News

‘Agents of the devil’

April 17th, 2019

Screenshot of Michael Anthony Peroutka speaking at a church in early March - Facebook

On the masthead of the New Song Church’s Facebook page is a picture of the word IDENTITY along with a fingerprint.

A quick search of the word’s meaning leads to the proper definition, also to extremist right wing groups such as one from Portland called Identity, and also to a religious movement to redefine what Christianity means. Religious links pertaining to identity also lead to St. Charles, Missouri and the Staley family, specifically to Jim Staley, who was sentenced to seven…

‘Government is like a steamroller’

April 17th, 2019

Chief Darrell Graf teaching firefighting techniques 2012 - Facebook

Former Medina Police Chief Darrell Graf was 23 years old when Gordon Wendell Kahl and his posse-men killed two and wounded three lawmen along rural Highway 30 outside of Medina. Kahl’s son Yorie was also severely wounded during the shootout, and is currently in prison.

Graf attended Dr. Clarence Martin’s Constitution Party meetings at the Medina clinic before the shootout in 1983, and listened to Kahl’s speeches, finding some truth, including Kahl’s belief that income taxes only…

North Dakota Rep. linked to extremist political group

April 17th, 2019

Congressman Kelly Armstrong during the ND GOP Convention 2018 - photograph by C.S. Hagen

MANDAN, ND – The state’s lone Congressman is an online member of a grassroots group promoting Constitutional interpretations shadowing anti-government movements.

Newly elected Kelly Armstrong, the Republican shoo-in who filled Senator Kevin Cramer’s seat after beating attorney Mac Schneider, a Democrat, in November 2018, is one of the 77 members of the North Dakota Constitutional Grassroots Movement, or CGM.

While the political organization – including another named North Dakota…

‘Does he not consider us real Americans?’

April 17th, 2019

Screenshot of state Senator Oley Larsen's comment on Facebook

BISMARCK – The day a U.S. Congressional House election subcommittee traveled to Standing Rock to hear Native leaders speak about being disenfranchised from voting in North Dakota, a state senator posted to social media saying they should abstain if they don’t like it.

“If they are denouncing our voting then they should obtain [abstain] from voting,” state Senator Oley Larsen, a Republican from Minot wrote on a story published online by KX News. “We do have rules.”

Larsen,…

Vinyl is Back with a Vengeance

April 10th, 2019

Once upon a time in 2007, a group of independent record store owners and employees had a discussion that would help shape the music scene for years to come. They recognized the resurgence of interest in vinyl records and wanted to celebrate the unique culture that was sprouting up right in front of them.

The hipster movements of the early 2000s, the growing obsoleteness of CDs, and the yearning for physical items in the transition to the digital age all contributed to the second coming…

Right wing media attack Rep. Buffalo, again…

April 9th, 2019

Ruth Buffalo, while running for the North Dakota House of Representatives for West Fargo's District 27 - photograph by C.S. Hagen

FARGO – Persistent and seemingly coordinated attacks from area media outlets against Representative Ruth Buffalo have pushed her to become one of the more successful legislators of 2019.

Four bills and one resolution were signed into law, she said. Her bills range from allowing students to wear cultural regalia at graduation ceremonies, to hotels, schools, and law enforcement training on missing and murdered Indigenous prevention and awareness. She has also introduced legislation for…

‘Turn around, don’t drown’

April 6th, 2019

Ice jam against 12th Avenue Bridge crossing into Moorhead, MN - photograph by C.S. Hagen

FARGO – Ice jams along the Red River are slowing snow runoff, keeping Fargo and other areas in North Dakota on the list for possible flooding. At 8:15 Saturday morning, the Red River rose another three feet since Friday cresting at 33.1 feet.

Major flood stage is 30 feet, the National Weather Service reported.

“Still expecting Red River at Fargo to crest at 35 feet around early Monday,” the National Weather Service reported. “The presence of ice in area river channels is slowing…

A look over time at the affordability squeeze of downtown’s development

April 3rd, 2019

Design by Raul Gomez

By Meg Luther Lindholm
meglutherlindholm@gmail.com

It’s no secret to anyone who has lived or worked in downtown Fargo for a long time that the area has changed dramatically – and not always for the better.

There’s no question that downtown badly needed a facelift which it has now with new shops, restaurants, bars, and businesses aligned on and around Broadway. Many recent graduates of the area’s colleges now choose to stay rather than leave, working at startup companies and taking…

‘We are under pressure’

March 26th, 2019

Student lifting 30-pound sandbags to help fight Fargo's Spring Flood 2019 - photograph by C.S. Hagen

FARGO – Round one of Fargo’s Spring Flood 2019 fight went to the volunteers, many of whom were middle school students. Helped by two large sand-dispensing “spiders” – a tactic used during the 2009 flood to speed up production – mostly eighth graders produced more than 15,000 sandbags Tuesday morning.

Rock music mixed with dust, the heavy droning roar of conveyor belts, forklifts, and backhoes added a sense of excitement to Fargo Sandbag Central on the first day of the…

‘Fridguary’ and spring rains major concerns as Fargo readies for Spring Flood 2019

March 25th, 2019

Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney and Cass County Commissioner Mary Scherling at flood press conference - City of Fargo stream screenshot

FARGO – Weeks after a mayoral proclamation announcing February as “Fridguary,” Mayor Tim Mahoney traveled 50 miles south over the weekend, and was amazed at the amount of snow waiting to melt.

“The people no longer say North Dakota is flat, thanks to the Fargo snow mountains,” Mahoney said in the comedic proclamation declaring February as Fridguary.

Although Mahoney's proclamation was comedic, the possible flood situation in the Red River Valley and beyond is not, officials…