News

‘You were charged, you appeared, and you pled guilty’

April 2nd, 2018

Zebadiah Gartner after paying $400 fine for piece of chicken - photograph by C.S. HagenFARGO – Zebadiah Gartner worked with family over the weekend to raise money for a fine and court fees to pay for an extra piece of sample chicken he took from Cashwise Foods in January 2017. Family and community pitched in; proceeds from an Indian Taco event helped Gartner raise the needed $500.

On Monday morning, however, expecting Mayor Tim Mahoney’s weekend plea for leniency in his case to have some effect, Gartner was hoping for a lower fine. Fargo’s Municipal Court Judge…

Read more...


​Mayor calls for leniency

March 30th, 2018

Zebadiah Gartner participating in murdered and missing Indigenous women march - photograph by C.S. HagenFARGO – So far, an extra sample boneless Buffalo Wing at Cashwise Foods has cost Zebadiah Gartner $500 in fines and court fees, a $54 ticket to Montana, and two nights at the Cass County Jail.

Gartner, 21, an Anishinaabe, doesn’t remember any signs limiting how many sample pieces he could eat at Cashwise Foods in January 2017. He does, however, remember an undercover shopper following him around the store.

“Yeah he was following,” Gartner said. He believes he was profiled. “I…

Read more...


​Embracing the Midwest in the southwest

March 28th, 2018

Brennen Leigh finds her honky tonk heaven - design by Raul GomezMoorhead, Minnesota native Brennen Hulbert, maybe now better known as Brennen Leigh, has become a fixture of the Austin music scene. The country music songstress moved to Austin at 19 and has made quite the name for herself in the 15 years that she’s been on the scene bouncing between there and Nashville.

Since then she has found herself writing for big-name acts in Nashville, tours the United States and Europe, and the late great Guy Clark even sang her praises by saying, "Brennen…

Read more...


High costs of addiction

March 28th, 2018

Justin Dietrich and his dog, Harley Bell - FacebookFARGO – Justin Lee Dietrich was an addict. A long rap sheet haunted him, barring him from joining a society that rejected him at every turn. Court documents show he had issues with sobriety, was ordered by Cass County District Court to attend sobriety programs, chemical dependency evaluations, and given two years supervised probation, after he pled guilty to terrorizing charges in 2016.

Before four Fargo Police SWAT shooters took the 32-year-old man’s life on March 12 for posing an…

Read more...


​Piece of chicken lands Native man in jail… again

March 28th, 2018

Zebadiah Gartner before a sweat lodge ceremony - photograph by C.S. HagenFARGO – In January 2017, Zebadiah Gartner took an extra piece of chicken from a Cashwise Foods sample plate, and threw it away after workers said he could only eat one. A month later, Gartner – along with other participants – were pulled out of an Indigenous sweat lodge by Fargo Police wearing little but shorts in freezing temperatures.

The ensuing resisting arrest charge against Gartner was later dropped, but the theft charge stuck, and haunted him to the Fargo Amtrak Train…

Read more...


​Plea bargain struck in Minnesota MMIW case

March 27th, 2018

Laycie Jean Williams after attacker pled guilty to kidnapping - Facebook live feed snapshotST. PAUL – The case of a man charged with multiple counts – including kidnapping and strangulation assault – against an Indigenous woman, will not be going to trial.

On Monday, Derrick Jonathan Fasig, 24, pled guilty to felony kidnapping, but not guilty to four other charges of third degree criminal sex conduct – forced or coerced, possession of ammunition and a firearm, felony domestic assault, and domestic assault by strangulation, according to Ramsey County District Court…

Read more...


​March For Our Lives Fargo - largest march in recent history

March 24th, 2018

Hundreds of people gathered at the Sanctuary Events Center and then marched through downtown Fargo during the nationwide March For Our Lives event - photograph by C.S. HagenFARGO - The March For Our Lives event that began in Washington D.C. on Saturday by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivors, spread across the nation sparking more than 800 “sibling” marches, including a rally in Fargo/Moorhead that attracted hundreds.

March For Our Lives Fargo attracted more protesters to the Sanctuary Event Center than any other recent event. Organized by Moms Demand Action FM, speakers ranged from state legislators to teachers to students.

Nobody…

Read more...


