Bob Collins
The local food shelf might appreciate it if we were all better at math. Gavin Thompson is good at math, so the Ottawa mathematician has taken $150 and turned it into $1,500 worth of donations.
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MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
People doing good
If you’ve lived through a few winters, maybe the Arctic blast and a half-inch of snow wreaking havoc on a morning commute in the Minneapolis St. Paul area as it did today, rates a little bit lower than if you’re a kid from Syria whose home was literally blown from under you. Read more →
When should someone abandon the job he’s paid to do — documenting events, in this case — and put the camera down to pitch in to help? Read more →
Start your day with your daily dose of sweetness. It comes by way of Adam Belz of Minneapolis who writes on his Facebook page about the real kind of Minnesota Nice — the kind you can find at a local business. Read more →
Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Whalen suffered a massive and sudden stroke in Dallas. He couldn’t be saved, but he was kept alive so that his organs could be donated to someone else. Read more →
Somewhere in the Maplewood area is a couple who could’ve taken off with a pouch full of cash, the week’s receipts for a hair stylist who had put it on the roof of his car in a parking lot and got distracted taking care of his young son. Read more →
Not sure about you, but I didn’t quit my job this week so that I could help someone I don’t know.
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These are either the best of times or the worst of times for older men with white beards. For the ‘get off my lawn’ crowd, it’s probably the latter. Read more →
It was a pretty good week to be a member of the Grand Rapids, Minn., police department. When they pulled people over, they got hugs for a change.
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Among the sweetest stories we’ve relayed this year is that of Greta Perske, of Sartell, Minn., and the man who donated bone marrow to her when she was 15. Read more →
Here’s today’s moment of sweetness.
It comes from Kenyon, Minn., police chief Lee Sjolander’s Facebook page, which we told you about yesterday.
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In mid-October, someone vandalized cars at a Subaru dealership in Sioux Falls.
Neither of the families of the boys responsible could afford the restitution.
So the dealer went in a different direction.
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A movement that has been growing in parts of the U.S. has reached the Iron Range.
People are making or buying hats, scarves, and gloves and then leaving them tied to trees or other public locations for people to take if they need them.
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A pitcher for the Oakland A’s and his girlfriend showed a proper response to the fear whipped up by politicians looking for some cheap points with fearful voters. Read more →
There are some honest people in Fertile, Minn. Really honest people. Read more →