Bob CollinsPeople who showed showed up Ruby’s Pantry signed in and paid the usual $20 for about $120 of food. Then something lovely and unusual happened just before they left. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
People doing good
Shane Paulsen, of Devil’s Lake, N.D., has been dreading Dec. 2. It was the one-year anniversary of the day he woke up to a gunshot at 7 a.m. His daughter, Madissen, 11, had taken her own life. A few weeks later, her best friend, also 11, took hers, too. Read more →
Rob Summerbell has had a goal in life: trying to get you not to take life so seriously. Read more →
The crew was dropping water on the so-called Woolsey Fire earlier this month when it got a call to rescue people trapped on a mountain top. Read more →
James Dobson, 32, set out to ride his recumbent bicycle from New Hampshire to San Diego on what he called his “Positive Vibes Tour.” His goal? Raise money to help kids with cancer.
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‘Don’t Cry, I’m Here’ welcomes refugees to the area by giving the children culturally sensitive dolls, ‘Buddy Bears’, and/or teen gift bags upon their arrival. But fewer are arriving now so the group is expanding to a more welcoming nation. Read more →
Allyn Pierce is just the kind of hero America has been looking for. It’s a shame that it took the California wildfire to shine a light on and the hundreds of others being created daily in the horrific disaster that’s still unfolding. Read more →
Here’s your daily dose of sweetness: Brenda Buurstra, a nurse in Kalamazoo, Mich., says she sings to patients all the time; it’s just that the video that someone took of her the other day is the first time she “got caught.” Roberta Lytle — that’s her dad in the bed — is the one who Read more →
We suspect by now someone has started a GoFundMe page to raise money as a reward for a guy who makes a living at a pizza shop pizza. Good. Dalton Shaffer deserves every dime. Read more →
An 81-year-old Madison, Wis., man was missing after his car was found in a slough. On Monday, 75 volunteers showed up to find him. As near as we can tell, nobody cared who voted for whom. Read more →
Watch enough episodes of “Cops” and you learn that when an officer walks up to a guy who’s out of his car and by the curb, it almost never ends well. This time it did.
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Jackson McKie, 8, of Prince Edward Island, was having some surgery last week to replace a shunt as part of his treatment for hydrocephalus. So he had his stuffed animal along because you know how 8-year-olds are about having an operation, right?
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CK Food & Fuel, at 48th and Nicollet is a frequent stop for Washburn High School students in Minneapolis, KARE 11 says. They’re pretty big fans of Martin Onuh, too.
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In this day and age of a widening gap between the haves and have nots, you’re either doing something, or you’re doing nothing.
The growing homeless camp along Minnehaha Avenue in Minneapolis is a monument to people doing nothing. Read more →
Bob Williams, 94, of Long Grove, Iowa, was struck years ago by the ‘pay it forward’ campaigns. A former teacher and newspaperman, Williams was also a big fan of chocolate bars. So he started buying an extra one or two to give away to people he met in his town. Read more →