Bob Collins
The reporters who buried Oswald, does Saint Paul need streetcars again, the monster in Lake Pepin, the lies we repeat about Thanksgiving shopping, and the Fox 9 reporter’s face plant. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
You probably won’t hear much about Gloria Steinem being awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom today by President Barack Obama. Former President Bill Clinton and current presidential pal Oprah Winfrey seem to be getting top billing in news coverage. Where did Steinem, an activist and writer for more than four decades, end up in today’s Read more →
Execs at the Pioneer Press newspaper insisted today that the decision to cut 170 jobs at its printing plant near Holman Field and contracting with the rival Star Tribune does not indicate a sale of the paper itself despite ongoing rumors that it’s only a matter of time before the Twin Cities become a one-newspaper Read more →
The Minnesota Supreme Court took some bite out of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act when it ruled today that contracts between private firms doing business for a government entity can remain confidential in some cases. The Court overturned a Court of Appeals ruling that originally favored the Timberjay newspaper in its bid to get Read more →
Nothing keeps a community together like a cup of coffee in the right setting. In cities all over the Midwest, especially those where businesses have moved out and the people remaining aren’t far behind, the town cafe holds it together. Read more →
Funeral panhandling, what’s happening at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, it’s over for stadium opponents so on to Atlanta, when sex offenders almost walk, and the ‘joy sessions.’ Read more →
Nate MinorWe’ve all heard the tales from hunter friends or relatives who’ve gone through great lengths to track and bag (in their stories at least) a deer in the woods. But what would drive hunters to risk their lives to save one? Read more →
This sign at a Walmart store in Canton, Ohio is either: (a) Proof that Walmart doesn’t pay its employees enough to make a decent living or: (b) Proof that Walmart cares about its employees. The Cleveland Plain Dealer says the idea for the food collection tubs, which are in an employees-only area, originated at the Read more →
If you’ve almost starved one child to death, are you fit enough as a parent to retain three others in your care if they aren’t starving or, apparently, abused? Today, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled you are. Read more →
When is the last time you heard a male astronaut asked how he could leave his children home to spend time aboard the International Space Station?
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Why are we obsessed with the Kennedy assassination, risking lives to get a viral tornado video, Ian Leonard’s concussion, the harvest in Hendricks, and there’s an ‘i’ in Grinnell. Read more →
Bob McDonald, it’s safe to say, never got rich in basketball; at least where money is concerned. And he probably hasn’t gotten the attention that young high schoolers have received. But he must have gotten something out of it because he’s been the head basketball coach in Chisholm, McGregor, and Barnum for nearly 60 years. He’ll get his 1,000th win sometime this season, which opens next Friday. 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 →
Does two make a trend? For the second time in under a month, a restaurant server got a lecture on the meal check about her sexual orientation instead of the tip she deserved. In Bridgewater, N.J., Dayna Morales posted on the Have a Gay Day Facebook page that a couple stiffed her on the $95 Read more →
It’s a bittersweet time for Timberwolves fans. Because of our “we can’t have nice things” mentality, it’s assumed Love will head for a bigger spotlight when his contract is up in 2015. Read more →