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Editorial

Keep Iowa’s roads safe during planting

This is one of those times of the year when big, slow-moving farm vehicles rumble out onto roadways dominated by faster-paced traffic. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who lives in farm country. Even so, all of us should pay special heed to safety considerations as we share the roads with agricultural vehicles heading to the fields. Iowa has been doing a good job of keeping accidents involving farm vehicles to a minimum. According to data from the Iowa Department of Transportation, fatalities and major injuries resulting from such accidents have been on the decline in recent ...

River’s Edge Discovery Center deserves wide support

Future visitors to the nature center being built along the Des Moines River in downtown Fort Dodge will be immersed in the water of Iowa. Not literally, of course. No one will be getting soaking wet. But they will be immersed in detailed, colorful displays full of information about lakes and rivers. The place will be called the River’s Edge Discovery Center. It will be owned and operated by Webster County Conservation. Construction of the center is starting to make visible progress. The crews from Jensen Builders Ltd., of Fort Dodge, have the foundation walls well underway and ...

Pitch in to help preserve local history

There are a lot of fascinating objects in the Webster County Museum that together show how daily life has progressed and changed over the generations. The items to be seen include what is believed to be Iowa’s largest collection of Boy Scout memorabilia, furniture, old hospital equipment, and artifacts from the county’s railroad and mining industries. The problem is, no one has seen the stuff in more than three years. But that can change soon, and some help from local people can make that happen. The museum collection is in the former Otho Elementary School. However, the old ...

Fort Dodge Fiber Farm & Home Show continues today

Despite the crazy weather of the last 24 hours, the temperatures are sure to begin rising and residents of the Fort Dodge area will be a lot more certain that spring has indeed arrived. And with spring, comes the notion of spring cleaning. But how about giving your home, yard or garden a whole new look? Or perhaps you just need some tips and inspiration for tackling the dreaded ”honey do” list of household chores. Whatever a person’s needs or interests in home improvement and landscaping may be, they can find valuable information at the Fort Dodge Fiber Farm & Home Show ...

It’s D/SAOC cake auction time

One of the tastiest fundraisers this community has traditionally experienced is the annual cake auction conducted by the Domestic/Sexual Assault Outreach Center. Each year, bakers try to outdo each other with elaborate cakes that go on the auction block along with all kinds of other goodies. The delicious extravaganza is the primary fundraiser for D/SAOC. It is cake auction time once again. After being canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID, the auction returned last year in an entirely online format. That event went well. Leaders of the center found that people liked bidding ...

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 recently preliminary numbers for 2021 that answer that question. According to those statistics, there were 1,084 crashes in Iowa that year caused by people distracted by an electronic device. Those crashes killed 11 people and injured at least 469 ...