Bob Collins
Save me a parade space? I don’t think so. 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.
Stunning NASA photo of the Egyptian protest? No. Read more →
Paid time off — PTO — always seemed like a dastardly idea, given that it seems designed to make taking a break from work come straight out of the wallet. In each check, a few dollars are set aside for PTO and when you take time off, the money is deducted from the accumulated pot of cash. Read more →
Was the storm a ‘federal disaster,’ that thing that good people do, the Hotshots on climate change, how to be your own big brother, and North Dakota’s crime boom. Read more →
A Catholic school boss quits because he’s in a same-sex relationship, the Minneapolis office rampage case is allowed to continue, things go from bad to worse in the Arizona wildfires, a not guilty plea for the alleged Fort Hood shooter, Snowden’s dad speaks out, and a border billboard battle takes a turn in Fergus Falls. Read more →
There’s a fair amount of irony in the situation developing in Boston, where the Fourth of July celebration on the Esplanade along the Charles River dwarfs the Boston Marathon for symbolism. Thursday will be a real test of “Boston Strong” because there can’t possibly be a greater target for those who wish to attack that Read more →
The deaths of 19 firefighters battling a wildfire in Arizona is, of course, beyond sad. “It’s only stuff,” people like to say — and appropriately so — when homes burn but people make it out alive. So it was particularly painful to watch a young widow on CBS this morning assess the life of her Read more →
At a time when Minnesota is getting some criticism for its new gift tax, Forbes Magazine has good insight on how rich families stay rich families. It’s focusing on a dispute between the Pohlad family (owners of the Minnesota Twins) and the Internal Revenue Service over the estate of the late Carl Pohlad. Pohlad’s heirs Read more →
Under gorgeous skies last evening, 29,619 fans showed up at Target Field to watch a fairly bad ballclub play a fairly mediocre one. That’s pretty impressive unless you’re a sportswriter who gets into the games free. 29,619. For the Yankees. On the nicest night in Minneapolis history. Twins fans officially don't give a damn. — Read more →
Team Josh, Gettysburg at 150, a special session for the Internet tax, why don’t people like books anymore, and Lake Pepin with glorious weather. Read more →
Non-Minnesota NewsCut readers: Do we seem snooty to you? City Pages today relays the findings of a travel magazine which ranks Minneapolis-St. Paul as the fourth most snooty metro area in the country. San Francisco, New York, and Boston are just ahead of us. It’s entirely possible that we are supposed to find this insulting, Read more →
It could be worse, kid, you could be on a bike. (h/t: Nick Ziegler)
Many Minnesota police departments have worked overtime to learn how to properly respond to calls concerning attempted suicides. Today, a North Dakota couple is speaking out against police tactics used on their son more than two years ago. In a Fargo Forum article, Mark and Tammy Erickson of Kindred, N.D., say their son Chase was Read more →
A foreclosure in Rush City, the mosquito fight we can’t win, the people who defend the poor, a bid for bus lanes, and the Lark of Duluth flies again. Read more →
This promotion by the New England Patriots might be as sad a commentary on the NFL as there is. The Patriots announced today that anyone who bought a #81 jersey from the team’s Pro Shop can exchange it for another jersey, worn by a player not currently charged with murder. Here’s the team’s press release: Read more →