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Opinion

Shellabration Inc. is asset to Fort Dodge

Editorial

Jim Reed and all the other volunteers who make up Shellabration Inc. have done it again. On Saturday night, about 4,400 people crammed into the intersection of Central Avenue and Ninth Street for this year's Fort Dodge Country Jam concert. They were treated to rousing performances by Travis Tritt, Blake Jack & 35 South and Fort Dodge’s own Stadium Dr. Local volunteers worked behind the scenes for months to make the show possible, then shifted into really high gear a couple days before the concert to get everything set up. Because of major road construction projects, the concert ...

Says Iran war won’t make America great

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: I learned something about war this week. All people who serve our country in the armed forces deserve recognition no matter what job they do. They go to protect us and our country. So our government changing a count from 18 to 14 deaths is wrong. The Vietnam War in one month lost 43 of our youth. These soldiers are being remembered by another soldier for their serving us. As told to me, you never knew if you would come back from a mission to go again. Do you approve of the war we’re in now? How many more are we going to lose before this ends? I’m praying ...

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. ...