Culture

El Futuro de HPR

January 14th, 2015

As we drive into the “El Pitial,” the other side of the tracks in Puerto Vallarta, I ask Marcos if he believes in the occult. He’s in his late 30s, about my age, his cab dash is bedazzled in this sparkly blue material. There’s a smallish piñata on his dashboard along with a crucifix. No, he flatly says. “Is there anyone in your family that does?” I ask. He tells me about his aunt that takes her quartz crystals to the Aztec pyramids — there’s a tone of skepticism in his…

U.S. Senate Internship Experience

December 23rd, 2014

Senator Heidi Heitkamp and Mohyeldin Omer

By Mohyeldin Omer

Interning with Senator Heitkamp has been such a wonderful and interesting experience. I first met the Senator in 2012 when she was a candidate. In December 2013 I met her again at her Washington, DC office to discuss matters concerning refugees. Upon first meeting the senator, I knew immediately that she was an open person, who attentively listened to issues such as practical steps the U.S. government can take to help alleviate the suffering of refugees. By the end of…

How to turn cans into camels

December 21st, 2014

By Jessica Steinke

On a sunny summer day in Wahpeton, N.D., 4-year-old Olivia runs along the fence of the camels' habitat at the Chahinkapa Zoo. Her blonde curls bounce with excitement as she examines her favorite animals. Olivia is a frequent patron of the Chahinkapa Zoo, where she enjoys seeing her beloved pair of Bactrian camels. As she's poised along the fence, the brown camels stand on their lumpy knees, gnawing their daily rations of grain. Their two humps, heavy eyelashes and…

Put down the phone and drive

December 17th, 2014

Today’s society is obsessed with being connected and having to scroll the most recent Facebook feed. This is not just a problem with the younger generation; even grandparents are guilty of not putting down their cell phones. This becomes a huge problem when people try to juggle the obsession with driving.

“People need to focus on what they are really supposed to be doing, and that is driving,” said Lt. Joel Vettel of the Fargo Police Department.

Vettel said the local police…

All in a Day’s Work

December 12th, 2014

It is 4:45 a.m. as Nancy Kelly reaches her destination, Labor Masters Employment Services. In about 45 minutes Nancy's business will be bustling with anxious folks waiting by the ear for phone calls from employers’ ephemeral interest for help on the job.

Back in 2011, I too was one of the many millennials who marched towards a career in my desired field, armed with a college degree and debilitating tuition debt. After six months of my near hopeless search, I found Heartland Labor, a…

Here comes SantaCon

December 10th, 2014

By Brittney Goodman

If you are in downtown Fargo on Saturday, Dec. 13, do not be alarmed if you see a horde of Santas on Broadway or a Santa lifting his beard to drink a pint at your favorite bar. SantaCon is once again coming to Fargo (and to approximately 130 other cities around the world). In Fargo, this pub crawl is not only about having a jolly good time at downtown pubs; it also raises money and gathers donated items for the Gladys Ray Shelter and Veteran’s Drop-In Center. The…

A very prairie christmas

December 3rd, 2014

Longtime Valley City event makes new home at West Fargo’s Bonanzaville

Bonanzaville’s Christmas on the Prairie is a long-held tradition at the West Fargo pioneer village, and another event may soon be sidelining it for annual appearances.

“We’re in the Christmas Mood,” a Christmas dinner and concert, will follow the afternoon Christmas on the Prairie, making its first appearance here after 19 years in Valley City. With vocalists and musicians of the EBC Fraternity Alumni…

Codeher

December 3rd, 2014

Photo by J Earl Miller / Design by Raul Gomez

Girl Develop It provides women with the tools to develop software

Shannon Luney and Megan Beck are the co-leaders of the Fargo chapter of Girl Develop It, a national nonprofit that focuses on empowering women to learn how to code computers and develop software. Its launch party last October was the first event of its kind in the FM area. There are 45 chapters in cities throughout the U.S. and it continues to grow. The organization was enacted in 2010 and hopes to reach international…

A Spelling Bee for A-D-U-L-T-S

November 19th, 2014

Erik Block

On Saturday, Nov. 22, The Beefsteak Club in downtown Fargo will host its inaugural adult spelling bee competition. Thirty competitors will duke it out, whilst swilling adult beverages, in a battle royal for spelling supremacy. Watch brave contestants attempt to outlast one another as they slur the spellings to difficult words such as “logorrhea,” “onomatopoeia” and “lagniappe.”

To the victor go the spoils: the winner will be awarded a first place trophy as well as a $200 gift…

Pachyderm Recovery Project revisited

November 19th, 2014

Search for Horace Mann circus elephant puts the legend under the microscope

An elephant is buried under Horace Mann Elementary school. At least, local legend tells us this.

It’s a story almost as old as Fargo itself: an elephant with a traveling circus died during a tour stop in town and was buried on the land where Horace Mann now stands.

The legend has persisted through the ages, through Horace Mann alumni, employees and neighborhood residents. Today, however, the story that has lost…