News

ND budget projections get worse

February 4th, 2016

A new budget forecast for the state of North Dakota shows a little over $1 billion dollar shortfall from projections made for funding during the last Legislative session. Because of that, Governor Jack Dalrymple called on most state agencies to cut over four percent from their budgets this week. For his reaction to this news, how it happened and what it means, we interviewed ND State Rep. Kylie Oversen (D-Grand Forks), who is also Chairman of the ND State Dem-NPL party. Does this mean…

2 Degrees To DiCaprio

January 27th, 2016

Loren Yellow Bird has a memory he won’t be forgetting any time soon. He was standing in the mountains of Alberta, surrounded by the cast and crew of a Hollywood film and having celebrated film actor Leonardo DiCaprio shout out to him for help after struggling with a line.

This wasn’t an average day for Yellow Bird, who had never worked on a Hollywood film before, and in DiCaprio’s defense, he was speaking a language that wasn’t his own. He was speaking the native language of…

Help available for homeless veterans

January 27th, 2016

Recently during the debate over whether to bring refugees into America, many have wondered about the help available for our citizens who are hurting, in particular veterans. We sought to find out by asking Diana Hall, Supervisor of Homeless Programs at the Fargo VA, about what they do to help homeless veterans and learned that in the last 7 years, they’ve been able to drastically reduce the number of homeless veterans in the state by providing them with permanent shelter and help.

HPR:…

The final countdown

January 21st, 2016

The seventh annual Cocktail Showdown has come to a conclusion

After weeks of sampling some of the finest drinks in town from nearly 30 participating bars throughout Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead, all of whom sought the same goal --we asked the same question. Where does a guy or gal go for the best drink in town?

The seventh annual Cocktail Showdown has come to a close. Where the drinks were stiff and the competition was even stiffer, the fearless judges finally made their final marks and…

Times are changing in North Dakota

January 21st, 2016

Republican Gov candidates moving to left on social issues

Last week, the Governor’s race in North Dakota for 2016 got turned upside down when Fargo businessman Doug Burgum officially threw his hat in the ring. This pleased people of both parties as Burgum appears to be a man who isn’t a knee jerk Republican and someone who has in the past stuck his neck out on issues like gay rights because it was the right thing for the state to do business wise to attract high quality…

Anna Lee: a woman of many hats

January 13th, 2016

Anna Lee is a Fargo native and entrepreneur who got her creative start in Fargo. She was involved with the costume shop at Trollwood Performing Arts while she was in high school and college, attended the MSUM fine art department and took some fashion courses at NDSU. She has always loved art and had a passion for fashion, and she found that the best way to combine her two loves was through the fine craft of millinery -- making hats.

Anna Lee will be showcasing her winter collection…

Pat Zavoral named AE2S Senior Management Consultant

December 23rd, 2015

An engineering firm working closely with many aspects of the FM Diversion Project went on the offensive Monday morning so their hiring of former Fargo City Administrator Pat Zavoral would not become a polarizing topic, as evidenced in an email acquired by the High Plains Reader.

Among the 81 people to whom the email was sent were several elected officials and respective staff including Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney, Moorhead Mayor Del Rae Williams, Fargo City Commission and Moorhead City…

Getting Surly

December 23rd, 2015

HPR chats with Surly Brewing Co. Founder Omar Ansari

Monday December 14th was a big day for the craft beer community. Zorbaz in Detroit Lakes had a Surly Brewing Co. tap takeover which included 37 beers. This was the biggest Surly take over in history. Not only were there beers on tap that have never graced the lines outside of the taproom but there were also 4 years of Darkness (2012-2015), as well as 2015 Barrel Aged Darkness.

This event boasted a great turnout; from young to old,…

Happy Hooligans honored

December 23rd, 2015

ND National Guard unit recognized with top award

On December 5 the North Dakota National Guard’s 119th Wing, aka the Happy Hooligans, was awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for its “exceptional service, commitment and mission accomplishment.” The AFOUA is an annual award presented to units across the active-duty Air Force, Reserves and Air National Guard that have distinguished themselves. This event marked the 17th time the Happy Hooligans have been honored with an…

We do it! Behold the power of giving.

December 17th, 2015

Q & A with Great Plains Food Bank. organization working to fight hunger in Fargo and Moorhead

As we approach the holiday season, we at the High Plains Reader wanted to learn more about efforts to end hunger in our region. The Great Plains Food Bank is the only food bank in North Dakota, as well as in Clay County in Minnesota, and provides food to all of the food pantries in our region. We asked Marsha Paulson, director of marketing and development for the Great Plains Food Bank, about…