Bob Collins
The older we get, the greater our chances of being the grateful rather than the hero.
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MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
People doing good
‘A story about what’s right when we spend too much time writing about what’s wrong’ (5×8 – 12/17/13)
The joy of a mentor, the end of programs to feed hungry seniors, in search of the right Christmas kettle, thoughts on football while waiting for baseball, and the bounty hunter at work. Read more →
In San Francisco, today a 5-year-old who fought cancer gets to be BatKid in a city that played the part of a superhero-loving Gotham City. Read more →
Sometimes, sports stars really can be appropriate role models. Read more →
Jeff Tollefson updates his effort to provide opportunities for low-income young people. Read more →
A Twin Cities organization is being honored in Washington for doing what a lot of people in Washington aren’t — something. Read more →
A Missouri woman ends a 14-year search for the daughter of a soldier killed in World War II, who left behind a letter and a Purple Heart medal. Read more →
How a warm welcome in Rochester changed a Bosnian refugees life. What will our economic lives be like in 2038? Last call for drive-in theaters. The unwinnable war against synthetic drugs. And is the end near for childhood beauty pageants? Read more →
(There are comments attached to this post.) You won’t see a more dramatic picture than this one tweeted by KARE 11 this morning. An accident occurred at the intersection of Highway 55 and General Mills Boulevard between a van and a tanker. The station says one person died when a woman in a van turned Read more →
Nate Minor
The key to lifting the rural poor in countries like Nigeria may well be agriculture. Read more →
In my absence over the next few days, perhaps you’d like to help keep things “fresh” on NewsCut, as some regular readers have. Just send me things you stumble across that fit the NewsCut vibe — that is: things that are a little off the beaten path, have the faint aroma of news, and get the rest of us to think a little bit.
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Kids who make a difference, when an NPR journalist destroys NPR journalism, what go wrong with Ticketmaster’s entrance into the scalping market, watching the lights go out with Alzheimer’s, and the Islamic center proposal in St. Cloud. Read more →
As predicted, a restaurant server in Iowa is the latest recipient of a huge tip, offered by a man who’s traveling the country leaving big tips in honor of his dead brother. Read more →
Five men, all over 60 years are biking to raise money for wounded soldiers. Read more →
You had to figure after Seth Collins reached Milwaukee in his quest to leave a big tip for an unsuspecting server that Minnesota was next. Last week, I told you about Collins, who is traveling the country in honor of his brother, who died and left a suggestion for his family that they make someone’s Read more →