Editorial

​Guest editorial: Oslo music, squatting, street art, crime, and alternative lifestyles.

August 2nd, 2017

Oslo, Norway and the strangely unfamiliar

Since June 22, five student reporters have been publishing from the field on music, entertainment, and culture and all things Norwegian.

Last year, HPR, my former collegiate reporting stomping grounds, joined forces with my journalism study abroad program (www.ieiMedia.com/oslo) to offer students a chance to publish and readers a different view of the world. ieiMedia employs journalism faculty in the summers to produce international experiential…

Read more...


Who asked you?

July 26th, 2017

Our opinion: You cannot fool all the people all the time, unless they are from North Dakota.

This week Gallup poll reported that at 59% North Dakota has the second largest Trump approval rating in the nation, nipping at West Virginia’s heels with their 60% approval rating and South Dakota ranked third with 57%. Really guys? We’re more conservative than South Dakota?

What we would like to know is.. Who did they ask? According to gallup.com “ Daily results are based on telephone…

Read more...


A personal glass ceiling?

July 18th, 2017

"No, not rich. I am a poor man with money, which is not the same thing."

-Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This idea is something that has been gnawing at me for awhile, but I don't know where to express these thoughts or how to communicate them. I grew up between poverty and working class, where our family vacation was spending two nights in a hotel with a pool every other year. It was an environment and class capital that replicates itself, because the aspirations of college or something more…

Read more...


Back in Oslo

June 28th, 2017

By Robert Reeder

robertreeder@me.com

I am back in Oslo after living and working here for a month last summer. Nearly two full weeks passed this year before I noticed that I was going places without a map, getting on and off of metros without paying much attention to the signs indicating the upcoming stops. I pretty much knew where I was going like I do in Washington DC, where I live.

As part of the ieiMedia study abroad program in 2016, we were fortunate enough to have a local instructor…

Read more...


58th Annual Great Midwestern: Viva la revolución!

June 21st, 2017

Albert Einstein once said, “The revolution introduced me to art, and in turn, art introduced me to the revolution.”

This past Sunday marked the 58th year of the Rourke’s Great Midwestern. Though Jim O’Rourke, founder of the Rourke and father of the F-M arts scene, has been gone for a number of years, his spirit is alive and well.

Each year artists from around the country are invited to submit a piece of art with a common theme assigned by the curator. The theme of the Midwestern…

Read more...


Celebration and disgrace

June 15th, 2017

By Sabrina Hornung and Tom Bixby

sabrina@hpr1.com

Adventure series

This is the first issue of HPR’s Adventure Series, focusing on Medora. If you go hiking in the badlands, look out for brown humps. See Race Heitcamp’s article in this issue on what to avoid, how to avoid it, and what kind of music buffalos prefer.

The oil companies again

Speaking of Medora, you don’t have to walk far in any direction to see oil wells and other evidence of extractive industry.

We’ll double down on…

Read more...


Shelter in place

June 7th, 2017

The employment ads run something like this: some school district is accepting applications for paraprofessional positions for school year 2017-2018. Positions require a high school diploma. Experience working with students will be preferred. Hiring begins now and will continue throughout the summer.

Yes it will. School districts always need as many paras as they can get. In their areas of expertise, they are at least as skilled as the average teacher and they are cheap, $11 an hour to…

Read more...


Thankful for the trip on a tankful

June 1st, 2017

Artwork by Max Patzner

I’m a big advocate of the day trip some call it a trip on a tankful. In fact I’ve been known to refer to it as “gravel road therapy.” I find that driving is a good way to sort your thoughts and a decent way to gain perspective. You can meet a lot of interesting people along the way and maybe even see a bit of wildlife -- and we’re not just talking about the locals at Hanson’s Bar.

It’s important to explore and acknowledge your own backyard. We highly…

Read more...


The governor’s wake-up call

May 24th, 2017

We’ve just read Mike McFeely’s interview with Governor Burgum, are intrigued by the governor’s vision of the future of higher education; that online courses will largely obviate the need for campuses, tenured faculty, and other obsolescent features.

We know about Stanford University’s online high school because we know a middle-school student who aspires to it.

Stanford’s online secondary school starts in the seventh grade. Admission is not easy. They are looking for bright,…

Read more...


​Our opinion: Fargo’s alleys are an urban amenity

May 17th, 2017

We don’t like cars all that much. We’re wary of meeting white van man, constant texter, boy racer, and orange light go-through. And in Fargo, we don’t have to.

Because there are so many alleys in the older part of Fargo, and so many parking lots in the newer, it’s possible for a bicyclist to cross the city almost without crossing paths with fast-moving vehicles.

We believe that our alleys will someday be cherished and treasured, and we hope there will be a goodly number left.…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck1 Tracker Pixel for Entry NewSalem1C Tracker Pixel for Entry NewSalem2 Tracker Pixel for Entry Cottonwood Tracker Pixel for Entry bahai Tracker Pixel for Entry Gruff2

Recently in:

By Alicia Underlee NelsonMore than 1,000 pro-worker events are planned for Thursday, May 1 across the country, including rallies in Fargo-Moorhead, Grand Forks, Minot and Jamestown. East Grand Forks and Bismarck will host protests…

From concerts and car shows to Japanese art and Juneteenth celebrations, there's so much going on around the region this summer. This year's High Plains Reader Summer Events Calendar is back and bigger than ever. It's packed with…

June 21, 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.Fargo Theatre, 314 Broadway N., Fargo“We Watch Shudder,” Fargo’s favorite horror podcasters, bring on the darkness during the longest day of the year. The Darkest Day of Horror Film Festival features…

By John Strandjas@hpr1.com One description that perhaps aptly describes the mental state of many lately is that they feel they are attached to a string. Or several strings. Call it the notion that people are played like puppets,…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comFor sale: White House in D.C. housing dung beetles and giant leechesI suspect someone close to Donald Trump has read “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,”because the Trump administration is…

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 Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com After a very inspiring conversation with Kayla Houchin of Sonder Bakehouse a few weeks ago, I decided that it’s an appropriate time to write a column about some of the sweet people who are involved…

Mooncats and Pert Near Sandstone play Empire TheatreBy Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comThe MoonCats describe themselves as “Americonscious Campfire Folk.” They have a clear acoustic folk sound with a sense of whimsy — think…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com The writing/directing partnership of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck has to be one of the most curious cases of crazy connect-the-dots career moves in recent cinema. From short documentaries and…

By Raul Gomezraul@hpr1.com Minutes before Modern’s Celebration of Life opened its door at the Sons of Norway, I was fiddling with the bar computer, trying to pull up the playlists of Modern’s work I had set aside for the…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.comHigh Plains Reader had the opportunity to interview two mysterious new game show hosts named Milt and Bradley Barker about an upcoming event they will be putting on at Brewhalla. What…

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 Liveranieli.liverani.ra@gmail.com There appear to be differences in the incidence of mental illnesses between men and women. For example, women are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, post-traumatic stress…

By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…

By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson.nd7@gmail.com Our trucking business has me driving almost daily from gas plants in western North Dakota's oil patch to Canada. I haul natural gas liquids (NGLs) products we used to see flared off at…