Bob Collins
The theater surrounding executions is particularly gruesome in which reporters who are invited to watch, come out later and tell us things we’re not really sure we want to know. 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.
With little fanfare this week, science revealed the answer to a mystery of life that has bedeviled humankind: Why on earth can’t you break a handful of spaghetti in half without it splintering into multiple pieces? Read more →
West Central Tribune publisher Steve Ammermann wrote in his letter to readers today that one of the reasons is the increasing cost of newsprint because of tariffs in the current trade wars.
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The romantic image of small-town America is getting a makeover. Kenyon, Minn., woke up this morning to a new reality. Read more →
True to our mission to provide glimpses into the daily lives of people who don’t make the news, we provide these nuggets from this week’s conservation officer reports filed with the Department of Natural Resources. Read more →
KARE 11 reports an immigrant from Ecuador, who raised enough money to buy her own ice cream truck, was attacked at a park in northeast Minneapolis last month by a person who slashed the tires on the business. “Said we were illegal and that we were parked illegally and that we were illegal and he Read more →
We have a fondness for people who try to travel from one end of the country to the other just because they can. Take Scott Schlepp, of Ashley, N.D., who bought a couple of draft horses to get a better view of things. This is his view: Posted by Scott Schlepp on Friday, August 10, Read more →
Increasingly, elections aren’t just confined to Election Day. They’re held in the supermarket and liquor stores when people penalize or reward companies for their role in the political debate of the day.
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Here are the stories, topics, and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
A survey finds that half of pedestrians and drivers don’t know when cyclists have the right of way, and that bicyclists overestimate drivers’ awareness of their hand signals. Read more →
Quick update to the ongoing analysis of NPR’s decision to provide an interview with Jason Kessler on Friday, the leader of last year’s violent march by white supremacists and this year’s fizzled march on Washington.
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Kay Krause, 100, has attended ever Wisconsin State Fair for the last 80 years. And for the last 25, she’s attended each day. The streak was sure to end this year, however. Read more →
Whalen deserves her spot as one of the most beloved athletes in Minnesota history, not just for her achievements, but because it was obvious she had a compass. Read more →
Could a non-basketball-playing person make the same shot armed with only the physical calculations to make it?
Science says yes. Read more →
NPR isn’t giving any ground to critics of last Friday’s interview with a white supremacist, during which the Morning Edition host allowed Jason Kessler to theorize on the differences in IQ between whites and people of color. Read more →