A Brainerd rental housing inspector is a hero for doing his/her job, demanding that a landlord install the carbon monoxide detector required by Minnesota law in the apartment of a couple.
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MPR News Reflections and observations on the news

Oh, swell. Another cloudy, foggy, soul-crushing bucket of gloom is being served up by the weather gods. So, here. Yes, it’s an Apple ad. The company has a tradition of sweet ads at Christmas. Here’s last year’s. Sainsbury’s, the UK chocolate company, has released this Christmas ad, reaching back 100 years for inspiration. John Lewis, Read more →

It was an awful game for fans of the Cleveland Browns yesterday afternoon. But a returning-soldier promotion picked things up a bit. Read more →
There was some good humor — at least we think it was humor — from Minneapolis City Hall this morning. Read more →
If the assassination of President Kennedy happened today, the Zapruder film would show people taking selfies. What is it with people? Terrorism and tourism are going hand in hand. Buzzfeed today notes that in Sydney, the scene outside the cafe where a gunman is holding an undetermined number of people, is almost as ugly as Read more →

We welcome the South Dakota intentional masturbation double entendre to a permanent place in the Museum of Marketing Campaigns That Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time. Read more →

What kind of weird economy do we have when we have to start rooting for higher oil prices? Read more →

Climax-Fisher beat Bagley in double overtime and doing so with just three players on the floor.
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Sophie Fellows, 9, was playing in a holiday concert in Vermont last week when she suddenly was overcome by a headache. She couldn’t finish the performance.
Sophie is in love with music and, in particular, the violin.
And her friends and music teacher are in love with her. Read more →

But 44 percent of the men in the survey said there were jobs in their area, but they’re not willing to take them. Read more →
In the event there was still any doubt, a couple of researchers today say they’ve got proof men are stupider than women. Read more →

Remember that post I wrote this morning that with the Serial podcast we have to constantly recalibrate ourselves to remember that a real person died and other lives have been ruined, despite our entertainment with the subject?
Best Buy didn’t read it. Read more →

Is our obsession with photographing everything we see making flying less safe? Read more →
Another area businesses has prevailed in its refusal to cover contraceptive costs in its health-care plan because of the owners’ religious beliefs. Read more →

Who should own this old casket? Or any old casket, for that matter.
A judge in Texas may decide the question soon. It once held JFK-killer Lee Harvey Oswald. Read more →