent homeless man. But when they rolled down their window, he gave them an envelope. Inside was a letter explaining that he wasn’t homeless. And some money.
While the rest of the world says goodbye to a year, a family in Massachusetts said goodbye today to a son and husband, killed in Afghanistan.
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Take the tap test, the challenges of finding someone to take the Vikings’ job, from Antarctica with love, Idle No More v. Mall of America, and how violent is Chicago? About as violent as Minneapolis. Read more →
There’ve been a fair number of news stories lately about the concern over oil trains hauling crude out of North Dakota. This afternoon, the fears were confirmed when a BNSF oil train derailed and exploded near Casselton. We're hearing flames are approaching about 100 feet into the air in that #Casselton derailment pic.twitter.com/fH33THyv05 — Kyle Read more →
Why no kill-switch feature on cell phones to discourage thefts? The companies may soon have to answer to Congress. Read more →
Bob Collins