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Nurses dedicated to caring for all

There is perhaps no profession that is so intertwined with an individual’s life as nursing is. Nurses are there to help bring new life into the world. They administer the vaccines, and help people get through all the various illnesses and injuries of a lifetime. And at the very end, nurses care for people in their last days. Nurses provide care in the form of medicine and therapy. But they also provide it in the form of reassuring words and a comforting presence. In light of what they do for all of us, it is highly appropriate that we spend a little time honoring them. National ...

Governor, legislature must support community college funding

The Iowa legislature has gone into extra innings for its 2025 session, and the roughly $9 billion proposed state budget is the main obstacle to finishing it up. The lawmakers and Gov. Kim Reynolds are haggling over big, big numbers trying to get a spending plan hammered out. We would like to call their attention to one spending category that is kind of small by state budget standards but pays big, big dividends for our state. That spending category is state support for Iowa’s community colleges. Those 15 institutions now receive a total of $235.8 million from the state. The ...

Book sale, Go Big Go Dodgers highlight the week

The Friends of the Fort Dodge Public Library is now offering a good opportunity for everyone to expand their collection of books. That group is now conducting the spring version of its twice yearly used book sale. There are tables stretching the length of the library’s big meeting room and they are covered with books for sale. There are even some books still in boxes beneath the tables. Something to satisfy just about any reading taste can be found on those tables. The sale is underway, so book lovers will want to get there as soon as they can to ensure they have a chance to ...

Sign up for fun at Frontier Days

Mention Frontier Days and perhaps the first thing that comes to mind for many people is the massive parade that moves down almost the entire length of Central Avenue. It’s a signature part of a traditional three-day event that celebrates the frontier heritage of Fort Dodge and truly launches the summer season. In addition to the parade, Frontier Days features music, food, games and live entertainment at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village. The 2025 version of Frontier Days is a little more than a month away. It will be held June 6-8. The theme for this year, which is the 50th ...

Spring cleaning helps keep city looking good

On Wednesday afternoon, groups of people carrying garbage bags could be seen moving through fields on the east side of Fort Dodge, in the area where lots of stores are located. As they moved, they gradually filled those bags with every piece of litter they found. That effort was the annual spring cleanup, once called the FOD Walk. For more than 15 years, the effort organized by the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance has made our community a bit cleaner. The endeavor was started by Rhonda Chambers, the director of aviation at Fort Dodge Regional Airport who once led the alliance’s ...

Earth Day unites more than it divides

The late 1960s were turbulent years in America. It was a time of rapid change when young protesters expressed disillusionment with many aspects of the world their elders had built. The divisions in society that emerged from those conflicts decades ago still haunt our society in the 21st century. Some of the emotional scars from those bitter disputes will influence American politics well into the future. There is, however, one legacy of those chaotic times that unites rather than divides us — Earth Day. The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970. Tomorrow marks 55 years of Earth ...