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Editorial

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 ...

Have a safe Super Bowl Sunday

The sporting event that will take place Sunday evening has essentially no equal. Sure, there are the Olympics, the World Series, the Stanley Cup finals and the NBA championships. The excitement of those events are all spread over a number of days. Sunday’s Super Bowl, however, will pack all the excitement into a few intense hours. The upcoming clash of the AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs and the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers will be more than a sporting event. Locally, people will be watching Iowa State graduate Brock Purdy lead the 49ers. And all over the country there will be ...

MEGA proposal offers potential benefits for FD area

In the effort to get new jobs and growth in a community the reality is that some kind of incentives must be offered. Not offering incentives would be the equivalent of disarming yourself in a battle. With that in mind, Iowa’s lawmakers are working on a new package of incentives designed to attract very large investments to the state. And by very large we mean projects worth $1 billion or more. This proposed incentive package may seem like just another of the hundreds of bills that pass through the state Capitol every year without apparently having any impact on most local folks. It ...

It’s time to honor a local leader

Do you know anyone who has worked hard, perhaps out of the public view, to make Fort Dodge and Webster County a better place to live, work and play? If so, a unique opportunity to honor them is at hand. The Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance is seeking nominees for its Catalyst Award. Nominees should meet these basic criteria: • Have a history of active involvement in the Growth Alliance. • Have shown that they are an active and visionary leader who is a catalyst for action in economic and community development. • Have demonstrated excellence in their profession or ...

Talking while driving a hazard to all

It’s an all too common sight on Iowa roads: a driver with a phone pressed to their ear, chatting away while their vehicle weaves in and out of its lane. Such action could be the beginning of a crash and, in a worst case scenario, a tragedy. Just how bad is this kind of distracted driving situation? The Iowa Department of Transportation released preliminary numbers for 2022, the most recent year for which statistics are available, that answer that question. According to those statistics, there were 1,033 crashes in Iowa that year caused by people distracted by an electronic ...