April 25th, 2019
The High Plains Reader looks different this week. It feels different, too. We’re curious what you think.
This is the second time we’ve shifted to a glossy, trimmed and stitched cover on our weekly newspaper. What you get in the end is something more akin to a magazine. Design-wise, Raul Gomez and Jessi Schmit, his assistant, love the glossy cover. Production-wise, we need a bit more lead time for our press, but that’s manageable.
The theme of this special issue of HPR is Food. We…
April 17th, 2019
In 2016, the Rand Corportation’s National Defense Research Institute published a year-long study looking at potential consequences for transgender members to serve within the U.S Military. This study looked at seven different unique elements of trans service ranging from how many trans people will seek gender transition care to what can be learned from foreign militaries that permit openly trans soldiers.
The result of this studied showed allowing trans individuals to serve openly…
April 10th, 2019
It allows us to spread information, allow half-truths and falsities. It serves as a platform for us to display our triumphs, tragedies, hardships and cat pictures. Yes, I’m rhapsodizing about social media.
Depending upon how you adjust your settings social media could very well be our generation’s party line. Or if we want to make parallels of mythical proportions, it could also be considered a contemporary version of Pandora’s box; or to be less eloquent, it’s one big dumb…
April 3rd, 2019
A few years ago I was walking into my hometown grocery store. At the time I had Minnesota plates and an elderly man struck up a conversation mid parking lot -- as central North Dakotans often do.
Usually it’s to comment on the weather or when curiosity gets the best of us. My Minnesota plates brought forth this curiosity and he asked me where I was from. I told him I was originally from Jamestown but had lived in or near Moorhead for a number of years and gone to MSUM. He told me of…
March 27th, 2019
As March roared in like a lion, it appears that it’s leaving a lamb in this final week. Along with that observation we’d like to point out that it’s the final week of Women’s History -- or rather HERstory month. According to womenshistorymonth.gov, the intent is “to amplify women’s voices to honor the past, inform the present and to inspire the future.”
Let’s take a moment to think about a few things we’ve learned about North Dakota women in history.
Last July we spoke…
March 21st, 2019
“North Dakota Nice,” is a phrase that I see getting tossed around more and more these days. Many are sincere and others display yet another facet of our disposition that’s not nearly as desirable.
Yes, we’re professin’ our passive aggression. Say what you will but North Dakotans are good people. There are a lot of small close-knit communities around here and a lot of us have roots that reach back to that culture -- North Dakota Nice is etched upon our moral compass like a worn…
March 14th, 2019
It is possible, even ethical, to stand behind Israel and criticize the nation at the same time.
No country, no man or woman, is without fault. While we at the High Plains Reader believe the U.S. House of Representatives’ resolution, passed earlier this month to condemn “anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, and other forms of bigotry” is on target, we will not jump on the bandwagon saying anything critical of Israel or Jews is anti-Semitism.
That in and of itself rings true as…
February 20th, 2019
Growing up, whenever Christmas or a birthday or really any time I received any sort of a gift, time and a certain level of guilt was set aside to write thank you cards. To this day, I’ll send a few out to people or organizations that have helped me out, or if I’ve had a really insightful interview. My desk is also filled with half-written cards that never quite made it in the envelope. Though, they clearly weren’t romanticized, “letters I’ve written never meaning to send”…
February 13th, 2019
It will be Valentine’s Day by the time this issue hits the stands, but who knows you might even be picking it up after you’ve finished eating the last of the chocolates you bought for yourself for Valentine’s Day.
We’re not judging. In fact, you’re not alone. That’s exactly what I was planning to do after the issue came out, or I might even buy myself a drink and take myself home.
On February 5, Tess Williams over at The Forum wrote a piece called, “It's not you, it's North…
February 6th, 2019
Last winter HPR grieved with Gary and Madeline Krapu of Valley City over the unexpected and untimely death of their daughter Anne Krapu. Anne, 31 had been a contributor to HPR and Valley City Times Record for nearly half of her life covering popular culture, politics, and social justice issues. She traveled the world as an educator and worked tirelessly as a political campaign staffer. It may be fair to say that during her brief time here, she lived more than most.
In her memory HPR is…