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FD man gets nine years on federal drug charge

A Fort Dodge man will spend nine years in federal prison for trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa. Matthew Groat, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand on Wednesday. He had pleaded guilty to federal drug charges in January. Federal prosecutors said that Groat and others distributed more than 2,200 grams of methamphetamine and at least 10 grams of cocaine in the Fort Dodge area between August and November 2025. He also admitted that on two occasions in ...

Go and Do: May 29, 2026

Around the area CALLENDER — A time capsule placed inside the Prairie Elementary School sign on May 26, 1976, will be opened at 1 p.m. SATURDAY before being moved to the Gowrie Historical Museum. There will be refreshments in the City Park afterward. WEBSTER CITY — The Kendall Young Library will hold a family summer kickoff party from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. SUNDAY at the library. There will be hot dogs, chips and cookies, balloon art, games, face painting and live music by Chad Elliot. In Fort Dodge FORT DODGE — Fort Dodge Summerfest will begin with the opening of the vendor fair ...

‘A HURDLE I’M HAVING TO FACE’

When Austin Anderson pictured his life as a 29-year-old, the harsh reality of dealing with something as serious as Stage 5 kidney failure would have never even remotely crossed his mind. The diagnosis is still, to this day, difficult to process and even more frustrating to accept. The ...

Sports pavilion saga continues

Just a few days ago, it seemed like a local group was taking over ownership and management of the sports pavilion in Corridor Plaza. The Better Way Project, a group of Fort Dodge real estate investors, issued a statement last Friday saying it was running the site, which it renamed it Better Way CourtPlex. A Better Way Project sign quickly went up on the building. But in the eyes of the city government, The Better Way Project doesn’t own the place. The city’s stance is that the site is owned by its original developer, MandM LLC of Ankeny, under contract with the local ...