Bob Collins
Maine Chief District Court Judge Charles LaVerdiere had a night to sleep on it and decided today that a full quarantine for nurse Kaci Hickox isn’t such a good idea after all. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Politics
It’s unlikely anyone without ink stains is going to shed tears over the Washington Post story today that journalists are being charged $60,000 each to ride on the press plane that will tail President Obama on his upcoming Asia trip.
But buried deep in the story is the reason that should be somewhat concerning: The price is so high because so few news organizations are covering the trip.
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A Green Bay alderman is piling on after his gaffe earlier this month in which he responded to a woman who’d asked about bus service by inquiring whether she embraces terrorism. Read more →
Chengyi Pan, 97, has a big day planned next week. She’ll vote. Read more →
A man cried during a political debate last night. Does it make a difference? Read more →
It’s hard to imagine a more damning assessment of a sacred cow than ProPublica’s expose of the American Red Cross.
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Is it really surprising that in a year in which a candidate’s hair is an actual issue in a race for Congress, that a candidate for attorney general of Minnesota features a break-dancing bison? Read more →
There’s a bit of hypocrisy in the green movement’s approach to the coming elections. Read more →
St. Louis County is about to take a big step toward financing roads — a sales tax. Read more →
We’re more than a month into the so-called Ebola crisis and so far the number of Americans who’ve contracted the illness here and who weren’t bedside treating Ebola patients in a hospital stands at zero. Still.
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It was a lovely moment this morning when the Canadian House of Commons had a special sitting with its leadership led into the chambers by Kevin Vickers, the sergeant at arms who saved members’ lives by shooting and killing the man who had invaded Parliament Hill. Read more →
In a growing number of American cities, giving food to a homeless person is a crime. Read more →
A St. Louis County child protection worker asked a good question when Gov. Dayton’s task force on the child protection system, formed after an investigation by the Star Tribune revealed how kids are falling through the county and state safety net , held a hearing this week.
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If you’ve dropped a friendship over political views, the odds are you’re a liberal, a new report says. Read more →
Back in the ’90s, the Minnesota Supreme Court struck down the law that allows the state to incarcerate people after they’ve served their prison sentences because they might offend again. The court said it was unconstitutional to place the burden on the men to prove they wouldn’t commit more crimes, shifting the burden to the state.
Ostensibly the men are in the Moose Lake facility for sex offenders for “treatment,” not punishment. But only two have been released over the last 20 years, a fact that more than suggests the court decision of the ’90s really didn’t change anything, and neither has the Legislature, which punted on the recommendations of a task force. Read more →