Passenger jet service returned to Fort Dodge Regional Airport Monday morning when a United Express plane came in for a landing. There hasn’t been passenger jet service in Fort Dodge since about 2012, during the last months of Delta Air Lines’ tenure in the community. United Express, ...
Just recently, I was catching up with a friend from Montgomery County who confessed she had been having a difficult time balancing both her job as an essential worker and her responsibilities as a mother of three. When COVID-19 hit last spring, and schools transitioned to virtual learning, her ...
The annual Progress edition wraps up with the Agriculture section in today’s edition of The Messenger. It provides a comprehensive look at how a wide array of developments in our region are shaping the agricultural tomorrow. While every issue of this newspaper is filled with articles, ...
On Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, a massive storm system with high winds and isolated tornadoes tore through the Midwest, leaving a 700 mile path of destruction in its wake – from Nebraska all the way to Indiana. In Iowa, early estimates indicated that 43 percent of cropland was impacted across the ...
FFA was established in 1928 as Future Farmers of America. It was renamed the National FFA Organization in 1988 to reflect the rapid changes and greater employment diversity in agriculture. To most of us, it is known simply as FFA. After more than eight decades, FFA continues to enrich the ...
Hundreds of Manson Northwest Webster Community School District students discovered their love of learning in the kindergarten classroom of Tricia Larson. And hundreds of MNW high schoolers learned mathematics from Jason Englert. But last year, COVID-19 stole those dedicated educators from ...
To the editor: Strengthening Families for parents and youth 10-14 is about to start in Fort Dodge the week of March 7. This PROSPER program will begin its 19th year of programs with fifth and sixth graders and their families. Families that participate in the programs delivered through ...
As more and more individuals receive the COVID-19 vaccine, there is hope for returning to some old routines yet this year. In the meantime, we encourage everyone, including those who have received the vaccine, to wear a face covering, social distance and wash your hands frequently to help stop ...
Today, 500 people will receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic to be conducted at the Crossroads Mall. The clinic is a major undertaking by the Webster County Health Department. But the dedicated staff of the Health Department will have a lot of help, including from some surprising sources. ...
We’ve all said it. “I can’t wait for things to get back to normal.” I think there are times during the last few weeks I’ve either said it or thought it many times during the day. During the pandemic there are levels of “normalcy” that come and go. Sometimes they last more than a ...
A sign bearing the words Fort Dodge Lane and the familiar logo of the city marks the start of a walking path in a sprawling park. That sign and that walking path are not in Fort Dodge, however. They are not even in the United States. Fort Dodge Lane is the longest of multiple paths that go ...
The Lord’s Cupboard will be open at its new location today. The pantry’s address is still the same. It’s still located at 127 N. 10th St. in the First United Methodist Church office building. But it has moved on up and is now located on the main floor. For the first time in its history. ...
In his inaugural address, President Joe Biden said that “unity is the path forward” to overcoming our nation’s challenges. He said it would “restore the soul” and “secure the future” of our country and insisted that “we have never, ever, ever failed in America when we have acted ...
Iowa is typically not a place people would consider to be a hotbed of solar energy production. That seems like a better description of sunny Arizona, not the currently snowy Iowa. But some experts who work in the solar energy field have calculated that the sunlight that shines down on our ...
To the editor: President Biden has been appealing for unity in the country. Meanwhile… Ultra-liberal monopolistic social media giants Facebook and Twitter have barred Trump and are undertaking a relentless all-out effort to shut down the accounts of conservatives from their social media ...
Here in the Midwest, we are well aware of the environmental benefits of clean burning ethanol and biodiesel. But not everyone realizes just how good those fuels are for the air we breathe. Unfortunately, some of the people who are not up-to-date on the benefits are at the U.S. Environmental ...
To the editor: I was appalled and disappointed at my ignorance of Black History as taught in the Iowa school system. I have learned so much since the George Floyd murder and the Black Lives Matter movement. Unfortunately, Republican lawmakers want Iowa students to remain in the dark. In ...
The state of Iowa is one of the best financially managed states in the nation. In the Iowa Legislature, we maintained a balanced budget because we abided by a simple budgeting principle — one that businesses and families across the state live by every day: don’t spend more money than you ...
Apart from their own home, perhaps no other building plays such a significant role in a person’s life than their church. The church is the site of so many of life’s milestones – weddings, baptisms, first communions and, yes, funerals. Often these take place in monumental structures that ...
President Biden’s decision to cancel the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline has a touch of the theatrical about it. Signing the cancellation order on the first full day of his administration, the president drew applause from environmentalists and boos from a number of labor unions. Native ...