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 mug I’d chosen for the morning coffee today gave me today’s NewsCut Flashback — yeah, it’s going to be a thing for the next few months. I picked it up at Dog Mountain a few years ago, a place created first by a man and his love for dogs (specifically: his black lab, Sally). His widow, Gwen, worked hard to keep the place open. But in 2013, she killed herself, too.
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In Ashwaubenon, Wis., a turkey named “Smoke” rules the roost.
Smoke isn’t like most turkeys in Wisconsin — insert your own joke here — because he’s a loner. Also, he won’t go away, the Washington Post says.
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From all accounts, it appears that there are people working for FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security who still cash government paychecks, which is a scandal waiting to happen in the wake of the deadly California wildfires that have burned entire cities to the ground leaving people homeless with nowhere to go. Read more →
Here are the stories, topics, and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
‘Don’t Cry, I’m Here’ welcomes refugees to the area by giving the children culturally sensitive dolls, ‘Buddy Bears’, and/or teen gift bags upon their arrival. But fewer are arriving now so the group is expanding to a more welcoming nation. Read more →
Maybe it’s time we start checking under the hood before taking trips in the car. There might be a mouse in there. Or a cat. Or a beaver. Read more →
It’s hard to know whom to believe sometimes when we’re lectured on how to drive safely. A common message from the highway authorities is to slow down.
Nah. Read more →
We’re not particularly surprised that a Wisconsin company has given a gun to each employee for Christmas. Because, after all, what says ‘Merry Christmas’ more than a gun? Read more →
You may recall Kate McClure’s story is her car broke down on a Philadelphia highway when it ran out of gas. Bobbitt, a homeless man who was once in the Marines, gave her the only money he had. Her GoFundMe campaign on his behalf raised a fortune, which he said the couple kept mostly for themselves. Prosecutors will reportedly announce today that all three were in on the scam. Read more →
Thursday November 15, 2018 (Subject to change as events dictate) 9 a.m. – MPR News with Kerri Miller There are unresolved midterm elections in Florida, Georgia and elsewhere. The president has expressed concerns with the recount process. So what’s actually happening in those states? MPR News host Kerri Miller talks to a reporter to fact Read more →
I have long maintained on these pages that if you want to see sportsmanship in high school sports, the cross-country kids are your best bet. So give it up to the cross-country kids at Chico (Calif.) High School for proving me right.
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Our homes and our stuff and, in some cases, our pets are a strong emotional anchor that often prevents us from recognizing, accepting, and reacting to a clear and present danger. Read more →
In the last few weeks, I’ve been going through some of the 15,000+ posts I’ve written on NewsCut and finding I don’t remember writing a fair number of them. This is the luxury afforded us as we age. Everything old is new again.
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Every now and again, someone steps forward to save the newspaper Letters to the Editors page from the people who send letters to the editor.
That person today is David Jones in the Duluth News Tribune. Read more →
The cops will move in to clear the camp on Thursday morning. That won’t be a proud day in St. Paul. Read more →
Bob Collins