​Fourth police shooting in 2018 sends local man to hospital

March 22nd, 2018

Orlando Estrada - Fargo Police DepartmentFARGO - Fargo police responded to a domestic dispute on Wednesday approximately 11:30 p.m. at 3101 32 Street South. After issuing commands for the male involved, Orlando Estrada, 28, to exit the apartment, Estrada reportedly brandished a large knife.

“An officer, who feared for his life, fired his service weapon striking Estrada,” a police press release stated. “Estrada retreated into the apartment and secured the door.”

After being shot in the side, and before being arrested,…

Read more...


​Puddles keeps on keepin’ on

March 21st, 2018

Puddles - photograph by Emily Butler PhotographyThe High Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview Puddles of Puddles Pity Party. The clown is known for his golden singing voice but chooses to remain silent in his everyday life -- but granted us an exclusive interview via email on his performance on America’s Got Talent, his experience with Postmodern Jukebox and what fuels his sadness.

High Plains Reader: Where or rather how did you find your golden voice?

Puddles: My MeeMaw says I came into this world singing a respectable…

Read more...


​One bad little sister: Patricia McCoy in her own words

March 21st, 2018

Patricia McCoy cover, photograph by Meg Luther Lindholm, design by Raul GomezBy Meg Luther Lindholm
meglutherlindholm@gmail.com

Patricia McCoy would say that her life journey has taken her to hell and back. She has survived experiences that would kill many, including drugs, five prison terms, and attempts by others to rob her of her life. She grew up in Chicago and Milwaukee, where life was a battleground and toughness and survival went hand in hand. Initially she had hopes for escaping the hardscrabble life she inherited. She worked hard to win a college…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry Nicholes Tracker Pixel for Entry TheatreB Tracker Pixel for Entry AprilAuthor Tracker Pixel for Entry Farrms Tracker Pixel for Entry TheatreB Tracker Pixel for Entry Blackbird

Recently in:

Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.com A midnight wedding ceremony at the Clay County Courthouse in Moorhead on August 1, 2013 was more than a romantic gesture. Eighteen couples made history on that day by exchanging vows in the…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu On March 11, 2024, we celebrated the 121st birthday of bandleader Lawrence Welk. He was born March 11, 1903 in a sod house near Strasburg, North Dakota, and died on May 17,1992. The…

Saturday, May 117 p.m., gates at 5 p.m.Outdoors at Fargo Brewing Company610 University Dr. N, FargoWisconsin’s finest export, The Violent Femmes, started out in Milwaukee in 1981 as an acoustic punk band, and they’ve been…

Is this a repeating pattern?By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comThere’s a quote circulating around the world wide web, misattributed to Sinclair Lewis: "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a…

by Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comAccording to my great-grandfather many years ago, my French ancestors migrated from Normandy to Quebec to Manitoba to Wisconsin to Minnesota over the spread of more than two centuries, finally…

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 Gionrickgion@gmail.com In this land of hotdish and ham, the knoephla soup of German-Russian heritage seems to reign supreme. In my opinion though, the French have the superior soup. With a cheesy top layer, toasted baguette…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com It is not unheard of for bands to go on hiatus. However, as the old saying goes, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” That is why when a local group like STILL comes back to…

Now playing at the Fargo Theatre.By Greg Carlson gregcarlson1@gmail.comPalme d’Or recipient “Anatomy of a Fall” is now enjoying an award-season victory tour, recently picking up Golden Globe wins for both screenplay and…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com There’s no exaggeration when we say that this year’s Plains Art Gala is going to be out of this world, with a sci-fi theme inspired by a painting housed in the Plains Art Museum’s permanent…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…

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 John Showalter  john.d.showalter@gmail.comThey sell fentanyl test strips and kits to harm-reduction organizations and…

JANUARY 19, 1967– MARCH 8, 2023 Brittney Leigh Goodman, 56, of Fargo, N.D., passed away unexpectedly at her home on March 8, 2023. Brittney was born January 19, 1967, to Ruth Wilson Pollock and Donald Ray Goodman, in Hardinsburg,…

Dismissing the value of small towns for the future of our nation is a mistakeBy Bill Oberlanderarcandburn@gmail.comAccording to U.S. Census projections, by the middle of this century, roughly 90% of the total population will live…