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Opinion

Nothing compares to the Iowa State Fair

Editorial

The time for eating all kinds of food on a stick while gazing at a cow sculpted in butter has arrived. Yes, we are talking about the Iowa State Fair, which begins Thursday and continues through Aug. 23. It may well be the grandest of our nation’s state agricultural festivals. Iowans gathered in Fairfield for the first state fair in 1854 — just eight years after achieving statehood. That fair boasted an attendance of about 8,000. In the early years, the fair’s venue changed frequently. It wasn’t until 1879 that Des Moines became its home. It took up residence at the present ...

Hard work of many made Iowa Central program first in the nation

Editorial

Iowa Central Community College is leading the nation’s education system in a new and exciting direction. This new development was significant enough to draw Gov. Kim Reynolds, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling to the Fort Dodge campus on Tuesday. Why? Because the college is the first one in the nation to offer a new form of federal student aid called Workforce Pell. And it is offering that student aid in a program that literally saves lives: the emergency medical technician course. Think about that for a second. Of all the ...

Iowa Sales Tax Holiday starts Friday

Editorial

Area families are already beginning to think about the items that will be needed to send young people back to school properly equipped and looking good. According to the National Retail Federation, families with children in school will spend about $43.3 billion nationwide on back-to-school clothing and supplies this year. Surveys by the federation have shown that clothing and shoes account for about half of a family's back-to-school spending. Finding bargains is part of the fun of back-to-school shopping every year. Clothing and shoes are among the necessities that will be on just ...

Opposes Public Safety Authority

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: Webster County Public Safety Authority? Whose idea was it to make up another government department? I don’t want three people from Webster County making my decisions. If voters approve another tax to finance the new LEC this new three-member group would oversee construction and would own the completed building. The city and county - you and me - would pay rent to the authority. You people of Webster County , did you vote on these three to control the new LEC in Webster County? The present LEC is fine for Webster County criminals. Vote no in Nov. 3 2026, election. ...

Choose Iowa promotes high quality food and drink from our state

Editorial

People across the United States increasingly want to know where their food comes from. It just makes sense to know where something you put in your body comes from. And a problem like the recent wave of stomach trouble caused by a parasite on lettuce only adds urgency to the desire for knowledge. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has a program that lets consumers know when they are getting wholesome food from our state. It’s called Choose Iowa. The distinctive Choose Iowa logo on a package, bag or bottle means the food or drink inside came from Iowa. State ...

It’s time for brick pavers to go

Editorial

In a city with hundreds of miles of roads, it comes as no surprise that elected and appointed officials are pretty much constantly thinking about infrastructure improvement plans. With the City Council and city staff now contemplating a multi-year update of the Central Avenue corridor, we would like to offer one piece of advice: get rid of the brick pavers. The brick pavers that make up crosswalks and parts of the sidewalks at some intersections probably looked great when they were put in. But they were put in decades ago. We think the first of them probably were installed during a ...