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Opinion

Haymow Hoop Dreams

From the Publisher

March Madness brought another round of memorable moments in 2026. I can truly say this is my favorite time of the entire year. I grew up with a love of basketball that began in the early 1970’s on our small hobby farm, located 30 minutes south of the state capital in Madison. Our large ...

It’s time for spring — and farming

Editorial

It’s getting to be that time of the year. Although it is early in the season, you just may have seen someone working in the fields already. You may have seen a tractor rolling down a rural road. If you are a farmer, perhaps you have been looking over the fields and getting the machinery ...

Momentum with intention

Local Columns

There are years when a community stays busy, and there are years that define its trajectory. For Webster County and the Fort Dodge region, 2025 was a defining year. At our annual awards dinner, as we gathered leaders, employers, public officials, educators, health care professionals, ...

Help celebrate National Ag Day

Editorial

As another growing season approaches, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is encouraging Iowans to join in the recognition of Tuesday as National Ag Day. One goal of National Ag Day is to recognize the contribution agriculture makes in the lives of all of us. The American ...

Explaining the state’s proposed HMO tax

Local Columns

Regarding HF 2739, a bill which some of you have reached out about, here is the background and facts about the bill. It is a bill in the Ways and Means Committee, but it actually deals with the Health and Human Services budget. Iowa’s Medicaid program consumes an ever-growing amount of the ...

Public notices must remain in newspapers

Editorial

There are some in the Iowa Legislature who periodically toy with the possibility of eliminating the requirement that local governments print public notices in newspapers. This is the wrong move today, tomorrow and for the future. Government transparency is more important than ever. In truth it ...