Culture

Giving special thanks to those who didn’t serve

April 11th, 2015

By Tim Shannon

With summer just around the corner, the winter doldrums are giving way to the joy of spring and that has left me feeling a little thankful.

I'm thankful my first winter back in the Fargo-Moorhead area in over 20 years was a mild one and that I missed the nasty winter they experienced in Maryland, where I used to live.

I'm thankful for my health and the Veteran's Administration for helping me to stay healthy.

Great friends are another thing I am particularly thankful for. They…

GROUP THINK, redefined

April 1st, 2015

GROUP THINK team members Josh Hoper, Nicole Mattson, Brittany Sickler and Karl Warner // Photo by Brandon Hass

A new local program called GROUP THINK is inviting the community to engage with strangers.Fueled by the principle of community inclusiveness, GROUP THINK gathers speakers of diverse backgrounds to share their perspectives and experiences with an attentive audience on the second Wednesday of every month at The Stage at Island Park.

Karis Thompson / Photo by Penny Burns “We spend most of our lives as Americans and as a Fargo-Moorhead community with people with whom we have something in common,” said Karis Thompson, an…

Lost and Found: A local woman’s search to find the lost

April 1st, 2015

Lissa Yellowbird-Chase / Photo by Raul Gomez

Odd Jobs: Part 2

A Fargo woman spends her free time helping search for missing persons in western North Dakota. Lissa Yellowbird-Chase takes weekends to travel across the state at her own expense, usually at families’ requests, to learn more about those who’ve gone missing in unsolved cases.

Yellowbird-Chase works as a welder at TrueNorth Steel, but she used to be a tribal attorney on her native Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. Through Facebook, she was asked by friends and family…

Peaceful protests against circus

March 11th, 2015

From March 27 to 29, peaceful demonstrations will be held in front of the FargoDome against the Shrine Circus, which will be performing on those dates in the mornings, evenings and afternoons. The demonstrations will take place before the shows begin.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, circus animals are routinely beaten with clubs and bullhooks, electrocuted with cattle prods, and confined to small, often unsanitary cages and boxcars with no heat or air conditioning…

The Fargo-Moorhead St. Patrick’s Parade: grassroots and very green

March 4th, 2015

By Brittney Goodman

The Fargo-Moorhead St. Patrick’s Parade elicits many memories for Kim Mahli, who has been involved since its inception in 1996: “This all began in people’s houses with a potluck and a few casseroles and kids running around.” Today, the family-focus and grassroots spirit continues. The parade is an annual downtown event, usually on the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day.

The first parade that almost wasn’t

According to the all-Irish Brian Quigley, it was a…

Working for change: Getting to know Jan Eliassen of the Gladys Rays Shelter

February 19th, 2015

This week, we are kicking off a new series of articles that will periodically profile those with unique, rare and odd jobs in the community. Last Sunday at the 2nd Annual Bartenders Battle, HPR raised over $2,700 for the Gladys Ray Shelter and Veterans Drop In Center, a homeless shelter in Fargo that takes in those in our community that others won’t.

As chronic homelessness has become a problem in Fargo-Moorhead in recent years, it became apparent of a need for a shelter that would…

Sing Our Rivers Red honors and raises awareness for murdered and missing indigenous women

February 4th, 2015

For Native women Hannabah Blue, Tanaya Winder and Patty Stonefish, it’s about giving a voice to the voiceless. It’s about what Winder calls “heart work.”

Through music, poetry, speakers, visual art, community and more, these women are helping build awareness for murdered and missing indigenous women from throughout United States and Canada.

The weeklong event, Sing Our Rivers Red or SORR, will be the first of its kind in the nation – and it’s taking place right here in…

Celebrating ‘choice’

February 4th, 2015

Friday, Jan. 23, was a delicious night of Choice Desserts, an annual fundraiser for the Red River Women’s Clinic, taking place at the Alumni Center at North Dakota State University. As the only abortion clinic in North Dakota, the RRWC also serves women of northwestern Minnesota and northern South Dakota.

The desserts included lemon bars from Scratch Deli, cupcakes from Bakeology and Love in the Oven Bakery, almond bars from Josie’s Corner Café & Bake Shop, and caramel-apple pie…

HPR under the microscope

January 28th, 2015

Communication analysis course reaps many findings for writers and readers

In my collegiate quest to become a journalist, my major’s curriculum guide plopped me in COMM 320: Communication Analysis last fall, a charming class devoted to communication research and analyzing media and messages.

A term paper project dominated the semester, with mixed methods research, content analysis and qualitative and quantitative information-gathering approaches all playing roles in answering the…

All About That Beethoven

January 28th, 2015

“Dit-dit-dit-DAAAH.”

The man behind the most famous notes in classical music is at the root of a month-long festival set to start this Saturday. It’s BeethovenFest, the inaugural event of events from WinterArts aiming to keep February warm with weeks of cultural and educational entertainment.

Spearheaded by Theatre B and the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, BeethovenFest celebrates the life and legacy of Ludwig van Beethoven, the German composer of classical music fame.

From arts…