What makes for lousy comedy? The vaccine debate, which pits people with scientific evidence against those who ignore it. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for June 2014
One supposes we should just be happy we made the top 10 of smartest states in the country, but 10th? We only made 10th? There are only 50 states. Minnesota is relatively unaccustomed to finishing this low in national surveys; we regularly rank in the top two or three for education, health, and quality of Read more →
It was 25 years ago tomorrow. One guy with a briefcase stood up to a line of tanks. Read more →
Dog owners, would it kill you to pick up after your mutt? Read more →
High schools in Minnesota will no longer have a problem finding at least eight opponents to play each season.
The Minnesota State High School League yesterday approved ‘district football,’ which reorganizes teams into 18 districts across the state. Read more →
At last report Christine Kloeppner is still in intensive care after being hit by lightning over the weekend and here’s hoping something good comes of the tragedy. In this case, ‘something good’ would be a reminder to youth baseball and sports leagues to treat lightning in the area just a little more seriously. Read more →
The need to exchange five allegedly dangerous detainees in exchange for Bowe Bergdahl is becoming more mysterious with each hour since the weekend exchange with the Taliban. It’s not often the yellow ribbons go up for someone being increasingly described by former colleagues as a ‘deserter.’ Read more →
A new study suggests there is sexism in how we approach pending disaster.
Researchers at the University of Illinois reportedly have found that more people are killed by female-named hurricanes than male-named storms ‘simply because a storm with a feminine name is seen as less foreboding than one with a more masculine name.’ Read more →
With any luck, this should end the constant anti-suburban potshots from your city-slicker friends. Read more →
The Affordable Care Act guarantees coverage for a pre-existing condition? That’s not necessarily the case. Read more →
The New York Times has exposed a syndicate that European police investigators says fixed hundreds of professional soccer matches around the world. Read more →
This week marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day and The Guardian is providing a compelling photographic tribute to the day that marked the beginning of the end of World War II. Read more →
A Montreal girl has started a pushback against rules on what girls can wear in school after she was ordered to change the shorts she’d worn to school on a recent hot day.
Lindsey Stocker says she felt singled out. Why should she have to change the way she dresses? Why not discipline boys for their behavior instead? Read more →
We’re in the middle of a run of neighbors-feuding-with-neighbors stories here in the land of Minnesota Nice. Read more →
Rudy Hummel’s year of sleeping outside is almost over.
The Hermantown teenager started his quest last June, and never gave up, even during the brutal winter. Read more →