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Editorial

It’s time to tee up to stop violence

Some of the golf carts that will be rolling along the paths at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course on Aug. 5 will have something extra attached to them. As part of the seventh annual Tee’d Off Against Violence Golf Tournament that day, the carts will have shields on them which tell the story of someone lost to violence. Those shields will serve as a reminder of the twin purposes of the day’s event: raising money and raising awareness. It is a noble cause worthy of wide support. The tournament is sponsored by the Homicide/Other Violent Crimes Program, which is part of the ...

Work of many made for softball tournament success

The 2023 Girls State Softball Tournament did not end the way both the Fort Dodge Dodgers and St. Edmond Gaels and their fans had hoped that it would, but it still showcased our community and its outstanding sports complex. The fact that Fort Dodge has hosted the tournament for more than 50 years is a tribute to the work and the partnerships created by essentially a generation’s worth of local leaders. These are leaders that have seen the value in both having a world class facility in Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex, and maintaining a close relationship with the Iowa High ...

First Baptist opens needed cooling, warming facility

Here in Iowa, we are no strangers to extreme temperatures. There are a lot of days in the summer when it is brutally hot and there are a lot of days in the winter when it is dangerously cold. Unfortunately, there are homeless people and others in our community who can’t escape these dangerous temperature extremes. The congregation of First Baptist Church in Fort Dodge is going to use a little SALT to help them. We’re not talking about the kind of salt found in the little shaker on the dining room table. In this case, SALT is an acronym that stands for Shine A Light Together. ...

Land donations are making new Iowa Central biofuels lab possible

Long before officials gripped ceremonial groundbreaking shovels and perhaps even before architects started designing Iowa Central Community College’s new biofuels testing lab, something happened that made it a true public-private partnership. Two private entities gave the college valuable land that would eventually become the site of the new lab. In 2011, Tom and Phyllis Cairney donated the site of the former Colonial Inn on A Street West to the college. Then last year, Casey’s General Stores donated some property where one of its stores once stood along A Street West, ...

Girls softball returns to Fort Dodge

One of summer’s most enjoyable events gets underway today. The Girls State Softball Tournament will be the highlight of the season for the teams that made it to state-level competition, including the Fort Dodge Dodgers and St. Edmond Gaels. All the teams are outstanding. Making it to this final event of the season means that none will have any reason for more than a brief lament, no matter what their final standing. Making it to state is itself an accomplishment that marks a season as one to remember with pride. This event has become a major feature of the summer sports season in our ...

Socks, shoes efforts meet a community need

It’s an automatic part of daily life for most people: when they get dressed, they put their socks on. Then they put their shoes on. Clean, dry socks make the feet feel good and shoes are just essential. Putting socks and shoes on is so routine many folks do it without even thinking about it. Unfortunately, there are kids in the Fort Dodge community who don’t get to put on a good pair of socks and shoes every day. Family financial problems mean that they can’t afford them. Two initiatives now underway that are worthy of broad support seek to help those kids and families. The ...