Editorial

​The debate of seat belts on the school bus

October 5th, 2016

Six States--California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, and Texas—require seat belts on school buses.” According to www.cga.ct.gov.

Upon checking out ghsa.org we found out that seatbelt laws are divided into two categories-primary and secondary. 34 states in the US have primary seat belt laws meaning officers of the law can pull over a driver for not wearing a seatbelt with no other offenses (buckle up Minnesotans -- this could mean a $100 fine). It is the law that both…

Read more...


Write of passage

September 28th, 2016

Within the past couple of weeks, I had the opportunity to participate in a sidewalk chalk fest at one of the area public schools--I had the honorable title of “featured artist.” As one can imagine it had been quite a while since I spent considerable time in a high school environment. As the two other featured artists and I gave our critiques and offered insight into the students’ designs, I couldn’t help but overhear a student say to a friend, “I took art because it sounded…

Read more...


​40 Days for Life lays siege to the Red River Women’s Clinic

September 23rd, 2016

By Tom Bixby tom@hpr1.com

We went online and looked at the rules and policies of 40 Days for Life, the largest anti-choice organization. They don’t look unreasonable: no violence, cooperation with the police, no physical contact with clinic escorts or staff. It looks like they would be well-behaved, that the worst for the clinic is that there will be a lot of protestors starting September 28, and then every Wednesday until November 2.

“That’s the thing that can be really…

Read more...


Happy 22nd birthday to us!

September 16th, 2016

By John Strand

jas@hpr1.com

The Little Newspaper That Could turned 22 last Thursday. It’s been a pretty wild journey, we have to admit, yet it continues. We are immensely proud of HPR’s path to where it is now. Bear with us as we reflect and ponder about the significance of such accomplishment.

Going back to the beginning, we’d be remiss for not thanking Peter Ryan, Ian Swanson, Rex Sorgatz, Led Schmid, Jim Johnson and others who back in 1994 decided while drinking a beer at…

Read more...


​It’s a small world after all…

September 8th, 2016

By Sabrina Hornung and Tom Bixby

sabrina@hpr1.com

Since its inception--America has been heralded as the land of opportunity. This week’s cover story is Welcoming Week, an opportunity to introduce New Americans to their American-born neighbors through a variety of events, whether they be meals, soccer games, art events, and the list goes on.

These New Americans have had a significant impact on our community. Some have introduced new flavors to our primarily European taste buds with the…

Read more...


​The original crossing of the Missouri was to be north of Bismarck

August 31st, 2016

In case the North Dakota governor’s office has not figured it out yet, someone needs to tell them what an embarrassment they are. The Dalrymple-Wrigley team could not mishandle the Standing Rock protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline more than they already have, short of deploying the National Guard.

In our America it’s a fundamental right to stand up and voice disagreement with government. These rights are guaranteed and protected: free speech, assembly, religion, and redress of…

Read more...


​How do we satisfy our thirst for oil?

August 24th, 2016

There’s something to be said about our cover story this week. To say that the people’s fight against the pipeline is inspiring would be the understatement of the decade. The people versus Big Oil, youths making a 2,000 mile relay from North Dakota to DC to raise awareness of what’s going on and make their voices heard. That’s what we call true grit folks, and that is hard to find.

We think the rest of North Dakota could learn from this: multiple generations and races banding…

Read more...


​Breaking new ground

August 19th, 2016

By Tom Bixby

tom@hpr1.com

Malvina Massey kept a house of prostitution in Fargo from about 1891 to 1905. She was the main madam, the most successful, then and now the most famous. Partly because she was black and barred from other professions, she’s a monumental personage in the history of Fargo-Moorhead.

Her house, the Crystal Palace, was in the neighborhood called The Hollow, a low spot now filled in, below what used to be the City Hall parking lot, on the northwest corner of Third…

Read more...


It’s my job

August 3rd, 2016

It may be a cliché to say it, but time flies when you are having fun--it’s true. I’ve been your humble--okay, maybe not so humble editor--for a little over a year now, and to say that it has been rewarding would be the understatement of the year.

I started writing for the Reader nearly a year and a half before I came on as editor, because I wanted to enhance my résumé and make a contribution to the art community. In doing so I killed two birds with one stone.

I returned to my…

Read more...


​More productive less destructive

July 20th, 2016

As clichéd as it is to say that you learn something new everyday, it always seems to hold true, though some things have a lot more intellectual value than others.

This week the High Plains Reader had the privilege of interviewing Mud Morganfield, bluesman and son of blues legend Muddy Waters. We also spoke to Canned Heat drummer Adolfo “Fito” de la Parra, prior to their appearance at the 2016 Fargo Blues Festival.

Both provided unique perspectives on the genre. Morganfield spoke of…

Read more...


Tracker Pixel for Entry Bismarck Tracker Pixel for Entry Farrms Tracker Pixel for Entry Gruff Tracker Pixel for Entry Fiddle Tracker Pixel for Entry 7Clans Tracker Pixel for Entry 7Clans

Recently in:

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.com Ten North Dakota communities will participate in the nationwide No Kings Day of Peaceful Action on October 18. The grassroots movement is a nonviolent protest against President Trump’s…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu The Northwest Blade, from Eureka, South Dakota, published a wonderful story in August 2020. It’s called “Granddaughter keeps Grandmother’s precious chamomile seeds,” by Cindy…

Sunday, October 19, 10 a.m.Buffalo River State Park, 565 155th St. S., Glyndon, MNHosted by the Red River Valley Chapter of Herbalists Without Borders at Buffalo River State Park for a fun fall day full of flora. (Say that three…

By John Strandjas@hpr1.com Yes, we know, everywhere you look, the world situation is mental. It’s almost inescapable just how tenuous life’s circumstances are. And how they are mostly — pretty much entirely — out of our…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWill we be banging or whimpering at the end of the American empire?T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Hollow Men” accurately portrays the end of most empires in his first lines: “We are the hollow men/…

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 Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com Dream-factory documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe connects with a Hollywood legend in “Kim Novak’s Vertigo,” the latest in a series of features exploring the filmmaker’s many…

By HPR staffsubmit@hpr1.com Mark the first weekend of October on your calendar. It’s the weekend of the Studio Crawl, which takes us all on a wonderful, metro-wide tour of our talented (and often wacky) arts community. On October…

Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…

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…

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…

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@rocketmail.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership  As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…