News

The new face of the oil boom

January 9th, 2014

Photo by Bruce Crummy

After the events in Casselton, officials take a hard look at rail safety

Right before the end of the year, our region received what many consider to be an important wake-up call to the dangers of the oil boom in North Dakota. The state has been making national news constantly for all the economic benefits the boom has produced but for once we saw in raw, vivid detail what could be the downside.

The train derailment and subsequent explosion of a 106-car BNSF train carrying crude east…

From Cable One to ‘cable two’: Midco to Fargo

December 19th, 2013

Cover by Jordan Nelson

After years of waiting, relief is coming to Fargo cable customers. Midcontinent Communications, out of Sioux Falls, S.D., recently announced it will enter the Fargo market, supplanting Cable One as Fargo’s lone cable franchise. If, as is expected, the City of Fargo’s Cable Review Committee approves the franchise agreement crafted between the two parties, installation of the expansion will begin in the spring of 2014. Services would be provided in phases over four years.

Why the…

Sometimes oil can’t

November 7th, 2013

By Rick Abbott

For Winona LaDuke, it’s personal.

A proposed 610-mile pipeline would bring crude oil close to her Minnesota home. That’s part of the reason why she’s now speaking out about what she says are dangers caused by North Dakota’s burgeoning oil business.

A recent report by the Associated Press brought to light nearly 300 pipeline spills in North Dakota since January 2012 that were not reported to the public. These were part of 750 undisclosed oil field “incidents”…

The Municipal Civil Rights Movement

October 17th, 2013

Local leaders move to provide protections in the absence of State action

By Sean Coffman

As part of the 63rd Legislative Assembly of North Dakota, Senate Bill 2252 was submitted to augment civil liberty protections. In February of 2013, the bill failed to pass the Senate by a 21-26 vote. Had it passed as originally drafted, SB2252 would have amended the state policy against discrimination to include sexual orientation.

“SB 2252 would have provided lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender…

MN = Love

August 8th, 2013

Train’s “Marry Me” provided an appropriate soundtrack as the clock ticked toward midnight on August 1 and dozens quietly trickled into a Clay County courtroom.

A sheriff’s deputy on duty said he’d never heard music in the courtroom before. But for a night of firsts that was a trivial aside. Shortly after midnight, 18 gay and lesbian couples became some of the first to exchange vows under Minnesota’s new law that made it the latest of 13 states to allow same-sex…

Gabby Giffords calls for common sense gun legislation at Fargo’s Atomic Coffee

July 11th, 2013

A former congresswoman who has turned tragedy into activism dropped by Fargo last Wednesday with her astronaut husband to promote “common-sense steps” to curb gun violence.

About a hundred people gathered in downtown Fargo’s Atomic Coffee to hear from Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head more than two years ago at a meet-and-greet in Tucson, Ariz., and her husband Mark Kelly, who flew on four space shuttle missions. The short visit was one leg of a weeklong “Rights and…

Minnesota becomes the 12th state to recognize same-sex marriage

May 16th, 2013

ST. PAUL -- Hours before one of the most important votes he will ever cast, Rep. Ben Lien pointed out a statue of former vice president Hubert H. Humphrey as he walked to his office through the light rain falling on the capital city Thursday morning.

For Lien, DFL-Moorhead, and other legislators, legalizing same-sex marriage in Minnesota was a natural extension of the state’s pioneering civil rights tradition. At about 3 p.m., the House passed the bill 75-59. The Senate followed suit…

Simmering feud

December 13th, 2012

This time last year, Moorhead’s Main Avenue corridor was a regional mecca for those seeking glass pipes, one-hitters, bongs, grinders and other smoking fare. Now two prominent storefronts at the doorstep of the city sit empty, a visible sign of the drug paraphernalia ban the city council passed just over one year ago.

Only one of five stores has weathered the pipe ban with relative ease. Mother’s Music found a niche selling traditional tobacco pipes, which were exempt from the…

Petition Dies, Business Owner Moves On

March 29th, 2012

The petition is dead, but Moorhead’s nine-month saga over what police and prosecutors deem drug paraphernalia is not over yet.

At its Feb.13 meeting, the city council rejected a petition with nearly 3,000 signatures that would have forced leaders to repeal the divisive ordinance or send the question to voters in the 2013 city election. After a review process threw out about 1,800 names for a variety of reasons – most for not being registered voters – petitioners had 30 days to file…

When Freedom Turns Its Back

April 1st, 2010

The Cass 23: Liberty and Justice For All

They couldn’t stay here legally. They couldn’t go back safely. Mercilessly exploited, profoundly ashamed and maddeningly frustrated, they waited, waited and waited some more.

The promise of permanent residency for their families in America and high pay seemed like a perfect opportunity for hundreds of skilled workers from northern India, many of whom had spent years working alone abroad. They obtained loans, sold ancestral farmland and jewelry…