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1) THE CHOICE THAT'S NO CHOICE AT ALL       

In a state where one out of every seven drivers has a conviction for driving under the influence, we rather expected more debate over last week's Minnesota Supreme Court ruling (

) that police don't need warrants to extract urine or blood to determine whether drivers are drunk or stoned.

At issue is the state's implied consent law. Technically, you have a "choice" whether to submit to testing. If you do, of course, it can be used against you in court. If you don't, under the law, you could be charged with a crime. What kind of a choice is that? The law was based on the assumption that people would delay making the choice until they sobered up.

After the ruling, the anonymous public defender who writes the blog, 

, wrote a scathing review of the decision:

That sent several us to Twitter to discuss the post and the decision again, 

What case might eventually reach the court that will better test the state's implied consent law? I couldn't help but notice this line in 

 who was sentenced to probation and ordered to give 100 speeches about the death of his daughter, who died when the SUV he was driving drunk plunged through the ice of Lake Minnetonka:

We The People Are Being Misled: The Truth About Constitutional Amendments

Jennifer Ball of Minneapolis, who writes on the 

 blog, was helping on a food drive at her child's school recently. Collections were going well, she said. The bins were full of things like rice pasta, artichoke hearts packed in seasoned oil, gluten-free crackers, olive tapenade and quinoa.

"The parents at this school are amazing," she said.

That's when a woman walking by added, "Those people won’t know what most of that is. I mean, really, quinoa?”

She wanted to tell the woman with the condescending comment off, of course. But she didn't.

“Well yes, of course," the woman replied. "You’re not one of those people.”

Nice Ride Minnesota, the people who put the bikes-for-rent at locations all around the Twin Cities, has sued the Canadian company that provides the hardware for the bike-share program.

The company in Montreal, in a classic display of linguistic gymnastics, acknowledges it's having liquidity problems but blames it on strong international sales.

Nice Ride wants to expand its system and The

 in the Twin Cities in 2013, with the number of people hopping on a bike up 9 percent over 2012.

Bike helmet mandate for all sought by pediatricians

Last month, Margaret Vos, the retired director of St. Cloud State University Atwood Memorial Center, was asked if she'd take part in Shave for the Cure, an event to raise awareness and money for breast cancer. A few hours after saying "yes," she was diagnosed with breast cancer, the 

Sturdy, blonde, and Scandinavian. That's what many people think of when you say Minnesota. How different are we, really? TPT's new series, "Are You MN Enough," tackles the question.

Bonus I: Part of me wants to have a life simple enough that I can make 

 the highlight of my day, and life, apparently.

Bonus II: And for this one, I have no words. San Diego State's annual Halloween game.

Why Are Kids Who Get Less Candy Happier On Halloween?

N.Y. School Bus Driver Saves Suicidal Woman From Jumping; Students Cheer

Does voting support a broken political system?

 (9-12 p.m.) - First hour: Immigration reform makes strange political bedfellows.

Third hour: One of America’s most popular living poets, Billy Collins, discusses his new collection of poems “Aimless Love.”

 (12-1 pm):  MPR's Laura McCallum moderates St. Paul mayoral debate with Chris Coleman and Tim Holden.

 -  The little-known cost of war: the devastating consequences that burn pits have on soldiers.

(3-6:30 p.m.) -  MPR hosts the final debate in the St. Paul mayor's race between incumbent Chris Coleman and his primary challenger, Tim Holden.  MPR's Curtis Gilbert will wrap it up.

Forty years ago, a movie frightened audiences out of their wits. The director says the trick was that The Exorcist had a long, suspenseful build up. It took almost an hour before the really scary stuff began. NPR considers the Exorcist at 40  and a conversation with the man who made it. 

NewsCut

Bob Collins

Author

Why you don't have a choice whether to submit to drunk driving testing,  the hungry people,  a bumpy ride for Nice Ride's supplier,  Shave for the Cure in St. Cloud,  and how Scandinavian are we really?

Drunk drivers, ‘those people,’ Nice Rides, shaved heads, and Scandinavians (5 x 8 – 10/31/13)

Go Deeper.

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