Bob CollinsA philosophical debate that has been waged in fits and starts since people started buying, then tearing down, older homes in Edina and Minneapolis, and has flared again with last week’s announcement that Minneapolis would put a moratorium on teardowns in several neighborhoods. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Former MSNNBC commentator Joseph Williams had the good life going right up until the moment when he discussed race in the Obama-Romney campaign and was booted out of his job two weeks later. Then the Internet found a five-month plea deal for domestic assault. He was toast in the news business.
So he took a job at a sporting goods store. Read more →
The world is full of people who don’t want to be involved, but the Twin Cities has two news stories today about people who just get a little tired of the jerks who try to rob people. Read more →
At Xcel Center on Tuesday night, Jamie Jenn thought she was taking part in an intermission contest, guessing what Erik Haula said was the biggest surprise in Minnesota. She guessed it was the size of the Mall of America. She was wrong. Read more →
Don’t even think of watching this video from some guys in New York and New Jersey if you’ve never strapped on a pair of skates and played hockey on a pond. Read more →
America’s luck on the ice hasn’t changed in Sochi since the U.S. men’s hockey team came home empty-handed and the women settled for a silver after having the gold practically around their necks. Read more →
The legislation in Minnesota was probably doomed the moment Gov. Dayton urged both sides to work together on the issue. With the governor declaring he wouldn’t sign the bill without law enforcement’s blessing, there was no reason for law enforcement to negotiate, no matter how many sad stories the state’s citizens told. Read more →
Walter took care of the hard part: First, writing his own obituary. And then: dying. Read more →
A woman died in her own garage, and life went on in her neighborhood without anyone wondering whatever happened to her. For six years. Read more →
Film maker Tatia Pilieva asked 20 strangers to kiss. Read more →
Hundreds of runners in last year’s Boston Marathon are planning to go back to Boston in a few weeks to finish what they started. Their efforts were interrupted, of course, by last year’s finish-line bombing. Read more →
A satellite photography company is using crowdsourcing to pore over thousands of images, looking for debris from the apparently downed Malaysia Flight MH370. Read more →
The short version: He grew up in Southern California, played college football, had strong family figures, wanted to be a mortician, but ended up selling drugs and going to prison. Somehow, he ended up saving lives in Saint Paul. Read more →
Another salvo today in the ongoing battle over whether women should be called “bossy.”
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The thing with a long, cold winter is when it ends, it ends in a hurry. A week ago today, this was the condition of the famous ice road connecting Madeline Island with Bayfield: good, solid Lake Superior ice Here’s the condition today: The morning ice road status line says they’ll try to keep the Read more →