News

​Native adoption scammer released to the Centre, Inc.

July 1st, 2019

The Centre Inc. - photograph by C.S. Hagen

FARGO – Six months after receiving a more than four-year sentence, Betty Jo Krenz was released to a minimum-security rehabilitation center.

Krenz, 48, of Woodworth, pleaded guilty in January under the Alford plea, which means she acknowledged there was enough evidence to be convicted, but refused to admit to felony theft of property involving faking adoptions of Native children.

Krenz was released to the Centre in Fargo, or Centre, Inc., according to the North Dakota Department of…

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‘Be Fierce’

June 26th, 2019

Wet plate photograph by Shane Balkowitsch, design by Raul Gomez

BISMARCK– In 2016, Debra Haaland cooked green chili and tortillas at the Standing Rock Sioux camps pitched against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Bringing food was her traditional way of contributing to the fight against the $3.8 billion pipeline.

She stayed in the camps for four days that September, but the environmental cause she came to support has resounded not only within her, but around the world.

“I first saw it on Facebook, but more and more people were coming out here from New…

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​Fargo Officials, Community Members Mull Over Safety of Downtown

June 26th, 2019

Fargo Police cordon area near downtown after shooting in 2018 - photograph by C.S. Hagen

By Melissa Gonzalez
melissam.gonzalez@outlook.com

In the early morning hours of Friday, June 7, Kareem Lee Byrd, 19, and Charles Edward Harris III, 30, allegedly fatally shot Jason “Hollywood” Halvorson at 601 4th St. N, close to his Texas BBQ food truck.

The homicide shocked the downtown district of Fargo. Conversations across social media and news outlets demonstrated peoples’ fear of rising crime in the city that’s coinciding with the growth its experiencing.

According to the…

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​Fight or Flight: King House will remain open

June 21st, 2019

King House Buffet and Kilbourne Group's Block 9 construction in background - photograph by C.S. Hagen

FARGO – The first time Cindy Chen saw snowflakes she fell in love, not only with Fargo – the city – but soon afterwards with her husband, Bojin Chen.

Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d one day be part owner of King House Buffet, a downtown icon that has changed little in more than 20 years. She’s kept the ambiance and the recipes alive and the same as when she ate there as a customer years ago while studying for her accounting degrees at North Dakota State…

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​‘North Dakota has created a climate to allow hate crimes to exist’

June 19th, 2019

Stephanie Johnson, Michelle Rydz, Kirsten Dauphinais, David Chapman, and Crystal Dueker - members present during the US Commission on Civil Rights meeting - photograph by C.S. Hagen

By C.S. Hagen and Melissa Gonzalez
FARGO – A public meeting to begin laying the groundwork toward establishing better hate crime legislation across the state soured Wednesday afternoon receiving criticism and spurring two people to leave early.

The North Dakota Advisory Committee – a federally appointed group assigned by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2017 to study and then advise lawmakers on how to address hate speech and hate crimes – is comprised of a total of 11 people…

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Women in Bad Lands

June 12th, 2019

Design by Raul Gomez

THE BADLANDS – “I just want to flip the proverbial bird to North Dakota as I leave,” Sarah Gulenchyn said. She took a last drag off her American Spirit – burned quick to the filter – before stamping it out. The door to her 1989 Toyota 4Runner creaked loudly. Rust claimed much of the siding, but nicknamed the “Zombie Toyota,” the 30-year-old pickup refuses to die.

Sliding behind the steering wheel Gulenchyn – an engineer and oil field project surveyor – is leaving the…

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​My Favorite Martins

June 5th, 2019

Design by Raul Gomez

On Friday comedy legends Steve Martin and Martin Short will be bringing their unique variety show to the stage at Bluestem. HPR had the opportunity to chat with the two about their friendship, their careers and their big show.

High Plains Reader: Have you ever been to Fargo/Moorhead?

Steve Martin: About a million times, since the late 60s, I’d tour as a comedian. As an opening act for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, I feel like Moorhead was a part of the vocabulary of our travels.

HPR:…

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Antiques ROADSHOW: ‘A spoonful of sugar’

June 1st, 2019

After shaking hands with the owner, appraiser Jeffrey Shrader transfixed on the Holy Grail of World War I helmets - photograph by C.S. Hagen

FARGO – The copper snake knife came with a warning in 1984: never touch the blade; it was poisoned. For decades the knife was kept in grandpa’s nightstand touched only under his watchful eye.

After being inspected by PBS’s Antiques ROADSHOW, the mystery dissolved, but the heirloom became no less important. The blade and handmade bamboo sheath were $25-dollar trinkets that islanders sold soldiers during World War II in the Pacific Theater. The decorative Hitler Youth knife made by…

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PBS’s Antiques ROADSHOW comes to Bonanzaville

May 22nd, 2019

Design by Raul Gomez

FARGO - Rain or shine, the Fargo Antiques ROADSHOW is scheduled to last all day on June 1 at Bonanzaville. The show is part of a five-city tour, and the venues are chosen for their historic significance. As all tickets are pre-ordered everyone attending is encouraged to bring items they would like appraised.

“We’re excited to visit Fargo and experience such an exceptional location,” ROADSHOW executive producer Marsha Bemko said. “Filming at Bonanzaville will allow our cameras to…

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​Case of the missing mosaic

May 22nd, 2019

Bonanzaville Executive Director Brenda Warren looks over the Great Depression era mosaics made from North Dakota clay that will be on display and priced during the Antique Road Show - photograph by C.S. Hagen

FARGO – Nine Great Depression era mosaics included in a Bonanzaville collection to be priced by the Antiques ROADSHOW on June 1 carry a 40-year-old mystery nobody has been able to solve.

One of the pieces – of an entire collection of 11 depicting characteristic themes of the state – was stolen in the mid 1970s. Each piece is unique, a framed mosaic plaque made from North Dakota clay. Bonanzaville purchased nine pieces through the Pioneer Daughters in 1935 for approximately $75, and…

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