News

Highway 1806

October 25th, 2016

Highway 1806 - photo by C.S. Hagen

By C.S. Hagen

CANNONBALL – Highway 1806 is more than a road to Standing Rock activists.

The pitched hills dotted with wild sage, the roaming buffalo herds, the listless ponds hedged by crooked elms, are postcard perfect, revealing nothing of the racial hatred and violence the lands have seen in the past 200 years.

“1806 is more than the number of the highway,” Rissa Williams, an activist said. “It is the year of their mindset.”

Mindset of the Peace Garden State, Williams said.

She…

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​Standing Rock Sioux Chief Condemns Crackdown

October 24th, 2016

By C.S. Hagen

CANNON BALL – The head of state, chief, and chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Dave Archambault II, called upon the U.S. Department of Justice for an injunction against the Dakota Access Pipeline on Monday morning.

“We are disappointed to see that our state and congressional delegations and Governor Jack Dalrymple have failed to ensure the safety and rights of the citizens engaged in peaceful protests who were arrested on Saturday,” Archambault said in a…

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​Stripped, But Still Standing Strong

October 23rd, 2016

By C.S. Hagen

Photos by Rob Wilson Photography

CANNONBALL – An ancient, bloodless war fuels the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy. It’s a war of words and aged rhetoric; a war of cultures beckoning back the “good old days” of Manifest Destiny and settlers versus the Indians.

Fear the scalp-taking Indian, the Peace Garden State appears to be saying; save the peaceful colonial homesteader. Little is ever mentioned by official sources about the Native Americans’ side of the story.…

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​Trumpeteers

October 20th, 2016

By C.S. Hagen

cshagen@hpr1.com

Despite the Republican presidential nominee’s recent political setbacks, most North Dakota Republican leaders still plan to vote for Donald J. Trump on November 8, and not November 28 as Trump recently told an audience.

Governor Jack Dalrymple R-N.D., and Congressman Kevin Cramer R-N.D., both support Trump for commander-in-chief, and both have been appointed to roles in Trump’s advisory boards. In August, Senator John Hoeven R-N.D. declared he also backs…

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​North Dakota’s Valley Forge

October 14th, 2016

By C. S. Hagen

cshagen@gmail.com

Cannon Ball, N.D. – Snow fluttered across tipis and tents last weekend, a bone-chilling taste of winter for the water protectors camped outside of Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The camps have grown smaller. Some activists, like Dale “Happi” Americanhorse Jr., have traveled to Iowa to assist in what Americanhorse says is a losing battle against Dakota Access Pipeline. Other activists simply cannot handle the elements, for inside a thin canvas tent,…

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​HPR Interview: gubernatorial candidates and the pipeline

October 14th, 2016

By C. S. Hagen

cshagen@gmail.com

Governor Dalrymple is currently serving his final term. Three men are vying to take his place.

Representative Marvin E. Nelson, D-N.D., from Rolla, said he fears the Dakota Access controversy will end in violence.

“First of all, clearly the process did not work properly at the state level,” Nelson said. “I would point to what happened that the pipeline did not get sited in the right place. As governor, we have a company engaged in legal activity and…

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​Red River Women’s Clinic under siege

October 6th, 2016

By Tom Bixby

tom@hpr1.com

On August 26, 2015, an anti-choice protester drove her car up onto the sidewalk in front of the Red River Women’s Clinic, and tried unsuccessfully to get into the clinic. “Had she had full access to the building,” said Director Tammi Kromenaker, who knows?...”

How has the clinic prepared for 40 Days for Life, the largest anti-choice mobilization in history, and its numerous protesters?

High Plains Reader: In the recent BBC documentary, you said that the…

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​On the backs of our children

October 5th, 2016

By C.S. Hagen

cshagen@gmail.com

Oil, not the state’s children or the elderly, is North Dakota’s primary concern, according to North Dakota legislature and mental health advocates.

Anger against recent budget cuts, despite fierce resistance during the state’s special session of the legislature in August, prompted The Consensus Council, Inc. to arrange a meeting with therapy workers, advocates, mental health professionals, state politicians, and parents. They’re preparing to fight,…

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Cruising for a cause

October 5th, 2016

By Ben Haugmo

benhaugmo@yahoo.com

As climate change becomes a more and more pressing issue, it’s become essential that the public be made aware of the danger and what they can do to help. Climate change is a multi-pronged issue with aspects that people sometimes don’t consider. To gain a full perspective, one has to get up close and personal to the people being affected by it.

Mindy Ahler and Ryan Hall are doing just that. Their cycling tour, LowCarbon Crossings, will take them 4,000…

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​Gray eminence: the power behind Dakota Access

September 28th, 2016

By C.S. Hagen

cshagen@gmail.com

The true power behind the Dakota Access Pipeline extends beyond the private sector and into state leadership. This gray eminence – or power behind the proverbial throne – rivals the story books, both ancient and modern, truth and fiction.

In North Dakota, politicians have been bought by big oil and gas lobbyists, according to statesmen and analysts. Some have invested heavily in Bakken oil interests, declaring profits for the good of North Dakota’s…

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