March 23rd, 2026
By Ellie Liverani
In November 2025, the FDA initiated the removal of the “black box” warning from Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). The “black box” warning is a FAD safety warning for healthcare providers and patients about a drug with serious, life-threatening risks, such as cancer, suicide, and/or cardiovascular diseaseAs.
HRT will be “just like another drug.” Is it good news or bad news? So far, it is just news.
Is HRT dangerous? Or is it the miracle drug that has been…
February 16th, 2026
By Ellie Liverani
In January 2026, the 2026-2030 dietary guidelines for Americans were released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They are supposed to be revolutionary and a “reset” from the previous ones. Are they? And if so, how revolutionary?
First, the renewal was due because dietary guidelines get reviewed every five years. So this was not an unexpected release as much as a routine task for the Department of Health. Second, it is important to reiterate that…
December 18th, 2025
By Ellie Liverani
At the beginning of the movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the Grinch is introduced as having a smaller than average heart, but as the movie progresses, his heart increases three times its size. In the story, this means that the Grinch became a kinder and more compassionate creature. But in real life, a swollen heart can have different meanings and implications, including risk of heart diseases.
Indeed, the statistic tells us that the…
November 18th, 2025
sBy Ellie Liverani
The holidays are supposed to be magical: party, presents, fancy food, lights and sparks. You are looking forward to it. You work very hard, you put in long hours at work as well as at home. But then you accomplish everything, you are happy and ready for the fun part to start, but bam — you feel sick.
I have heard this story many times (and experienced it first-hand). But I always wonder. Is there a particular reason? Is it “real” or just…
October 15th, 2025
By Ellie Liverani
When we are sick, all we want is a cure. You go to the doctor, they give you a pill, you take it for a bit, then you are cured. It happens. But unfortunately, it is not always the case.
Sometimes there is no treatment. Some diseases can only be managed, such as autoimmune diseases (Lupus or Hashimoto disease, for example). There are treatments specific to females and others for males, specific to your age. But it is not that simple. And some…
October 6th, 2025
Press Release
As Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins, Essentia Health is highlighting an innovative — and recently expanded — program that brings early breast cancer detection services to rural communities. Essentia’s mobile mammography trucks have added additional locations across the rural health leader’s footprint, from central North Dakota to western Wisconsin, bringing convenient mammography services to more patients. The program will reduce travel time and eliminate barriers…
September 16th, 2025
By Ellie Liverani
Loneliness is on the rise in North Dakota, where there is one of the highest rates of people living alone. The challenging winter can be a major contributor, yet North Dakota is not alone. In the scientific literature, studies on loneliness come from all over the world, and they all report similar findings.
Loneliness is a feeling; therefore, it is hard to measure. It’s distinguished from solitude. There is a lack of interest in seeking…
August 19th, 2025
By Dr. Marc Sapir, MD, MPH
jessica@pellienpublicrelations.com
Across America, families are quietly struggling with a rising challenge: how to care for aging parents, siblings, grandparents, neighbors and friends. Most seniors want to remain independent but lack the resources (sometimes the energy) they need to do so.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
During my nine years as the founding medical director of the Center for Elders’ Independence — a PACE program in Oakland, California — I…
August 19th, 2025
By Ellie Liverani
Significant updates to North Dakota’s medical marijuana will be implemented in August 2025, making medical marijuana available as a therapeutic option. It will be low-dose edible cannabis products.
Cannabis and marijuana (and the other endless slang words for them) have been around for millennia for both recreational and medical use. Even poets, artists, and politicians have admittedly enjoyed them. But what do we know about them?
Is medical…
July 29th, 2025
By Alicia Underlee Nelson
Caregivers for school-aged children and teenagers are encouraged to bring them to back-to-school immunization clinics scheduled for every Tuesday in August. Fargo Cass Public Health (FCPH) and Family HealthCare will partner to offer four clinics on August 5, 12, 19 and 26. All events will be held at the FCPH building (located at 1240 25th Street South in Fargo) from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The August 5 and August 26 events require an appointment. Parents…
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By Bryce Vincent Haugen By his own account, Edwin Chinchilla is lucky to still be in the United States. As a 12-year-old Salvadoran, he and his brother were packed into a semi with a couple dozen other people and given fake…
By Michael M. Miller Rev. Salomon Joachim, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Beulah, North Dakota., delivered an address to the Western Conference of the Dakota District of the American Lutheran Church in 1939. His presentation was…
Wednesday, March 25, Group lesson 7 p.m., Dance 9 p.m.Sons of Norway, 722 2nd Avenue North, FargoCare to dance? If you don’t already know how to dance, the Northern Lights Dance Club can show you a thing or two about social…
By John StrandDisclaimer: This editorial is the work of someone who’s spent most of his adult life working in the media — most of those years co-owning this very entity, the High Plains Reader, since 1996. The notion that folks…
By Ed RaymondThe bells are ringing for everybody on the planet As ICE, the worst of the worst law enforcement agencies in the Divided States of America, continues to use unconstitutional procedures to find the worst of the worst…
By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…
By Sabrina Hornung There’s a Bosnian saying that states simply, “It’s a sin to throw away bread,” which really resonates with me — especially growing up with grandparents who lived through the Second World War and the Great…
The Slow Death at The AquariumSaturday, March 21, doors at 7:30 p.m. The Aquarium above Dempsey’s, 226 N. Broadway, FargoThe Slow Death is a punk supergroup led by Jesse Thorson, with members and collaborators that include…
By Sabrina HornungJD Provorse is a horror movie enthusiast and Fargo-based podcast host. Both he and cohost Michelle Roller have a comedy background and started the wildly entertaining podcast “We Watch Shudder” in 2022 as an…
By Jacinta ZensGraffiti is something we all see routinely on trains as they pass through the metro. If you pay attention even a little bit, you will notice that some graffiti pieces on train cars look much better than others in…
Saturday, January 31, 6:30-9 p.m.Transfiguration Fitness, 764 34th St. N., Unit P, FargoAn enchanting evening celebrating movement and creativity in a staff-student showcase. This is a family-friendly event showcasing pole, aerial…
By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…
By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…
By Ellie Liverani In November 2025, the FDA initiated the removal of the “black box” warning from Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). The “black box” warning is a FAD safety warning for healthcare providers and patients…
January 31, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.Viking Ship Park, 202 1st Ave. N., Moorhead2026 marks 10 years of frosty fun! Enjoy sauna sessions with Log the Sauna, try Snowga (yoga in the snow), take a guided snowshoe nature hike, listen to live…
By Jim FuglieI’m feeling a little mean right now. It doesn’t happen often, but I tend to pay attention to politics and politicians and I’m pretty disappointed in one of our politicians right now. So I’m going to be mean to…
