Bob Collins
Some election officials, and some state laws, prevent police from providing security at polling places this election because they say it will make voters feel unwelcomed. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for October 2016
The second-best part of October postseason baseball is some city’s symphony always posts a video in support of their local team, playing the sport’s national anthem.
This year the distinction goes to Chicago. Read more →
Eli Dourado and Raymond Russell tackle NIMBYism in their latest paper, claiming that complaints about airport noise come from a small number of people and disproportionately tilt noise abatement programs in a way that hinders the advancement of cheaper and faster commercial flight.
Read more →
We’ve been amused over the years by the dynamic by which Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s name gets floated for high-profile gigs in Washington but there it is in black and white, thanks to the hacking of Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s e-mail with the first cut-down of potential running mates. Read more →
Might we suggest you take a break from the noise of news and spend 24 minutes watching the story of Joseph Feingold, who heard a classical radio station ask for used instruments and donated his.
He had played it as youngster in a Siberian labor camp, his mother and his youngest brother were both killed at Treblinka. Read more →
Too often, the story of our amazing lives don’t get told until it appears on the newspaper’s obituary page and Star Tribune reporter Chao Xiong today provides a perfect example.
Read more →
People who fly airplanes have to prove every two years that they’re still capable of performing the task and they’re knowledgeable about the rules.
The unbelievable video from the Hudson Police Department inspires us to renew our suggestion that maybe it’s not a bad idea for drivers too.
Read more →
There’s no chance winning the Nobel Prize for literature is going to change Bob Dylan. Read more →
Indigenous activist Douglas Cardinal’s attempt to prevent it from happening because of Cleveland’s racist mascot and team name is worthy of attention in a country that has a law against such things. If nothing else, Cleveland’s success in the playoffs is coming alongside attention over its racist mascot. Read more →
One photojournalist said she contributed because it’s her freedom of speech. That’s true. Everyone has a right to contribute to political causes. No one has a right to work in a newsroom while doing so, however.
Read more →
The Minnesota Court of Appeals today ruled that it was unconstitutional for a Department of Natural Resources officer to attach a GPS-based tracking device to the vehicle of a man he suspected was hunting big game illegally in Lac qui Parle County.
Read more →
There’s a fascinating intersection of regulations and politics in the latest essay from NPR ombudsman Elizabeth Jensen in which she answers critics of the network’s coverage of Donald Trump’s comments regarding his treatment of women.
Read more →
You have to give a nod to Rick Swenson, 35, of Fergus Falls, who found inspiration watching a giant pumpkin dropped onto a car in Lancaster, Minn., some time ago.
Read more →
The Pioneer Press reports today that people in the Lake Elmo – Lakeland Township area are upset that the Prairie Island tribal community will build a casino on land its purchased at Manning Avenue and I-94.
Read more →
Sadly, it’s not at all surprising that a newspaper’s editorial board, a newspaper that endorsed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump, got death threats for its trouble.
Read more →