News Cut: June 28, 2012 Archive

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The 'why' of Duluth (5x8 - 6/28/12)

Posted at 7:02 AM on June 28, 2012 by Bob Collins (11 Comments)
Filed under: Five by 8

Civil engineering - Duluth style, and old man behind the most popular blog today, who is 'Catholic,' hot enough for you, and rock paper robot.

Continue reading "The 'why' of Duluth (5x8 - 6/28/12)"

Ann Curry v. health care

Posted at 10:12 AM on June 28, 2012 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Tech

Twitter, as you may know, keeps track of what people are talking about. Across the country today, not surprisingly, "health care" dominated the Twitterverse.

In the Minneapolis area, however, health care played second fiddle to a TV morning show host...

(1 Comments)

The wildfire

Posted at 10:27 AM on June 28, 2012 by Bob Collins
Filed under: Disasters

About 300 homes, all within the Colorado Springs city limits, have been reduced to rubble from the wildfire coming down the mountains.

This is some amazing video of what it was like in one of those neighborhoods...

One of the people in the neighborhood didn't know the fate of his home, until he picked up a copy of the newspaper and saw it on the front page, in flames.

Defaced anti-racism billboard quickly replaced

Posted at 11:04 AM on June 28, 2012 by Bob Collins (10 Comments)
Filed under: Race

Our intrepid NewsCut reader/correspondent Ben Chorn tried to get down to East Fourth Street in Duluth quickly enough to get a picture of the defaced Un-Fair anti-racism campaign billboard. Someone had spraypainted " No Naggers" over the billboard, and painted a confederate flag.

But by the time Ben got there, the billboard company was leaving and had already replaced the intended message.

The original message of the anti-racism billboard was, "Ignore it and it won't go away."

There's irony here... somewhere.

The Duluth News Tribune has a picture of the defaced billboard.

On its Facebook page, a group opposed to the Un-Fair campaign condemned the vandalism, while saying it thinks it's part of the Un-Fair campaign.

(10 Comments)

A listen back on the health care arguments

Posted at 10:47 AM on June 28, 2012 by Bob Collins (2 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice

Looking for a little light listening about the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the health care law?

Might I suggest 85 of some of the most important minutes in U.S. history?

(2 Comments)

Blog housekeeping

Posted at 1:00 PM on June 28, 2012 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)

One of the advantages NewsCut has had over other blogs is the quality of the comments. They add value to the dissection of news.

Of late, however, I've noticed a general decline in some of the value and this usually goes hand in hand with people using fake names and fake e-mail addresses.

So, it's time to enforce an important -- if often ignored -- paragraph in the Terms of Use.

You may not post any messages misrepresenting yourself as someone else, or by using a false e-mail address. In MPR and APM forums and content contributions, you must post under your own username, and are responsible for all posts from your account.

When making a comment, please be sure to provide a real name and a real verifiable e-mail address.

(7 Comments)

Can cities and suburbs ever get along?

Posted at 1:12 PM on June 28, 2012 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)
Filed under: Economy

You can't convince me otherwise. The headline on this Associated Press story was filled with a backhanded slap at people who live in the suburbs, probably from a city slicker editor. I know who you are.

Now that we've settled the health care issue, we can turn to the war between people who live in the 'burbs vs. those who live in the city. Both, we presume, have their advantages and in the end, people are free to live where they want to live. So why is there always the subtext that people in the 'burbs should move to the city, or that some people in the city would find a better life in the 'burbs?

The Associated Press story isn't a lifestyle story that says young people have chosen a life because of its quality, per se; they've chosen it based on economic realities, which has often been the most influential factor in deciding where to live.

College debt, lousy jobs prospects, and available housing has forced many people to choose the city over the suburbs. Their generation is known as Generation Rent.

"I will never live in the suburbs," said Jaclyn King, 28, of Denver told the Associated Press.

"I much prefer living in the city," Symm Vafeades said. "There's just a lot more you can do without having to drive everywhere."

The good news, Symm and Jaclyn, is you don't have to. Nobody's making you move to the suburbs if you don't want to.

But, the story points out, the economics that has made cities attractive again, can just as easily push people back out....

They point to practical considerations such as better schools in the suburbs, continued government tax breaks for home ownership and subsidies for travel in rural areas, as well as rapidly rising downtown rents, that are likely to push young adults to the suburbs once they sort out decisions about jobs, kids and finances.

Some things never change.

(7 Comments)

1,000 Words: The wildfire

Posted at 1:40 PM on June 28, 2012 by Bob Collins
Filed under: Disasters

Some homes survived in Colorado; some didn't.

Around Colorado Springs, residents will learn at a meeting around 6 this afternoon whether there homes were destroyed. The Colorado Springs Gazette is live-blogging the firefighting efforts here.

Taking advantage of a flood

Posted at 3:42 PM on June 28, 2012 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice

Which is worse: A flood, or the people who take advantage of a flood?

At the River Place Campground on the St. Louis River, when campers escaped the floodwaters, they couldn't escape the thieves, Duluth Outdoors reports.