Bob CollinsThe sentencing of a repeat drunk driver this week is raising an ongoing question surrounding the problem of alcohol and vehicles: Does getting tougher on drunk driving work? Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for February 2016
We’re about to reach peak Wrinkles the Clown.
Wrinkles patrols the mean streets of Naples, Florida, and nobody seems to know why. Of course, he’s become an Internet hit with occasional videos.
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If there’s one story today to warm the heart of an old hockey player, it’s MPR reporter Dan Kraker’s story about the hockey players who still play in outdoors rinks.
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We’re always in the market for a good Wisconsin v. Minnesota argument but where the economy is concerned, we’re running into a reality: it’s no contest between the two states. Read more →
It’s easy to hate on Martin Shkreli, the smug kid who got rich quick by pricing pharmaceuticals at a ridiculously high price because he bought the rights to them.
Politicians in Washington got a crack at him today. Nobody is going to think ill of politicians trying to beat up a drug thug like Shkreli.
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There’s really not a lot of new information in the Washington Post’s documentation today of the economic tsunami that’s wiping out the Iron Range. But the domestic economic collapse hasn’t gotten anywhere near the attention it deserves, at least from a human scale. Read more →
You’re going to want to sit down for this, Internet. The Prescott, Wis., police department is removing ‘In God We Trust’ from its police cars and they’re not happy about it.
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Today’s must read is the Star Tribune’s almost unbelievable profile of Justin Lang, the Robbinsdale 30-year-old man who went house to house in North Minneapolis yesterday shoveling people out. Read more →
Homs is Syria’s third-largest city. Or, at least it was before it was bombed literally back to the stone age. Read more →
There aren’t a lot of comedians who end up being important teachers in the radio news business, but Bob Elliot, one half of the genius of Bob and Ray is certainly one.
His character, Wally Ballou, winner of over seven international diction awards, was as instructive to young reporters on how not to do live reports as any journalism professor. Read more →
There are plenty of stories out there of people who’ve been priced out of the new Minnesota Vikings stadium, even though they’ve owned season tickets for years.
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NPR is getting some criticism for getting a story right.
Welcome to the world of campaign coverage. Read more →
Like an old, punch-drunk fighter, Minnesota showed it still has got it when it comes to handling blizzards. We weren’t all that sure we still knew how to handle a good blow, what with never getting big snowstorms anymore, but this morning we’re resuming normal routines with a minimum of fuss. Read more →
Totino-Grace Engineering Institute student Jens Rataczak has spent a year preparing to do what he did on Sunday. He sent a weather balloon aloft from the Fridley school with a data logging and tracking system and a GoPro camera, which proved — again — that earth is round, and that sometimes the farther you get away from it, the prettier it looks. Read more →
You’ve probably noticed you’re getting next to nothing for giving your money to your local bank, which in turn, could lend it out and get a higher interest rate than what you’re getting. There’s money in the middle-man business. Read more →