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.
In my absence over the next few days, perhaps you’d like to help keep things “fresh” on NewsCut, as some regular readers have. Just send me things you stumble across that fit the NewsCut vibe — that is: things that are a little off the beaten path, have the faint aroma of news, and get the rest of us to think a little bit.
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Bob Dylan has had a cult-like following ever since he figured out how to get out of Minnesota. Now, however, he has a cult literally following him.
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News of former Sen. Grams in hospice rekindles memories of Minn. politics Read more →
Caring about the suicide of Ariel Castro only adds to the misery he wrought on humanity. Read more →
Less work and more play, in defense of the gamers, banishing parade squatters, idiocy in the news, and teaching cancer to cry. Read more →
A federal jury has ruled that the “N word” is offensive no matter who says it. A federal jury in New York found the use of the word in the workplace is never acceptable, even when used between black coworkers and even when it’s intended to denote “friendship or endearment.” To emphasize its point, the Read more →
It’s hard to remember the last time a national issue in the United States didn’t break down along party lines. The Syria question is an exception.
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Diana Nyad’s journey from rape, the end of NPR ‘thank you’s,’ why don’t people still know what PTSD is, a home for a quilt, and a return to Herman. Read more →
Most of us love football. It’s the national pastime. If someone ends up with Alzheimer’s, or shoots themselves (in the chest, of course, so their brain can still be studied), it’s a price we’re willing to have someone else pay. “They knew what they were getting into,” we’ll tell ourselves,except when the kids grab their helmets and equipment, and ask for a ride to the nearest field on a Saturday morning.
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There aren’t as many farm families as there once were in Minnesota, so in rural county fairs, the competition is more focused. Read more →
Northern Minnesota used to be pretty much tornado-proof. Now? Not so much. Read more →
Devotion over decades is what marriage is all about. Read more →
On Sunday (12-1 p.m.), I’ll be hosting a Q&A at the MPR booth at the State Fair with Chris Worthington, the managing director of regional news at Minnesota Public Radio. To my knowledge, the event is not being broadcast, you can’t call in with a question. If you’re not going to the Fair on Sunday, Read more →
Our guy Collins is scavenger hunt fodder. Read more →
Like other disasters before it, the Yosemite Rim Fire is providing some tremendous beauty in photographs and video.
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Bob Collins