Bob CollinsAre they pork or needed projects?
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.
The fall of Denny Hecker
Has Target Field changed minds, remembering Jack Agnew, is TV news part of law enforcement, a Wisconsin prosecutors fight against sex education, and powerline blues.
Thanks to a News Cut reader for sending along this story, which sounds remarkably similar to the story about the 8th grader in Hastings, who was adopted from an orphanage in Russia and this week attempted to shoot up his school. The Star Tribune today reported his adoptive parents tried to warn Dakota County authorities Read more →
1) A great job of reporting by the Star Tribune leads the news this morning. It’s the story of the kid in Hastings who pulled a gun in school this week. It could’ve been a massive tragedy had he not loaded the wrong ammunition. This young man was adopted from Russia. The parents gave up Read more →
Martin Lackner, a Minneapolis native, wasn’t around to hear about the 50-year sentence handed to Tom Petters today. He killed himself last year, not long before the head of the hedge fund where he worked was indicted on charges he helped Petters carry out his multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. Lackner’s suicide — he hanged himself Read more →
In the big scheme of things — no pun intended — Tom Petters got off light. Petters was sentenced today to 50 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $3.5 billion. Was it a fair sentence? Who’s to say? There is a lot that goes into calculating sentences, including Read more →
1) Why do teams want new baseball stadiums? To make it more expensive for fans to go to baseball games. Team Marketing Report has released its annual index of average ticket prices, and has found the average price of a ticket at Target Field is 45-percent more than the average price at the Metrodome. That’s Read more →
Did you pay any federal income tax from the in 2009. If you did, you’re very close to being in the minority, according to a new report from the Tax Policy Center. The Associated Press combines that statistic with another report to conclude: The result is a tax system that exempts almost half the country Read more →
Is this City Pages ad for a Twin Cities jewelry store offensive? It’s got the marketing community buzzing today. The company also denying any responsibility, according to a statement posted on its Facebook page. Thank you to everyone who commented on our recent City Pages Ad. We take your comments very seriously and are taking Read more →
How bloggers amplified a non-story about Amy Klobuchar and the Supreme Court to story status.
The Star Tribune today reported that 273 buildings in the city have not been inspected for fire-code violations for at least five years. The story was spawned by last week’s tragic fire in the city in which six people died. That building had not been inspected since at least 1994. “We need an expose from Read more →