Bob Collins
Removing snow seems like a no-brainer for local politicians’ career paths, but as cities struggle more with removing it, there’s little evidence that the disinterest in making such a mundane task a priority is a threat. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
By Bob Collins
Bob Collins retired from Minnesota Public Radio in 2019 after 12 years of writing NewsCut and pointing out to complainants that posts weren’t news stories. A son of Massachusetts, he was a news editor 1992-1998, created the MPR News regional website in 1999, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started several blogs, and every day lamented that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.
The mounted unit patrols the State Fair, street festivals and the cities parks. But the city needs to reassign the officers for a crackdown on distracted driving.
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Here are the stories, topics, and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
Martha Everett didn’t mean to provide a time capsule to the people of Jeffersonville, Ind. She simply lost her purse, which has now been found. It contains the artifacts of a lost generation of high school teenagers: lipstick (‘made in New York’, it said), wrappers of Juicy Fruit gum, the school’s basketball schedule, a ribbon for the mile relay, bus schedule, a mirror, her Social Security card, a note asking her to the prom. Read more →
Nathan Kinsey was fired in 2016 because of the confrontation, which was videotaped and spread by social media. The city said he didn’t report his use of force. Read more →
Almost 15 years to the day it first took its steps on Mars, the rover Opportunity is being declared dead today.
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For the second straight session, black members of the Assembly are blasting white Republicans because a resolution marking the month forces the white version of Black History Month.
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The kids in Amery, Wis., had a snow day yesterday but there was no time off for them, not when the coaches of their hockey team suggested they put the time to good use. Read more →
All over the Twin Cities in the last few days, strangers have been pushing people out of snowbanks and snowdrifts and getting no attention for it. So perhaps if the Dakota County sheriff can find three heroes, they can represent all of you who got no recognition for being the better part of us. Read more →
Here are the stories, topics, and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
As the story is told, when a foul was called sending a Minneota player to the line in a game two weeks ago, senior Thomas Hennen went to the line to shoot the free throws, even though he wasn’t the player fouled. Read more →
Hockey rage has struck — literally — a referee in Breezy Point.
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For reasons that remain unclear — there weren’t that many accidents — rush hour traffic in the Twin Cities last evening was a nightmare, particularly the stretch of I-35W southbound where someone once thought it a fine idea to design an offramp to I-94 westbound that intersected two other ramps.
The more we pave over the Twin Cities with highways, the worse the traffic seems to get, and we don’t even get bragging rights out of the deal for our horrible traffic. Read more →
Mark Kelly, the former astronaut, announced today he’s running for the U.S. Senate, and in the process schooled politicians on how to make a political ad for a campaign announcement. Read more →
Appropriately, the man was wearing a brown shirt. Read more →