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Nestle Purina PetCare provides boost to new child care facility

Getting good child care has been notoriously difficult in Fort Dodge for years. Simply put, the number of kids in need of child care far exceeds the number of available spots in local child care centers. An organization called Linking Families and Communities has worked diligently to bring more child care options into the community. At the beginning of this year, it made a major step toward doing so by buying a building that will be turned into the Sprouts Early Education and Development School. The property is located at 407 Kenyon Road. A lot of people likely remember it as one of ...

Area retains a presence on state boards, commissions

As anyone with a passing knowledge of civics knows, Iowa has three branches of government, each with a different role. To put it in the simplest terms, the legislature writes the laws, the governor ensures that the laws are carried out and the courts decide if the laws are legal and constitutional. The executive branch, led by the governor as the chief executive of the state, includes lots of boards and commissions that provide both insight and oversight. These panels do everything from guiding the care of state parks to determining who should be licensed to practice dentistry. The ...

Reeck is excellent choice for Catalyst Award

Long before a new housing development or business expansion is announced to the public, a lot of work has to get done behind the scenes. The people who do that work are rarely known to the public. But in Fort Dodge, if someone were to sort through City Council meeting minutes and other documents related to economic development projects, they would find one name over and over again: Vickie Reeck. Reeck has worked for the city government for about 35 years in various roles related to planning and development. She has steadily worked her way up into more and more responsible positions. ...

Enjoy the Progress Agriculture section

The annual Progress edition wraps up with the Agriculture section in today’s edition of The Messenger. It provides a comprehensive look at how a wide array of developments in our region are shaping the agricultural tomorrow. While every issue of this newspaper is filled with articles, features and advertisements that readers find informative and useful, the special section we call Progress provides a perspective that goes far beyond simply reporting the latest happenings. Our goal is to look at the big picture, capture trends and explore more fully events that may lead to headlines ...

Basketball project is welcome upgrade in H.C. Meriwether Park

The basketball courts at H.C. Meriwether Park in Fort Dodge have long been some of the most popular ones in the city. The courts have been the site of neighborhood pick-up games, contests held as part of the Juneteenth celebration that is now an annual tradition and the old Pleasant Valley Hoopla tournaments. But all that action, combined with Iowa’s scorching summers and frigid winters, have had an impact on the courts. At minimum, they are no longer as smooth as one would want for a nice game of basketball. That will change this summer. The courts will be ripped out and ...

Airport grant is tribute to hard work of Fort Dodge airport leaders, staff

Located south of the Fort Dodge Regional Airport terminal and parking lot are the hangars where airplanes are stored. There will be a lot of construction activity in that area this spring and summer. Already, crews from Jensen Builders Ltd., of Fort Dodge, are building three new hangars. Early this month, the airport received a federal grant that will pay for construction of another new large hangar. It will replace an old one that is in such bad shape that it is not in use any more. The total estimated cost of the project is $973,500. The federal grant will cover $876,150 of that ...