MPR News Reflections and observations on the news

By Bob Collins

bcollins@mpr.org • @newscut

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.

The price of gasoline

Bob Collins April 25, 2011, 10:09 AM Apr 25, 2011

12

Where does the money we pay for gasoline go?

Derriere diaries (5×8 – 4/25/11)

Bob Collins April 25, 2011, 7:03 AM Apr 25, 2011

6

Time to stand up, the chess race, five myths about religion, Eichten on the tube, and the end of the small medical practice.

With the economy, divorce rebounds too

Bob Collins April 22, 2011, 3:45 PM Apr 22, 2011

Now that the economy is rebounding, more people are shedding their spouses.

Live trivia: The weekly Quiz

Bob Collins April 22, 2011, 12:30 PM Apr 22, 2011

1

This week the News Cut Quiz is a live competition.

Lessons learned while your plane crashes

Bob Collins April 22, 2011, 11:41 AM Apr 22, 2011

1

It’s been more than two years since Flight 1549 ditched in the Hudson River and passenger Ric Elias is telling his side of the story for the first time.

McCain’s Libya gambit

Bob Collins April 22, 2011, 9:26 AM Apr 22, 2011

12

Is Sen. McCain trying to embarrass the White House on the international stage?

A class goodbye

Bob Collins April 22, 2011, 9:03 AM Apr 22, 2011

4

What the staff at KARE 11 did for their long-time boss yesterday was astounding, at least for the normally bunker-mentality world of the media.

Baseball’s babies (5×8 – 4/22/11)

Bob Collins April 22, 2011, 7:08 AM Apr 22, 2011

4

The testosterone tales, the solution to the problem of sleepy controllers, walking away from the green products, the price of killing an endangered bird; and frack, baby, frack!

Protesters on the payroll

Bob Collins April 21, 2011, 3:15 PM Apr 21, 2011

Civil disobedience and protest took a sharp turn in the United States today, when protesters interrupted a speech by Barack Obama to sing about jailed Army Pvt. Bradley Manning.

Owatonna plane crash docket released

Bob Collins April 21, 2011, 1:51 PM Apr 21, 2011

Some previously unreleased photographs of the wreckage show why the NTSB characterized the crash as ‘not survivable.’

No sign of missing Minnesota native in Grand Teton

Bob Collins April 21, 2011, 1:04 PM Apr 21, 2011

There is still no sign of an Afton native, who disappeared (along with a colleague) while skiing in Grand Teton National Park.

Poker vs. online poker

Bob Collins April 21, 2011, 11:16 AM Apr 21, 2011

4

If people are willing to risk losing their money on the Internet, is that a problem?

Surveys and trivia

When presidents dance

Bob Collins April 21, 2011, 10:50 AM Apr 21, 2011

If this were the 1960s, the talk shows would be filled with worry that America is falling behind in the dance race.

What war really looks like (5×8 – 4/21/11)

Bob Collins April 21, 2011, 6:57 AM Apr 21, 2011

12

The people who won’t let us turn away, Oslo flooding by air, when will drivers start slowing down, the pop-top-powered car, and Kevin Love’s big day.

Minnesota native missing near Grand Teton

Bob Collins April 20, 2011, 4:45 PM Apr 20, 2011

1

A Minnesota native and a companion have gone missing while on a trip to climb the Grand Teton.