Bob Collins
People are attaching love notes to a Cottonwood tree, that’s stood sentry by the side of Minnesota Highway 7/U.S. Highway 59 longer than almost every Minnesotan has lived. But it will not live much longer, apparently.
Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Regional history
Aside from the intriguing marketing history, what we liked best about the deep dive into General Mills from CBS Sunday Morning today was the notion that people use protective gloves to handle old boxes of Wheaties. Read more →
South Dakotans are reeling after getting a look at the new license plates for the state’s drivers. That’s supposed to be Mount Rushmore on the plates, but the Sioux Falls Argus Leader says many residents say it looks like dirt.
Read more →
The decision to shutter Al Jazeera America recently was met with a general shoulder shrug. It was hard to find the channel on cable TV. It was easy to find its website, but not enough people were interested in finding it. Read more →
A P-51C Mustang fighter with a rich Minnesota history, is heading for its third major repair/restoration after its pilot didn’t or couldn’t lower the landing gear during a flight at its new home in Dallas. Read more →
The First National Bank building has new owners, the sign is in need of repair because high winds tore at its neon tubing, and the new owners say they’re exploring ‘options.’
Read more →
If it’s history told in song it’s some fine Minnesota history. Read more →
We understand that time marches on and today’s entertainment venues need rides and musical stages to get people through the door, but we’re wistful about the official demise of Machinery Hill at the Minnesota State Fair nonetheless. Read more →
Just a week after he was diagnosed with lung cancer, Billy Glaze died this morning, the Star Tribune reports. He was convicted of a series of murders of American Indian women in Minneapolis in the 1980s. But he may have been an innocent man. Read more →
We pause today to salute ex-Tonka Toys executive Lloyd Laumann, who died recently at 78. He is survived by millions of old men with happy memories of growing up with yellow cranes, trucks and bulldozers. Read more →
We throw ‘giant’ around too much, but Minnesota really did lose a giant today when it was announced that Hy Berman has died at age 90.
Read more →
There’s always that one home in many towns that’s the must-see Christmas lights house. The newfangled computer-controlled lighting displays are now match for a guy who started with one display and then got carried away in an ongoing effort to make some people happy. Read more →
On this 75th anniversary of the Armistice Day Blizzard, I’m reposting this 2010 NewsCut post.
Read more →
We’re delighted to refer you to another piece of history: The day the inimitable T.D. Mischke conducted an interview with a historian, asking all of his questions as Lightfoot. Read more →
In the annals of Minnesota Public Radio, perhaps only Michael Barone has a beard more worthy of historical note than our former colleague Mark Heistad.
He’s had it since June 1975. He stopped shaving the day after he graduated from high school. Read more →