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NewsCut

MPR News Reflections and observations on the news

By Bob Collins

Bob Collins
bcollins@mpr.org • @newscut

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.

Body language

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 6:17 PM Feb 23, 2009
3

Watching the expressions of politicians when they talk about the economy.

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Surveys and trivia

If not a cherry…

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 5:43 PM Feb 23, 2009
3

What would you put on the Walker Art Center spoon until the cherry returns?

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Find the Republican governors

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 3:00 PM Feb 23, 2009
10

Gov. Tim Pawlenty and other governors met with President Obama at the White House today. Who got the choice seats?

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Coming and going

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 2:30 PM Feb 23, 2009
3

President Obama says cities will be able to keep cops and firefighters on the job. Mayor R.T. Rybak says not necessarily.

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Required reading: The Kennedy series

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 1:35 PM Feb 23, 2009

The Boston Globe is running a series on the life of Ted Kennedy. Its online component should be a warning shot across the bow of the newfangled media that predicts the demise of the newspaper newsroom. People in the business are still kicking. In the second chapter, there is a compelling segment when Minnesota’s Walter Read more →

The prison economy

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 11:28 AM Feb 23, 2009
2

At least one Minnesota business made money and doesn’t foresee any layoffs.

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Long. But not that long.

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 10:52 AM Feb 23, 2009
3

The Coleman-Franken trial is in its fifth week. It’s not even close to be one of the longest trials in state history.

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The virtual deputies

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 10:26 AM Feb 23, 2009

Nearly 14 million of viewed border cameras set up to detect illegal activity. The program has been a bust.

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Reversal of fortune

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 9:10 AM Feb 23, 2009
2

An airline gives up on the idea of charging for soft drinks and coffee.

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Math tests not adding up to graduation for Minnesota students

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 7:26 AM Feb 23, 2009
5

What should be done with two out of three Minnesota high school seniors who have failed the state’s math graduation standards?

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Where are the economists?

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 7:00 AM Feb 23, 2009
9

TV analysis of the economic stimulus plan usually didn’t include people trained in economics.

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Mosque hosts community dinner

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 23, 2009, 6:46 AM Feb 23, 2009

The Minneapolis mosque whose leaders condemned the assertion that it had something to do with the disappearance of several Somali youth, is hosting a community dinner on Wednesday.

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Waiting for instructions

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 22, 2009, 8:47 AM Feb 22, 2009
6

Some pundits think America ‘doesn’t get’ the enormity of the economic crisis.

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Whatever happened to… ?

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 22, 2009, 7:47 AM Feb 22, 2009

What does an ex-president do when he’s not president anymore? Not much, apparently.

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Whoops

Bob CollinsBob Collins February 21, 2009, 5:32 PM Feb 21, 2009
2

A California congressman who maintained he didn’t kill Chandra Levy was apparently telling the truth.

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