Editorial

We get by with a little help from our friends

September 21st, 2017

Our opinion: We’re more than the sum of our parts

Over the weekend I was telling a friend of mine that one of the most valuable things a person can gain in life is perspective. My time at the High Plains Reader has gifted me just that.

Last week John Strand led our 23 year birthday cheer. I’m happy to say that I’ve had the privilege of serving as editor-in-chief for two of those years. As cliched as it may sound, time flies when you’re having fun, right?

It has been simultaneously…

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Thanks to you, HPR is now going forward in its 24th year

September 13th, 2017

The Little Newspaper That Could turned 24 last week. Although it was without much fanfare, it’s an accomplishment that is without compare in Fargo over the past many decades. We are proud to say the least.

HPR is the people’s paper. It’s distributed for free and we have thousands of readers weekly. Our press run weekly typically exceeds 12,000 papers. We have several hundred business partners who allow HPR to be distributed at their locations. Additionally, thousands more read our…

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The heart and soul of Ralph’s Corner

September 6th, 2017

Our opinion: We are made of memories, all of us.

It’s always tough to talk about people passing and in the last few years there have been many friends, acquaintances and icons that have left us. This past week I have had five people that I knew and have shared time with pass away, and yes, it’s sad.

The first thing I did was try to remember the good times, the memories. For some it was many and for others I had to think about a long time ago when we shared our time.

Donald Wood was my…

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Pick your poison

August 30th, 2017

Our opinion: Don’t fear the pigweed

One man’s nuisance might be another man’s super food. Palmer Amaranth is a known nuisance to farmers in the southeastern part of the United States, and is slowly making its way through the Midwest.

It’s reported to be damaging to machinery with its thick woody stems, limits soybean and corn yields and according to an article in The Jamestown Sun “Palmer’s Amaranth was voted the most troublesome weed in the U.S. by the Weed Science Society…

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A little art on the prairie

August 16th, 2017

Our opinion: We all breathe the same air, and we all drank the same beer.

Last weekend I helped a pal plan a small festival in an even smaller town. In fact, you may find me bartending there once in a blue moon, flexing my extensive knowledge of cheap beer and rail whiskeys if Janet (their regular bartendress) needs a night off. We invited an eclectic group of talented musicians from across North Dakota and even asked our pals to bring in a pop-up art show in the old WPA-era town…

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Piepkorn wins the Breitbart lotto

August 9th, 2017

Our opinion: More than serendipity: Breitbart writer at City Commission meeting

Last October 22nd, Fargo made a headline in Breitbart news when City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn made an announcement at a commission meeting that took place on October 10th. He wanted to know how much is paid for each refugee that settles here, who decides how many are settled here and does Lutheran Social Services have any responsibility once a placement is made.

It was a meeting like any other, except for a…

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​Guest editorial: Oslo music, squatting, street art, crime, and alternative lifestyles.

August 2nd, 2017

Oslo, Norway and the strangely unfamiliar

Since June 22, five student reporters have been publishing from the field on music, entertainment, and culture and all things Norwegian.

Last year, HPR, my former collegiate reporting stomping grounds, joined forces with my journalism study abroad program (www.ieiMedia.com/oslo) to offer students a chance to publish and readers a different view of the world. ieiMedia employs journalism faculty in the summers to produce international experiential…

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Who asked you?

July 26th, 2017

Our opinion: You cannot fool all the people all the time, unless they are from North Dakota.

This week Gallup poll reported that at 59% North Dakota has the second largest Trump approval rating in the nation, nipping at West Virginia’s heels with their 60% approval rating and South Dakota ranked third with 57%. Really guys? We’re more conservative than South Dakota?

What we would like to know is.. Who did they ask? According to gallup.com “ Daily results are based on telephone…

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A personal glass ceiling?

July 18th, 2017

"No, not rich. I am a poor man with money, which is not the same thing."

-Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This idea is something that has been gnawing at me for awhile, but I don't know where to express these thoughts or how to communicate them. I grew up between poverty and working class, where our family vacation was spending two nights in a hotel with a pool every other year. It was an environment and class capital that replicates itself, because the aspirations of college or something more…

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Back in Oslo

June 28th, 2017

By Robert Reeder

robertreeder@me.com

I am back in Oslo after living and working here for a month last summer. Nearly two full weeks passed this year before I noticed that I was going places without a map, getting on and off of metros without paying much attention to the signs indicating the upcoming stops. I pretty much knew where I was going like I do in Washington DC, where I live.

As part of the ieiMedia study abroad program in 2016, we were fortunate enough to have a local instructor…

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