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Q&A: Big, beautiful bill comes to the Senate

Local Columns

Q: What is the Big, Beautiful Bill Act? A: The House of Representatives passed a 1,000-plus page bill in May that includes key measures to enact President Trump’s domestic policy agenda, including a once-in-a-generation opportunity to cut government bloat and prevent the biggest tax hike in American history. The package also boosts resources for the military, beefs up border security and unleashes American energy to help fuel economic growth. Now, the sausage-making gets underway in the U.S. Senate. Unlike in the House of Representatives, deliberations in the Senate must abide ...

Noon Lions serve community

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: The Fort Dodge Noon Lions have served the Fort Dodge community for more than 100 years. Our service projects have included providing seeing eye dogs to the blind, conducting vision testing for children, paying for eyeglasses for adults with vision issues, providing hearing aids to those needing them, and providing scholarships to graduates of Senior High and St. Edmond. These are just a few of the needs we address. The largest fundraiser we have for funding these projects come from our annual steak fry. As chairman of this year’s event, and on behalf of our club, ...

Wants better upkeep of Warden Plaza

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: I recently contracted a case of Bell’s Palsy and was in the care of staff at Trinity Regional Hospital for three nights. While there, I was on the third floor of the northeast wing. As I looked out the window, I could see the image of the downtown skyline. It is a beautiful image of the river valley and the downtown and a majestic array of lights in the dark of night with lights blinking red. In the distance, the old Warden Plaza is predominant in the morning sun rise, making it the main focus of the skyline. After leaving the hospital, I was later driving up First ...

Lawmakers, Reynolds deserve credit for boosting community college funding

Editorial

After much give and take during the just concluded legislative session, Iowa’s lawmakers moved to do the right thing for the state’s community colleges. The lawmakers approved $7.5 million in additional state money for those colleges for the fiscal year that begins July 1. But getting that funding to the colleges wasn’t always a sure thing. The House of Representatives had proposed $8 million in additional money for the 15 community colleges. Initially, the Senate and Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed no new money for the colleges. On May 3, The Messenger called on the governor and ...

Evening Lions Club to disband

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: The Fort Dodge Evening Lions are sad to announce that due to a lack of members, the Evening Lions will disband on June 30, 2025. We, however, would like to say thank you to all of our awesome sponsors and all of our friends and neighbors who have supported us for 51 years of raffles and other ways that we made money to support our club and donated money to several organizations in the area and state and county, which we are very proud of doing. But time has gone by and so too the members have come and gone, leaving only a few left to do the work. So thanks again and ...

Opening communications with your county government

Local Columns

Hey there. My name is Niki Conrad. I’m the Chair of the Webster County Board of Supervisors, and I’ve wanted to try something like this for a long time. This is the first in a series of short editorials where I’ll share what’s going on in Webster County — the work we do, how decisions get made, and what it means to serve in local government. I’m not doing this to campaign or put out polished statements. I just believe people deserve to know what’s happening, and that public service should be transparent and accessible. Local government doesn’t always get much ...