News

High costs of addiction

March 28th, 2018

Justin Dietrich and his dog, Harley Bell - FacebookFARGO – Justin Lee Dietrich was an addict. A long rap sheet haunted him, barring him from joining a society that rejected him at every turn. Court documents show he had issues with sobriety, was ordered by Cass County District Court to attend sobriety programs, chemical dependency evaluations, and given two years supervised probation, after he pled guilty to terrorizing charges in 2016.

Before four Fargo Police SWAT shooters took the 32-year-old man’s life on March 12 for posing an…

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​Piece of chicken lands Native man in jail… again

March 28th, 2018

Zebadiah Gartner before a sweat lodge ceremony - photograph by C.S. HagenFARGO – In January 2017, Zebadiah Gartner took an extra piece of chicken from a Cashwise Foods sample plate, and threw it away after workers said he could only eat one. A month later, Gartner – along with other participants – were pulled out of an Indigenous sweat lodge by Fargo Police wearing little but shorts in freezing temperatures.

The ensuing resisting arrest charge against Gartner was later dropped, but the theft charge stuck, and haunted him to the Fargo Amtrak Train…

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​Plea bargain struck in Minnesota MMIW case

March 27th, 2018

Laycie Jean Williams after attacker pled guilty to kidnapping - Facebook live feed snapshotST. PAUL – The case of a man charged with multiple counts – including kidnapping and strangulation assault – against an Indigenous woman, will not be going to trial.

On Monday, Derrick Jonathan Fasig, 24, pled guilty to felony kidnapping, but not guilty to four other charges of third degree criminal sex conduct – forced or coerced, possession of ammunition and a firearm, felony domestic assault, and domestic assault by strangulation, according to Ramsey County District Court…

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​March For Our Lives Fargo - largest march in recent history

March 24th, 2018

Hundreds of people gathered at the Sanctuary Events Center and then marched through downtown Fargo during the nationwide March For Our Lives event - photograph by C.S. HagenFARGO - The March For Our Lives event that began in Washington D.C. on Saturday by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivors, spread across the nation sparking more than 800 “sibling” marches, including a rally in Fargo/Moorhead that attracted hundreds.

March For Our Lives Fargo attracted more protesters to the Sanctuary Event Center than any other recent event. Organized by Moms Demand Action FM, speakers ranged from state legislators to teachers to students.

Nobody…

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​Fourth police shooting in 2018 sends local man to hospital

March 22nd, 2018

Orlando Estrada - Fargo Police DepartmentFARGO - Fargo police responded to a domestic dispute on Wednesday approximately 11:30 p.m. at 3101 32 Street South. After issuing commands for the male involved, Orlando Estrada, 28, to exit the apartment, Estrada reportedly brandished a large knife.

“An officer, who feared for his life, fired his service weapon striking Estrada,” a police press release stated. “Estrada retreated into the apartment and secured the door.”

After being shot in the side, and before being arrested,…

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​Puddles keeps on keepin’ on

March 21st, 2018

Puddles - photograph by Emily Butler PhotographyThe High Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview Puddles of Puddles Pity Party. The clown is known for his golden singing voice but chooses to remain silent in his everyday life -- but granted us an exclusive interview via email on his performance on America’s Got Talent, his experience with Postmodern Jukebox and what fuels his sadness.

High Plains Reader: Where or rather how did you find your golden voice?

Puddles: My MeeMaw says I came into this world singing a respectable…

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​One bad little sister: Patricia McCoy in her own words

March 21st, 2018

Patricia McCoy cover, photograph by Meg Luther Lindholm, design by Raul GomezBy Meg Luther Lindholm
meglutherlindholm@gmail.com

Patricia McCoy would say that her life journey has taken her to hell and back. She has survived experiences that would kill many, including drugs, five prison terms, and attempts by others to rob her of her life. She grew up in Chicago and Milwaukee, where life was a battleground and toughness and survival went hand in hand. Initially she had hopes for escaping the hardscrabble life she inherited. She worked hard to win a college…

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‘My spirit was broken’

March 21st, 2018

Laycie Jean Williams - photograph provided by Melanie StonemanST. PAUL – When Laycie Jean Williams accepted a train ticket to the Twin Cities in May 2017, she thought she was going to protest another pipeline. She’d already spent time on the frontlines at Standing Rock. As a new mother and a strong Dakota woman from the Crow Creek Tribe, eager to defend Native and environmental rights, she was tricked, she said, held captive for two weeks, threatened with knives, a long gun, beaten, raped, forced to kneel on a broomstick, and strangled into…

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LionsWay2

March 20th, 2018

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​Heitkamp defends bank regulatory rollback bill

March 19th, 2018

Senator Heidi Heitkamp during interview - photograph by Raul GomezGRAND FORKS - Five years of efforts working on passing Senate Bill 2155, or to roll back a part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul, has not won Senator Heidi Heitkamp favors among some in her own party. Senator Elizabeth Warren calls the bill the “Bank Lobbyist Act,” and she’s given multiple speeches on the Senate floor calling for Democrats to halt the bill’s passage.

Dan Rather, a journalist and former “CBS Evening News” anchor now working with “The…

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