Architects and developers working on buildings in Fort Dodge may soon have to comply with an updated fire code. The City Council on Monday approved the first reading of a measure that would switch the community from the 2012 version of the International Fire Code to the 2018 version. The ...

The roughly 160 veterans who boarded the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight jet in the pre-dawn darkness in Fort Dodge Saturday were told that perhaps 50 people would greet them when they landed near Washington, D.C. They were unprepared for what they encountered when they stepped into the ...

SUSAN AHLERS LEMAN Age 49 Market president and senior trust officer, First American Bank Grew up in Webster City Has lived in Fort Dodge/ Webster County since 1994 What is important to you? Of upmost importance to me are my faith, my husband and my children. Additionally, I ...

A Fort Dodge house was significantly damaged after an early morning house fire Monday, according to Fort Dodge Fire Chief Steve Hergenreter. The house, located at 1414 Eighth Ave. S, was vacant at the time of the fire. No injuries were reported. Firefighters were dispatched at about 4 a.m. ...

SHELLY BOTTORFF Age 39 Executive director, Fort Dodge Fine Arts Association; community and college coordinator for Iowa Central Fine Arts, accompanist Grew up in Webster City Has lived in Fort Dodge/ Webster County for 11 years What is important to you? Of course my friends ...

Army veterans Joe Sherman and Ron Keigan, both of Webster City, found themselves sitting next to each other Saturday morning in a quiet corner of the Fort Dodge Regional Airport while they waited to board the 18th Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. They fell into ...

For each of the 18 Brushy Creek Area Honor Flights, The Messenger has published an Honor Flight special section that’s given to the veterans as a keepsake of their day. It’s a way to thank them for their service. A major component of that involves taking a picture of each ...

Though Deb Shriver and Julie Fenoglio followed different paths to successful careers in nursing, they agree on one thing: nursing is an extremely rewarding profession. “It’s probably one of the most rewarding careers anyone could have a desire to do,” Shriver said. “I have had no ...

Only six months into the current year, Upper Des Moines Opportunity Inc. has already served more than three quarters of the people it served in all of last year in Webster County. “Chances are we’ll be bypassing those numbers from last year,” said Jamey Whitney, UDMO executive ...

How awesome are the students at Cooper Elementary School? They’re awesome enough to raise about $15,000 for the Cooper Booster Club and earn themselves a Day of Awesomeness event featuring inflatables, games and snacks. All outside on a beautiful spring day. Kelly Hinds, president of ...

Moises De La Cruz, of Storm Lake, is feeling good about what he accomplished at Iowa Central Community College. Not just from an academic perspective, but from a wellness standpoint, too. “On Jan. 1, I weighed 280 and now I’m down to 198,” De La Cruz said prior to the college’s ...

Eric Anderson, director of the Blanden Memorial Art Museum, is going to be helping out another museum soon with selecting pieces for an upcoming show with the working title of “Home.” He might not get to visit the gallery and see it actually hung, though. It’s in ...

Fort Dodge police are investigating after two males suffered lacerations during some sort of an altercation Friday night, according to Lt. Dennis Quinn, of the Fort Dodge Police Department. Officers were dispatched at 9:42 p.m. to 203 Ave. E. for a reported altercation involving a machete, ...

SIOUX CITY — A Fort Dodge woman has admitted to her role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that lasted for nine months in 2018, according to prosecutors. Chelsea K. Collins, 30, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine ...

For the 27th year, letter carriers across the nation are collecting food to help support local organizations that fight hunger. The National Association of Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger food drive will be held Saturday. Laura Kilpatrick, who is helping to organize the local food ...

In Fort Dodge FORT DODGE — Moose Lodge, 424 First Ave. S., is holding an all-you-can-eat off the menu cooked to order breakfast from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. SUNDAY. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children 12 and younger. FORT DODGE — Hillbilly Sale and Flea Market is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ...

A grant that was awarded to a local group of gardeners will be used to help benefit area people in need by helping to stock food pantries. The Webster County Master Gardeners have received a mini-grant from the 2019 Growing Together program, which is part of the Iowa State University ...

VINCENT — Authorities are looking for the man who went into the Vincent City Hall Tuesday afternoon and locked a woman into a back room before leaving with an undisclosed, limited amount of money. The Webster County Sheriff’s Department released a surveillance photo of the suspect on ...

The Rev. Andrea Kraushaar still remembers the day that a former client came to the Lord’s Cupboard food pantry with a remarkable donation of 37 cents. Kraushaar told how the former pantry director, Jennie Riesberg, came to tell her about the donation, during a dedication ceremony in honor ...