President Biden’s announcement Wednesday that he will begin removing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of the month and complete the withdrawal by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks that provoked the war, will finally bring to a close direct American military ...
Most residents of the Fort Dodge area had never heard of CJ CheilJedang Corp. in late 2011 when the South Korea based company announced that it would build its first North American plant in Webster County. It’s been nearly a decade since the company made that announcement. In that time the ...
Throughout the pandemic we often hear about health care heroes. A few months ago, we heard about them almost daily. There were signs, banners, extra meals brought in, news articles, and lots of public appreciation. Health care workers were celebrated in a way they hadn’t been before. Why did ...
Some 20 years ago, Jan and Phyllis Wilson, of Fort Dodge, came up with an idea that they believed would help make their community look a lot nicer. While vacationing in Texas, the Wilsons had been part of volunteer efforts to clean up and beautify some communities and a state park. They ...
To the editor: Of all the newspapers printed in Iowa, there never is anything explaining the oil situation and we who have to buy fuel to get to work, we wondered for years why the variations of fuel in one town and the next one 20 miles away is 20 cents cheaper? But near all the stations pay ...
To the editor: When are these big grocery chains going to back off? Grocery business will never be back to what it was two years ago as shopping from home is really big. They continue to do so much damage to rural Iowa. With the mayor of Manson and his group he assembled a couple years ago ...
The annual Webster County Fair is a key element in the life of the community, even for those people who don’t live on farms. Every year hundreds of people converge on the fairgrounds south of Fort Dodge to see the animals raised by 4-H members, admire the various projects on display and ...
Greetings friends! Now that the second funnel week is over, we voted on many more bills than we normally do to send to the governor’s desk or to the House. This week we passed out of the Senate the Life Amendment. The section reads, “To defend the dignity of all human life, and to ...
We passed SF 587 to address two major concerns for Iowans — property tax relief and mental health funding. It provides over $100 million in property tax relief for Iowans by eliminating property tax levies and removing the trigger put in place in the 2018 tax bill. Additionally, it ...
An event that bicyclists all over the country, and even some from around the world, look forward to every year is coming to Fort Dodge this summer. That event is, of course, RAGBRAI. On July 26, thousands of bicyclists will pedal their way into Fort Dodge as part of that cross-state bicycle ...
The community of Fort Dodge is blessed with a very robust history; replete with extraordinary people, interesting places and fascinating events. One of the most compelling events in our history was the Spirit Lake Massacre expedition from Fort Dodge in 1857. The Spirit Lake Massacre is an ...
Folks around Fort Dodge who love the blues have something to sing the blues about. That sad event is the demise of the Lizard Creek Blues Society. After 20 years, the group’s leaders decided to disband the organization because it was getting harder and harder to find the time and energy to ...
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig is encouraging eligible farm owners to apply for the 2021 Century and Heritage Farm Program. The program is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and recognizes families that have owned ...
There were more than 900 occasions during 2020 when someone in or around Humboldt needed the help of trained emergency medical personnel. The ambulance service of Humboldt County Memorial Hospital responded to every one of those 916 instances with a mainly volunteer crew. Think about that for ...
To the editor: What a great story Paul Stevens did in the Messenger on local Fort Dodge garage bands. So well done. I was smiling. Tom Tourville Spirit Lake
To the editor: I was born in Fort Dodge and grew up there. I was one of many in the Class of ‘65 at Fort Dodge High. I’ve been sorting and going through pictures. We loved taking pictures on our acreage on the old Badger Blacktop. It makes me a bit sad that I don’t get back much. My ...
To the editor: The city of Fort Dodge, Webster County Conservation, and trails maintenance personnel (especially Kyle), have done an excellent job with bike trail maintenance. When part of the Orchard Glen gravel trail was washed out by a rainstorm, it was repaired quickly. When the 15th ...
Last week was the 12th week of the legislative session. It included the next important legislative deadline of the year. In order to be considered for the rest of the year, policy bills needed to be out of their original chamber and through committee in the second chamber. In other words, we ...
When I was sworn in as a member of Congress, I promised 4th District Iowans that I would work tirelessly to bring their voices to Washington. It has always been a top priority to ensure my constituents have a seat at the table when decisions are being made that affect our farmers, families, and ...