Bob Collins
Strohfus is survived by several generations of women who fly airplanes, and a country that could be a little more appreciative than it has been. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
It’s so rare that sports reporters challenge the players they cover that when one does, it becomes pretty big news. Read more →
Winter is about ready to disappear in the rear-view mirror, but few seasons go out as ugly as it does. Read more →
You could probably have forgiven the Red Wing boys basketball team if they’d decided to sleep in last Friday. After all, they had a big game that night with long-time rival Northfield for the section championship, and Red Wing hasn’t won a championship in 12 years.
But the team had more important things to do. Read more →
This image was one of the many that stood out at the Boston Marathon bombing three years ago next month.
A Boston firefighter carried a badly hurt Victoria McGrath to a medical tent. Read more →
Generally speaking, public radio listeners break down into one of two groups: those who are cool with Garrison Keillor singing and those who consider it fingernails on a chalkboard.
Both groups, however, are likely united with a touching moment Saturday in Milwaukee, from where A Prairie Home Companion originated.
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At last night’s debate, Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders perfectly illustrated why efforts to improve the lives of people with mental illness run into so many roadblocks: It’s still ‘OK’ to make fun of them.
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The latest controversy involving a public employee posting on Facebook doesn’t involve any specific racial mentions, but Black Lives Matter wants a Como Park Senior High School teacher fired anyway. Read more →
Even for people who don’t follow the state high school hockey tournament closely, the annual video documenting the weird tradition of growing ‘hockey hair’ has become must-see online TV. Read more →
There’s so much lovely irony in the news today that Washington Post columnist Christopher Ingraham has decided to move to Red Lake County in Minnesota. Newcomers spend a lifetime trying to find welcoming souls in the state, and all Ingraham had to do was write something nasty about the place. Read more →
Tracy Mumford
Mitt Romney stepped into the fray of the 2016 presidential race today with a speech aimed straight at Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner. Read more →
In our growing collection, we’ve read plenty of powerful essays on the nature of mental health, depression, and suicide, but we’re hard pressed to recall one as powerful as that for Aletha Pinnow, who took her own life in Duluth last month.
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Louella Mae Snider provided the soundtrack for one of the best bars in America. Read more →
North of Thunder Bay, Ontario yesterday, Norman Shewaybick kept a promise to his wife. He would drag an oxygen tank on a toboggan more than 300 miles, an oxygen tank that would have saved her life had the nursing station not run out. Read more →
For the rest of this week, this is going to be the official NewsCut office. When you’re a fan of a baseball team that hasn’t won a World Series in your lifetime, the window of hope in a given season is pretty short, so I’m heading to Arizona to watch some spring baseball while there’s still hope. Read more →