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Editorial

Area residents must take advantage of air service

Skywest Airlines Inc., doing business as United Express, will continue providing flights between Fort Dodge and Chicago through March 31, 2027. That welcome news is courtesy of a new federal Essential Air Service contract that was recently awarded to Skywest Airlines by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Now that the jet service is secured for the next three years, it is up to the rest of us to make sure it stays at our local airport. To do that, local people need to make an effort to use that airline and the airport for all their flight needs. United Express is flying 50-seat ...

Living liver donor story sets example of compassion

Can you imagine giving a big chunk of one of your vital internal organs to a complete stranger? The mere thought of it probably makes a lot of people queasy. But one local woman did just that in a stunning and heart warming example of compassion for another human being. Kristen Hovey, of Fort Dodge, donated 66 percent of her liver to Isaac Hernandez, a young man in Texas suffering from an autoimmune disorder that attacked his liver. Their story did not end with the April 12, 2022, surgery. Hovey and Hernandez have stayed in touch and even co-authored a children’s book for ...

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 ...