It’s hard to throw out a first pitch with the weight of Olympic gold medals around your neck. Fortunately, Katie Ledecky had some guy around — Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper — who wasn’t doing anything. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news

When you move to the Midwest, it doesn’t take long to appreciate the sentries that stand watch in our communities. Read more →

People were unhappy with the picture that was used to show the driveway of the individual, whose case was at the heart of the case which tested a state law regulating these sorts of things.
So I snapped a couple of pictures this afternoon.
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The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that a search warrant that allows police to test the blood alcohol content of a suspected drunken driver can also target the use of drugs, even if there’s no probable cause to suspect drug use. Read more →

Howard Johnson’s was once the largest restaurant chain in America. And now, there’s only one. Read more →
What do coaches say when they go to the mound to talk to a struggling pitcher? Now we know, at least in Little League. Read more →
A kid can’t even take a rabbit to a county fair anymore, at least not in Steele County. Read more →

Anyone who’s had a critical prescription has to be both relieved and frustrated by the reaction to the rapid increase in the rise of EpiPen, the shot that people with severe and life-threatening allergies use to stay alive. Read more →
A Minnesota law requiring collector cars to be “screened” from public view has survived a challenge from a Cleveland Avenue, St. Paul man who buried two of them under tarps.
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There’s a racist in Tenino, Washington. That would be a fitting headline if not for the fact there are a lot more people spreading their love of neighbors and community.
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For all the love Americans rightly show the Constitution, the right to an attorney is a poor step child. Read more →
USA pole vaulter Sam Kendricks wasn’t entirely focused like a laser beam on his attempt on Saturday. If he had been, he wouldn’t have heard the National Anthem being played for someone on the medals stand in another competition. Read more →
It’s unlikely that Joe Marcella and Leonard Pylka, Iron Rangers by pedigree, wanted to be the last two of their group of 92 veterans, a distinction that allowed them to taste the cognac on Saturday that they bought upon their return from World War II. Read more →
Sure, old-timers might look upon the rise of soccer as a threat to tradition, but baseball hasn’t been the National Pastime in a generation. And there are things that soccer can do for a community that softball and baseball can’t. Read more →

… or at least the most popular posts on NewsCut this week. Read more →