Bob CollinsIf the brake pedal is on the left in our cars — spoiler alert: it is — then why do we brake with our right foot?
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MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for August 2016
Everything you want to know about what it’s like to be a father you can find in the expression of Chuck Van Gordon, who was at Detroit’s Comerica Field last night when a video message from his daughter, Melissa, was played on the video board. Read more →
Emmanuel Matadi, a Johnson High grad, is going to run the 200-meter dash at the Olympics in Rio today and his mother is going to see him do it, and that should sustain us through another day in the drumbeat of awful news.
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Maybe “Hat Trick” just wanted a better view of the Highway 53 bridge construction outside Virginia, Minn. But it was an ill-advised trip. (Spoiler: happy ending). Read more →
It happened in Enfield, Conn., on Friday when emergency responders infuriated dogs everywhere. Read more →
In Norway, the sport is called dødsing – or ‘death diving’. Read more →
If you watched the coverage of the Olympics last night, you got a look at the first trailer for the movie Hidden Figures, which, unfortunately, doesn’t come out until January. Read more →
While unleashed, Lucy the greyhound was lost. After she was found, a rescue organization took the dog because of an adoption agreement which apparently required her to be on a leash at all times. The family is pressing for Lucy’s return. Read more →
Millennials are suffering under the weight of their students loans, and why wouldn’t they be? The interest rates charged to student borrowers are much higher than most consumer loans and efforts to refinance are helping only those who don’t desperately need the help.
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Funny thing about kids. They’re always gaining on you. Read more →
While watching Simone Manuel accept her gold medal at the Olympics in Rio last evening, I was thinking about this story from MPR News’ Laura Yuen about the “swimming gap” between white people and people of color. Read more →
School begins in a few weeks in most places, which means there’s a pretty good chance your kids’ teachers are out spending their own money this week on their behalf.
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There aren’t many places in Minnesota where you can score a 30-room, 8,726-square-foot mansion with seven bedrooms and four bathrooms for a little over $150,000. But if you want to live in Crookston, this baby can be yours. Read more →
Since his arrest in early 2014 on the suspicion that he was planning an attack on his Waseca high school, we have not heard from John LaDue, who is now trying to put his life back together.
Until today. Read more →
The Pioneer Press’ Frederick Melo today tells the amazing story of Florence Matadi, the mother of Olympic runner Emmanuel Matadi who is competing for Liberia in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
You won’t see her in the audience, nor mentioned by the announcers at the Games.
She’s mostly lived out of her car in St. Paul.
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