Bob Collins
Here are the stories, topics, and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. 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 Facebook post from the Kenyon Police Department is sad and infuriating. Someone gets scammed for $2,500 and a large area retailer doesn’t seem to be interested in doing much about it. And why would they? They get the money.
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The soccer game at Allianz Field was over by the time Angelo Rodriguez returned to the field after the game to give his kids a little taste of game time on Sunday. Read more →
The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday renewed the debate over the renaming of Minneapolis’ Lake Calhoun to Bde Maka Ska, overturning a Ramsey County District Court ruling that had derailed a challenge. Read more →
The rules of prom were clear: You could bring anybody you want as long as one of the attendees is a senior. And that’s how Randy Rohl and Grady Quinn became the first gay couple to attend a high school prom. Read more →
On another morning full of stories of hate, we are somewhat comforted in the knowledge that there are still people grabbing a share of our attention armed only with whimsy and good spirit. Leave it to the science kids. Read more →
Rumors swept through the northwest Minnesota town on Thursday that the high school had banned the American flag, No, it didn’t.
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Here are the stories, topics, and guests you’ll hear on MPR News on Monday. Read more →
We apologize profusely for failing to notice Boyd’s Huppert’s story this week about the housekeeper at the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Children’s Hospital and the 4-year-old boy he befriended Read more →
‘The pie has been cut too many times,’ said Anthony Mitchell, manager of Yellow Cab.
Let us count the ways: Uber, Lyft, electric scooters. Read more →
There’s some irony — somewhere — in the inability of a World War II bomber to land at the Anoka-Blaine airport on July 4th because of a nearby golf tournament.
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This is a tough time to be a young teacher in Minnesota’s school districts. It’s pink slip time, when your bosses get to suggest in public you’re not good enough for them but they can’t or won’t say exactly why. Read more →
Here are the stories, topics, and guests you’ll hear today on MPR News. Read more →
Not long after NewsCut was hatched, I drove around the state interviewing women who had served in World War II for a series on women and the war. Whenever I contacted one of my intended subjects, their response was almost always the same: ‘I’m not very newsworthy.’ They were wrong, of course. Everyone’s got a story worth telling. Read more →
It seems undeniable that lower wage jobs will disappear and a lot of people are going to be out of work Read more →