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State softball returns to Fort Dodge

Editorial

One of summer’s most enjoyable events gets underway today. The Girls State Softball Tournament will be the highlight of the season for the teams that made it to state-level competition, including the two hometown squads. For the first time in several years, both the Fort Dodge Dodgers and the St. Edmond Gaels will be competing in the tournament. But we must admit that all the teams are outstanding. Making it to this final event of the season means that none will have any reason for more than a brief lament, no matter what their final standing. Making it to state is itself an ...

Balance is needed in everyone’s online lives

Editorial

Teenagers who once spent hours talking to each other on the phone now spend hours communicating on social media. Many adults do much of the same thing, spending hours scrolling through various web sites and social media feeds. Ironically, much of this is done using phones. Devices which were originally created to enable people to speak to each other in some cases now get used to do about everything but speak to another human being. The internet has a lot of tremendous benefits. It enables people to access all kinds of news and information that they could have never received ...

Fighting for our corn growers and for Iowa agriculture

Local Columns

Since our state’s founding in 1846, Iowa’s corn farmers have fed our families, fueled our economies, and strengthened our nation’s security. Representing the largest corn-producing district in the nation is more than just an honor — it’s a responsibility to ensure Iowa feeds and fuels the world. This week, I was deeply humbled to receive the National Corn Growers Association’s President’s Award, one of the organization’s highest honors, in recognition of our hard work on behalf of corn growers across this country. This award belongs to the farmers as much as it does ...

Be sure to check out the Webster County Fair

Editorial

The Webster County Fair begins today and continues through Sunday on the fairgrounds at 22770 Old Highway 169. It will feature all of the traditional 4-H and FFA livestock exhibits, plus other projects completed by the youth of those organizations. The fair royalty will be crowned early in the event so that the king and queen can be on hand for all the festivities that will follow. In addition to the farm-related activities, there will also be a full slate of entertainment. The entertainment lineup includes Lew-E’s Comedy Circus and a Live Shark Encounter. The grandstand ...

SE Valley arts group is thankful for support

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: Every Sunday this summer, the Southeast Valley Fine Arts Boosters set up shop at the Karl L. King Band concerts and served up hundreds of brownies, slices of cake, and scoops of ice cream, and so many of you showed up for our kids. We want to say thank you. Thank you for the donations, all of them, from the quarters dropped in the bucket to the single $200 gift that left us speechless. Thank you for stopping to talk with our students, for asking about Southeast Valley schools, and for caring about what these young people are building. Every dollar goes to our Jaguar ...

Buffer Pilot Project just got better

Editorial

There are times when a good idea can be made even better. That is the case with the expansion of the state’s Streamside Buffer Pilot Project. It uses a comparatively small amount of money to help farmers plant vegetation along the sides of waterways, with the ultimate goal of cleaning up water downstream. And there is plenty of evidence showing that the all-natural processes of plants can make the nearby water cleaner. The buffers are the plant kingdom’s version of an NFL offensive line: they block things from getting through. But instead of protecting a quarterback, they protect ...