News

​FMRAC Steps Up, Defines Its Stance

May 2nd, 2017

FARGO - The Fargo/Moorhead Refugee Advisory Council clarified recent actions Tuesday by doubling down on its stance against the recall effort of a Fargo city commissioner primarily due to threats, but not without admonishment.

“We have a simple message,” the Fargo/Moorhead Refugee Advisory Council, or FMRAC, said in a response to an email and directed to City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn. “Please do not spread false rumors. Refugees have already suffered enough, and they don’t…

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​Recall Will Go On

April 29th, 2017

Concerned citizens gathered in a circle - photo by C.S. Hagen

FARGO - Despite an announcement by the Fargo/Moorhead Refugee Advisory Council, the recall petition of City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn will go on.

“Everyone on the recall committee agreed to continue,” Erin Buzick, an organizer for the recall committee, said. “After discussing the release from FMRAC with dozens of refugee and immigrant leaders we heard only one message. The press release was not agreed upon or discussed as a group. There were maybe a handful of FMRAC officers told…

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White Power Seeking Limelight

April 27th, 2017

Gordon Wendell Kahl FBI Wanted Poster

Alt White: The Siege of North Dakota. Part five in the series on racism in North Dakota. The state is no stranger to hate groups seeking attention, and while Pioneer Little Europe and the Creativity Movement form hit lists of North Dakota small towns, a new white supremacist group surfaces in Fargo.

FARGO - North Dakota has a history of giving birth to Nazis and white supremacists seeking the spotlight.

JunScreen Shot 2017-04-26 at 8.19.10 PMe, 1975, Fargo native Michael Lynn Hansen first hijacked a Western Airlines flight…

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​White Supremacist Fliers Hit Fargo Streets

April 25th, 2017

Birthright poster - photo provided by Christopher A. Smith

FARGO - Three days after white supremacists advertised for a like-minded gathering at Lindenwood Park, posters depicting hate speech were posted on telephone poles along downtown back alleys.

The posters went up in time for the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar, Monday, April 24, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The posters also went up shortly after the Fargo Human Relations Commission announced findings of a six-month study that showed refugees and immigrants in…

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​Chickens Allowed In Fargo City Limits

April 25th, 2017

FARGO - Fargo City Commissioners passed the Chicken Ordinance Monday allowing residents to raise chickens within city limits. The proposal has been under consideration for years, and was pecked at by critics.

The Chicken Ordinance, or backyard chicken keeping, is part of a national trend for families to raise their own locally grown food and to teach children that not all chicken are McNuggets, according to Cass County Public Health nutritionist Kim Lipetzky.

“There’s been a lot of…

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​Fargo Mayor Appoints Teacher to Municipal Airport Authority

April 25th, 2017

 Municipal airport authority Steve Blazek speaks with newly-appointed teacher Tammy Linn after City Commisioners meeting - photo by C.S. Hagen

FARGO - Sixth-grade writing teacher Tammy Linn was appointed by the city to the Municipal Airport Authority Monday, but not without objections. Two city commissioners, John Strand and Dave Piepkorn, were present, and the proposal was passed by the city commission unanimously.

Linn, a former city councilman in Prescott, Arizona, has been with the Fargo Public Schools system since 2013, according to her LinkedIn page. She was also a deputy associate superintendent for the Arizona…

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North Dakota’s Marijuana gets the puff-puff pass

April 19th, 2017

FARGO - A hesitant round of applause rippled across the Peace Garden State Tuesday when the North Dakota Compassionate Care Act became law.

Governor Doug Burgum, voted the nation’s third most popular governor by the Morning Consult Governor Approval rankings, signed Senate Bill 2344 on Monday, making medical marijuana legal - to an extent - in North Dakota. The law began as an initiated measure and was passed by all state voting districts in 2016.

The road to becoming law was bumpy,…

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Armed DAPL Mercenary Arrested in Bismarck

April 18th, 2017

Kyle Thompson mugshot - Burleigh County Sheriffs Department

BISMARCK - The disguised DAPL security guard set free by law enforcement last year after reportedly driving crazily toward the main Standing Rock camp armed with a semi-automatic AR-15, was arrested Tuesday on unrelated charges, according to police.

Kyle James Thompson, 30, was arrested at 8:03 p.m. Tuesday for simple assault domestic violence, carrying a concealed weapon, and for possession of schedule I, II, and III drug paraphernalia, according to the Burleigh County arrest records.…

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Commission Study Shows Refugees Good for Fargo

April 13th, 2017

FARGO - Recent attempts to curb the influx of refugees into Fargo fell flat Thursday when the Fargo Human Relations Commission announced its findings after a six-month study into the impacts of resettlement.

“TheFargo Human Relations Commission Barry Nelson - photo by C.S. Hagen nature of the question posed to us was in direct opposition to our existence as set by city ordinance,” Barry Nelson, member of the Fargo Human Relations Commission, said. The commission’s mission is to promote acceptance and respect for diversity and discourage all forms…

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​North Dakota’s body hunter, seeker of the missing and the dead

April 13th, 2017

Missing persons posters are everywhere, stapled to telephone poles, taped to post office doors, fed through Facebook feeds and chats. They pop up every few days as desperate cries from the families of loved ones who suddenly disappear.

The posters are usually ignored until the tragedy hits home, victims say. Sometimes, the missing are found, but most of the time their trails grow cold.

Police either don’t file reports or have no more leads, and that’s when Lissa Yellow Bird-Chase…

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