Bob CollinsIn Minnesota, liquor store owners killed Sunday liquor sales — again — in the recently concluded Minnesota legislative session. Now, the liquor service industry is flexing its muscle in Wisconsin where it appears to be controlling the fate on a crackdown on drunk driving and efforts to change the state’s drinking culture. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for June 2014
I’ve watched nearly every documentary and every movie about D-Day over my 60 years, but I am still completely incapable of wrapping my head around the magnitude of the horror of what happened on the beaches 70 years ago today.
It’s not for lack of trying, nor lack of listening to the stories of the men who were there. It’s simply something my human brain can’t comprehend, nor understand how anyone can survive that kind of horror.
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Chester Nez, who died yesterday, was the last of the original Navajo Code Talkers, who used their native language to pass information during World War II, a language that was never cracked by the Japanese.
His — and their achievements — are legend. But they didn’t stop once the war ended. Just ask the Boston Red Sox. Read more →
There’s a new park being born in downtown Saint Paul before our eyes. Read more →
We love politicians too much and we have too low expectations for fathers.
How else to explain the choice for this year’s Father of the Year? Read more →
At one time, La Crosse was the center of the clown universe. Read more →
Audrey Kletscher Helbling post reminds us there are two Minnesotas: The one where times are good, and the ones where they very clearly aren’t. Read more →
Last night, actor Jonah Hill, who was caught on tape a few days ago using a homophobic slur against a photographer, provided a good lesson in how to top an unfurling public relations disaster: Own the disaster. Read more →
If there’s anything that can be called a slam-dunk decision, next week’s vote by the Duluth City Council to declare a monument in the city a ‘local landmark’ is it.
It’s the only monument in the country that memorializes a lynching. Read more →
This week marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, but for a Frederic, Wisconsin man — Frederick is between Pine City, MN and Spooner, WI — one of the more memorable moments in the invasion had its 70th anniversary in April.
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No matter what happens the rest of the way, Tracy Adams can well be considered one great mother. Read more →
When the public debate turns to whether the U.S. military should reconsider its policy of leaving no soldier behind in war, you know the public debate over Bowe Bergdahl is fever fueled.
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A couple of headlines this week seem to be in conflict. Read more →
A Pennsylvania auction company has decided not to sell the skull of a person found near a spot where a field hospital once stood on the Gettysburg battle site. Read more →
Services have now been scheduled for Bill Cowden, the Delta Airlines pilot and airshow pilot who crashed at Stevens Point over the weekend during a maneuver. Read more →