Culture

Mama : The First Word

May 11th, 2017

Ad Litteram is a new podcast series on words brought to you by HPR. What better way to begin a series on words than with the first human word?

The episode begins with the story of Joe Medicine Crow, a member of the Crow tribe of Montana. Joe was the first Crow to attend college, earning a master’s degree in anthropology in 1939. And while working on his doctorate a few years later, World War Two broke out.

Joe joined the army and fought with the 103rd Infantry Division. While in…

Read more...


​Isn’t my computer supposed to run faster?

May 10th, 2017

I hear that complaint from friends, relatives, business associates, and the occasional coffee shop customer about their computers running slower now than it did two years old when it was new.

Unfortunately, there are several reasons for this but I just want to cover the easiest ones here. Many computer users don’t realize that Windows needs plenty of room to stretch its legs.

In your daily computing, Windows will routinely swap out blocks of information to the hard drive from its…

Read more...


How to have effective online conversations

May 10th, 2017

Telling people how to act online is a tricky subject, because it’s hard to come off as anything other than patronizing.

As such, I’m not here to insist that there is any right way to act online, but I am here to share some tools I use to have effective conversations with people who disagree with me and my positions. These tools are not politically associated and I recommend their consideration by every person who uses social media.

Before I go on, I want to share that I didn’t…

Read more...


North Dakota: a hell for LGBTQ+

May 5th, 2017

Last week I shared why I was leaving North Dakota. The long and short of it is that by moving a few miles across a river I will gain access to healthcare I don’t have here and I will feel safer knowing that I live in a state that protects my rights in housing, public accommodation, and employment.

However, I’m one person and this story is so much more than me. To get a wider perspective I asked LGBTQ+ community members who have moved to share a bit of their story. I asked them why…

Read more...


​The Best of the Best: HPR seeks local heroes

May 4th, 2017

Each week we do our best to set the scene and let you know the whos and whats of Fargo-Moorhead. Once a year we reach out to you, our readers, to put in your two cents for the HPR’s Best of the Best, the area’s longest-running media poll, with over 20 years on the scene.

The voting will all be done online at http://botb2017.hpr1.com/ or via our Facebook page. We set up an online poll in which you nominate your favorite local heroes in the community and tell us where the action is, so…

Read more...


​Madam Melvina Massey and the Crystal Palace

May 3rd, 2017

The surface of the former city hall parking lot had been filled in, was much lower long ago.

It flooded nearly every spring, was called The Hollow, and was Fargo’s red light district, full of illegal swinging-door saloons -- and what are called “female boarding houses” in the old insurance maps.

The most famous house of prostitution in the history of the Red River Valley was Melvina Massey’s Crystal Palace, at what was once 201 Third Street North.

Until recently, there was a…

Read more...


​Printing importance

April 27th, 2017

I have purchased many computer printers in my time, some good, some bad, some terrible! It has always been a necessary evil to have a printer on your desk.

Early dot matrix printers were a nightmare to keep running, keep the paper from jamming, keep the ink cartridges fresh and making sure you made the monthly payment after you charged the printer on your VISA card.

All of that is changed (except for paying for it). You still hear about the headaches caused by printers in the review…

Read more...


​A tale of two saunas

April 26th, 2017

Finland won its independence from Russia on December 9, 1917, but the Red River Finns, Nordic Culture Clubs, and Folkways are celebrating early, in the most Finnish possible way, by hosting a sauna in the Viking Ship Park in Moorhead, near the Hjemkomst Center.

“We are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns,” said Adolf Ivar Arwidsson (1791-1858), and we agree entirely, even if it’s only for two days -- and being Finnish means lengthy and repeated…

Read more...


It’s time to move out of North Dakota

April 26th, 2017

I have lived in North Dakota my whole life, and up to a point I had hoped to continue to living here. I wanted to make a positive change in this state and make it a place I was proud to be a resident of.

With this goal I have written over thirty articles, provided mentoring for the last three years, and delivered cultural competency training to a number of organizations. I’ve testified in front of a house committee on the need of protections and watched hundreds of others through the…

Read more...


​The return of the Flatout Fargo

April 26th, 2017

Schollander Pavilion, in West Fargo, was home to many aspiring motorcycle racers from late 1969 until 1980. Every Saturday night from fall to spring, daredevils would roll up to the starting line seeking victory.

The Schollander is known for close quarters indoor motorcycle racing action across North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Montana and Canada, attracting over one hundred entries. Fans would find the danger factor extreme, with a dozen motorcycles flying inches…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry FPL2 Tracker Pixel for Entry staveq1 Tracker Pixel for Entry WurstWest Tracker Pixel for Entry Empire Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck Tracker Pixel for Entry 7Clans

Recently in:

By Bryce Vincent Haugen There are three Fargo Park Board seats up for election June 9. Park Board President Vicki Dawson and long-time member Dr. Joe Deutsch announced their reelection bids, but board member Aaron Hill is vacating…

By Michael M. Miller Rev. Salomon Joachim, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Beulah, North Dakota., delivered an address to the Western Conference of the Dakota District of the American Lutheran Church in 1939. His presentation was…

Thursday, April 23, 7 p.m.Fargodome, 1800 University Dr. N, FargoHeralded as "The Nicest Man in Stand-Up" by The Atlantic, Nate Bargatze is also one of the top-grossing comedians, breaking both streaming and attendance records. Now…

By Sabrina Hornung In the last week of March, we heard about an AI education droid visiting the White House as the first lady made a pitch to replace teachers with androids. In an interview with conservative commentator Benny…

By Ed RaymondWhy do women make up only 2% of humans on death row? In the 16th Century, when the Roman Catholic Pope refused to grant Henry VIII of England a divorce so he could marry the beautiful Anne Boleyn, he told the Pope and…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gion A brand new food event called the "ONE BITE Challenge" will launch in downtown Fargo on May 23. Rocky Schneider, executive director of the Downtown Community Partnership told us more. HPR: Hi Rocky. Thank you for…

By John ShowalterAs hip-hop started to make its way into the national spotlight in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was largely split into two camps, “East Coast” and “West Coast”. Not content to be left out of a…

By Blaise Balas As many Fargoans will tell you, it is almost vanishingly rare that our town gets any kind of major recognition, let alone placement in a movie. Movies are reserved for New York, Chicago, Boston — you know, the big…

By Sabrina Hornung Something wicked (and wonderful) this way comes to this year’s Plains Art Gala. With the theme being “Nightmare at the Museum,” the Plains Art Museum is partnering up with Drekker and Brewhalla as…

Saturday, January 31, 6:30-9 p.m.Transfiguration Fitness, 764 34th St. N., Unit P, FargoAn enchanting evening celebrating movement and creativity in a staff-student showcase. This is a family-friendly event showcasing pole, aerial…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Ellie Liverani In November 2025, the FDA initiated the removal of the “black box” warning from Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). The “black box” warning is a FAD safety warning for healthcare providers and patients…

January 31, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.Viking Ship Park, 202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead2026 marks 10 years of frosty fun! Enjoy sauna sessions with Log the Sauna, try Snowga (yoga in the snow), take a guided snowshoe nature hike, listen to live…

By Chris M. StonerBryon Noem deserves to feel shame. Not for his bimbofication fetish. As a drag queen for nearly a quarter of a century, I whole-heartedly think people should do more exploration of their gender and sexual…