News

What we are, who we are: the state of the arts

October 28th, 2015

Change is in the air for both the Plains Art Museum and The Rourke Art Gallery Museum, which leads to a question. What is the state of the arts in Fargo-Moorhead?

Former executive director Colleen Sheehy left the Plains in early October of this year. Under Sheehy, the museum completed a major capital campaign, installed a James Rosenquist (pop art icon and Grand Forks native) and opened the Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity in 2012, a 25,500 square foot addition to the…

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Q and A with Congressman Kevin Cramer

October 28th, 2015

ND’s lone Congressman on choosing new Speaker

As House Republicans prepare to elect a new Speaker of the House to replace the retiring John Boehner, HPR sat down with a man in the middle of it all, Congresssman Kevin Cramer (R- ND). Cramer has supported Boehner despite criticism from conservatives both nationally and statewide that he didn’t go far enough in opposing Obama. The Speaker will be chosen at press time and is widely expected to be Congressman Paul Ryan (R- WI) after the…

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Bras on Broadway celebrates 10 years of community support

October 21st, 2015

The Hotel Donaldson has been helping to fight the good fight for the past 10 years. According to their website, “Bras on Broadway has donated more than $135,000 to the those fighting breast cancer in our region in 2014. More than $720,000 has been donated in its first nine years.” Teams and individual donors have helped raise money for the cause. In fact each bra on the iconic bra garlands that adorn the outside of The Hodo indicates a $5 plus donation. The garlands will be hung on…

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Ink, iron and brawn

October 14th, 2015

cover by Raul Gomez, pics by J Earl Miller

HPR talks with 2015 Roughrider Expo’s featured tattooist Eric Pele 

The Roughrider Ink and Iron Expo, Fargo-Moorhead’s premier celebration of tattoo artistry and culture, returns for its second year. The three-day event at the Scheels Arena brings together the area’s top tattoo and body modification artists for the opportunity to showcase their work, compete, talk shop and learn from their peers.

This year the expo will have a broader scope, adding an exhibit of custom motorcycles…

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North Dakota’s groundbreaking drones law may be changed

October 7th, 2015

Lawmakers say concerns over weaponization are overblown

Recently many North Dakota citizens were surprised to learn that the North Dakota Legislature passed a law which allowed local law enforcement departments to arm drones with non-lethal weapons, as a part of larger bill designed to provide 4th amendment protections for citizens on drone use. The law made national news as the first of its kind to become law.

The author of the bill HB 1328, ND State Representative Rick Becker (R-…

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Killing Columbus

October 1st, 2015

A proud day

It is coming up, that Columbus Day. I’m a big fan of the Italians. I love the country, the food, the art, and the people very much.

But I am not in favor of Columbus Day.

Not like the guy didn’t take a big sailing trip, but there are two major problems I see with continuing this holiday: first, the BC thing, or Before Columbus. Thousands of years of indigenous thriving on this land were erased in history by contact, as if we did not exist.

Ten thousand years of history…

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2015 Studio Crawl

September 24th, 2015



2015 marks the 12th annual FMVA Studio Crawl, the Fargo-Moorhead Visual Artists’ largest event. This year there are 34 participating local artists who clean up their studios and invite the public to see where the creative magic happens.

The event will take place the weekend of Oct. 3 and 4 from 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. Crawlers will have the opportunity to connect with local artists, build up their art collections, witness artist demonstrations and perhaps even enjoy an occasional refreshment…

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Conspiracy theories are now mainstream

September 16th, 2015

Acceptance will be their siren song

By Jessy Hegland

On a pleasant June morning in Moorhead, Minn., the sounds of summer construction went underway as it always does; however, on this particular morning something very strange was afoot. A large digital construction sign did not say “slow down, men at work” but instead, “Bush Did 9/11.” This summer I had been submerging myself in ‘90s nostalgia, binge-watching episodes of “The X-Files,”which got me to wondering about…

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Beauty as Therapy

September 9th, 2015

Sometimes referred to as “the castle on the hill,” the former Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Facility also known as the Kirkbride building has inspired shock, awe, inspiration and provided economic stability to a community for well over a century. It housed the mentally ill, developmentally disabled and those battling substance abuse issues.

The former Fergus Falls State Hospital was once the largest employer in Fergus Falls, Minn. “You can’t talk to anyone in Fergus Falls that…

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Refugees face tough road coming to America

September 3rd, 2015

cover by Raul Gomez and Alexis Dietz

Later this month, a series of events called Welcoming Week will happen throughout Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo to mark ways the community can celebrate refugees coming to the region with open arms. In light of that and a recent controversy over some refugees coming to Fargo through Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota, High Plains Reader decided to take a look at what it’s like to be a refugee.

Why do they come here and how do they come here? According to experts we talked to,…

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