February 11th, 2015
Lawmakers in North Dakota are pushing a bill through the Legislature that would amend the North Dakota Human Rights Act and State Housing Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity as being protected from discrimination in the state. Twenty-one states in the U.S. currently outlaw discrimination because of sexual orientation and 18 states outlaw discrimination because of gender identity. State Rep. Joshua Boschee (D-Fargo),…
February 4th, 2015
A North Dakota legislator says the gender wage gap in North Dakota is one of the worst in the nation and she is working to change it through legislation and awareness. Representative Kylie Oversen (D-Grand Forks) has sponsored three bills that have all dealt with various aspects of the issue this legislative session.
One of her bills, which saw her testify before a skeptical all-male committee, would have required anyone doing business with the state to submit an equal pay statement to…
January 28th, 2015
Two spills affecting western North Dakota has environmental activists concerned and state regulators downplaying their effects. Earlier this month, 3 million gallons of saltwater generated from oil drilling leaked near Blacktail Creek outside Williston, making it the largest spill of its kind from the oil boom in North Dakota. Additionally 40,000 gallons of crude spilled in the Yellowstone River in Montana near Glendive,…
January 21st, 2015
As popular rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft consider expansion to Fargo, they may have to decide what impact some regulation currently being discussed at both city and state levels would have on their business. The Fargo City Commission this week exempt the ride hailing companies from new taxi regulations after concerns were raised about them. They did, however, direct the city attorney’s office to come up with separate regulations for the ride share companies.
At the same time,…
January 14th, 2015
A week hasn’t seemed to go by without a robbery of a convenience store, grocery store or even a pizza parlor in the Fargo-Moorhead as of late. Many wonder if this is part of the pains of getting bigger; as population increases, will we continue to see more and more of these types of crimes?
We sought out the Fargo Police Department for some answers to explain what has been happening in recent months.
Lt. Joel Vettel said Fargo sees an average of…
January 14th, 2015
The North Dakota Legislative session is underway and the High Plains Reader will be covering it throughout its duration. This week, we profile freshman legislator Rep. Pam Anderson, D-Fargo, who shocked the state’s political world by upsetting longtime Rep. Bette Grande, bucking the trend of many Republican victories across the state.
While in the minority, the retired banking executive has many goals she hopes to accomplish in her first session, and she even plans to introduce a…
December 17th, 2014
Minot-based blogger, who started in September of 2003 with readers consisting mainly of fellow bloggers, has gone on to become one of the most prominent political news sources in North Dakota. Rob Port writes for his Say Anything Blog pretty much as a one man show, save for some occasional contributors who frequently scoop other large media organizations in the state, who in turn follow suit on his stories. He went from blogging with a day job to now doing it full-time. As a result, the…
December 5th, 2014
Moorhead has been selected as one of four distribution sites for medical marijuana by Minnesota Medical Solutions or MinnMed. The company was one of two organizations chosen by Minnesota’s Department of Health to grow and sell the state’s supply of medical marijuana under a new state law just passed in the last Legislative session.
MinnMed was among 12 organizations that originally applied for a license. It was the top scorer among the group among reviewers with expertise in public…
December 3rd, 2014
Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker died unexpectedly at his home this week after a battle with kidney cancer. He had just been released from the hospital but collapsed upon his return home causing shockwaves throughout the community. He had been mayor since 2006, re-elected to his third term just this past June.
“It was a real surprise,” said Fargo’s deputy mayor, Dr. Tim Mahoney, who will now take over as acting mayor.…
November 5th, 2014
It is time for a fracked oil and gas moratorium on Ft. Berthold, and Standing Rock reservation, (where possibly up to 200,000 acres is being considered for fracking) needs to pass a ban, indefinitely. Hundreds of municipalities, counties, provinces and countries are. Indian country needs to do the same. North Dakota needs to as well.
For me, this story began at Lake Superior, a place which is sacred to the Anishinaabeg and the source of a fifth of the world’s fresh…