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Fur Ball is tonight at FD Ford Toyota

It would be hard to imagine 21st-century America without pets. They contribute wonderfully to the happiness and well-being of people of all ages. In a perfect world, every pet would at all times be a welcome and loved part of someone’s home. Unfortunately, reality falls short of that ideal. That’s why it’s important to our community that the Humane Society of North Central Iowa remains strong and grows even stronger. As with so many other worthwhile endeavors, achieving laudable goals depends in part on raising the money necessary to support the cause. For the Humane Society, ...

Road workers deserve our respect

There’s still snow on the ground and patches of ice scattered about, but the folks who fix our roads are starting their yearly efforts. In Fort Dodge, we have already seen the Public Works Department crews filling the potholes that erupted in city streets during the brutal winter weather. What is perhaps the year’s biggest project, the repairs to Veterans Bridge on First Avenue South, is geting underway. A major street reconstruction job at North 21st Street and 2 1/2 Avenue North will soon start. In the coming days and weeks, more projects will begin on city, county and state ...

Community Health Center steps in to provide dental care in Eagle Grove

Residents of Eagle Grove recently got some bad news which was quickly supplanted by some good news on the very same topic. The bad news: Dr. Mysty Shaver announced that she would be closing Eagle Grove Family Dentistry. Ordinarily, that would be a tough blow because it is hard to recruit a dentist, especially in a small city like Eagle Grove. However, it did not turn out to be a tough blow after all. On the very day that Shaver closed her office, the Community Health Center of Fort Dodge signed a contract to purchase it. For at least a little bit of time, it looked like the dental ...

Public notices must remain in newspapers

Some members of the Iowa Senate do not think that public notices published in newspapers remain relevant and necessary. A bill filed in the newly formed Technology Committee just over a week ago moved through committee in two days and last week moved through the Ways & Means Committee in one day. Senate File 546 would result in removing a major component of government transparency. This legislation would require legal notices to be posted on a website controlled by the very government legal notices are designed to oversee and notices would not be required to published in a local ...

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 ...

Bushman has long record of service to FD

For 45 years, there has been one steady figure of great influence providing guidance to the staff of The Messenger. In a business which sees its share of turnover, Larry Bushman has been central to this newspaper, its staff and ultimately its readers. Working at the newspaper has hardly been the only thing Bushman has done for his community. His track record of involvement is long and includes everything from serving on the board of the local hospital to being a member of the Fort Dodge Noon Rotary Club. His service has not gone unnoticed. On Thursday evening, the Greater Fort ...