The late Jerry Sande simply loved music and a $100,000 gift he included in his will ensures that Fort Dodge residents will be able to enjoy the sounds of the symphony for years to come. Sande, a Humboldt native, played the bassoon in the Fort Dodge Area Symphony for 48 years. He was, as Paul ...
To the editor: The Community Health Center of Fort Dodge has been in existence since 2006, serving Fort Dodge and the surrounding communities. We are writing this letter to ask for community support in helping us continue our mission of providing quality healthcare to all. In 2018 over 7,000 ...
President Trump on Oct. 11 announced a trade deal with China that he called “tremendous” or “tremendously” positive 15 times. The details look far more modest to us, but this truce in the trade war beats the alternative of escalating tariffs that have already caused a significant global ...
In September, the prestigious medical journal JAMA Network Open published a major study concerning the suicide rates in the United States and observable trends. Data covering an 18-year period (1999-2016) were analyzed. During that timeframe, there were 453,577 individuals aged between 25 and ...
I’ve been reading a lot of comments about the crime in Fort Dodge lately. Some people are scared. Some people believe that Fort Dodge is a dangerous place to live. And given the violent nature of some recent crimes in the city, I am sympathetic to those fears. But if I asked you how ...
Each day, there are more and more leaves dropping and blowing around. And each night, the temperature seems to dip just a little bit lower. These are sure signs of fall in Iowa. The blowing leaves and dropping temperatures also mean that the gardening season is ending. There is one group of ...
A heart problem claimed the life of Josh Doyle at the age of just 29 two years ago. His family, friends, co-workers and a whole bunch of people who perhaps never met him joined forces for a project that will perhaps save someone else from dying from a sudden cardiac emergency. And they had ...
To the editor: Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight has completed its 2019 flying season. We had two flights, May 11 and Sept. 21. Some 300 plus veterans, World War II, Korean and Vietnam War veterans, from some 55 Iowa counties and some 208 Iowa communities participated. No major complications, ...
A small band of volunteers dedicated to preserving Webster County history – our history – needs help. Since they established the Webster County Museum 19 years ago, these volunteers have assembled an impressive array of artifacts documenting life here. The collection includes relics like ...
To the editor: I must be missing something in the information provided about the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) in the Messenger recently. In the Messenger editorial Oct. 9, 2019, the writer praises President Trump, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Andrew Wheeler, administrator of the ...
Just about every employer is discovering that in Iowa’s booming economy, the job market is tight. In August, Iowa’s unemployment rate was 2.6 percent. Most people who want jobs already have them. That means that companies in need of workers aren’t having an easy time finding people to ...
Iowa’s economy was once dominated overwhelmingly by agriculture. It’s still a major component and will remain so. Today, however, our state is the home to an eclectic collection of industries. That diversity is making the Hawkeye State stronger and helping keep it prosperous. Gov. Kim ...
Every day, more than 53 million newspapers are delivered to readers. Those compendiums of news and community information arrive on doorsteps all across our land as if by magic. Nothing magical is afoot, of course. Hundreds of thousands of newspaper carriers spread out across the nation each day ...
Childhood can be a time of both promise and joy. These formative years can set a young person on course for a successful life or be an impediment to that goal. Youngsters need a loving home where their development is given careful attention. When youngsters lack that type of environment – ...
During my recently completed 39 county town hall tour of the 4th Congressional District, one of the issues that I discussed at nearly every stop was the importance of protecting the Renewable Fuel Standard’s volume obligations. As a member of the Congressional Biofuels Caucus, I welcomed ...
Today has been designated as National Farmer’s Day. It’s the contemporary event to honor the hard work of America’s farmers and to reflect on their important contribution to not only the success of our nation but to helping feed the world far beyond America’s borders. The event grows ...
When our nation’s states are ranked on various criteria, Iowans are accustomed to learning our state is near the top of just about any list of positive attributes. That’s certainly the case on such measures as high school graduation rate, well-managed state government and low unemployment ...
To the editor: We have been back to Fort Dodge a number of times since we left in 2017. It has been so satisfying to see positive happenings continue to build on wise choices made by city and civic leadership. When we arrived in June of 2000 there seemed to be a prevalent attitude of ...
Let’s face it, a lot of people don’t like to go to the dentist’s office. But the reality is that dental care is vital. Keeping the teeth and gums clean and healthy enables people to eat properly and smile proudly. And good dental health benefits the whole body because sometimes problems ...
To the editor: Democrat Representative Adam Schiff insisted for over two years that he had “direct evidence” of Trump’s interference in the 2016 election, evidence that he has never produced nor did Special Counsel Robert Mueller after a two-year investigation. Schiff is noticeably in ...