It didn’t take long for a new housing fund to start making an impact in Webster and Hamilton counties. The Heart of Iowa Regional Housing Trust Fund was organized in late 2018 thanks to $217,108 from the state plus matching funds from local governments and banks. It started putting that ...

Farms can be seen as quiet, peaceful places where the crops grow and animals graze in the pastures. Farms can indeed be such tranquil spots. But as all Iowans know, farming is an industry. And like all industries, there are certain hazards associated with it. Tractors can be in crashes on ...

Making sure that our state’s schools enable students to achieve up to their potential is absolutely vital to the Hawkeye State’s future. That’s why Gov. Kim Reynolds and her team have made making and keeping Iowa’s educational system the envy of the nation a top priority. Setting ...

Leaders of the quasi-terrorist organization known as the Taliban had every reason to believe their strategy of shedding blood to prod Americans into pulling out of Afghanistan would work. It has in the past, for both Islamic extremists and others. Not this time. President Donald Trump had ...

Protecting and enhancing the quality of our nation’s water resources is are vital goals. That’s why the Iowa Water Quality Initiative was created in 2013. It has been backed enthusiastically by Gov. Kim Reynolds and her predecessor, Gov. Terry Branstad. Among its major objectives is ...

The departure of John Bolton as national security adviser on Tuesday — President Trump said he fired him, and Mr. Bolton maintained that he quit — was logical and overdue. A rigid ideologue, Mr. Bolton has a long record of championing military action against U.S. adversaries, which Mr. ...

Some members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives get so involved in their duties in Washington that they lose touch with the folks back home. Others spend time relentlessly courting their constituents but don’t accomplish much in Congress. U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst is both a ...

Many Fort Dodge home owners and business owners now have a chance to help catch crooks in their community without doing anything remotely dangerous. In fact, they have to do almost nothing to assist the Police Department through a newly announced initiative called the Community Camera ...

Sept. 11, 2001, is a day etched in the memories of Americans. The horrifying images of what began as a beautiful September morning and changed abruptly into hellish chaos remain vivid. The heartbreak of that awful day stems not only from the innocent lives destroyed, but also from the ...

Let’s say you decide to go into business for yourself. You’ve always wanted to be a home construction contractor. Why not? Credit could be a problem. Even if you have socked aside enough to build a few “spec” houses, how will you operate while you wait for them to sell? You’ll need ...

In the post-9/11 universe, airline passengers have no choice but to subject themselves and their belongings to screening by agents of the Transportation Security Administration. Sometimes that process is intrusive; sometimes it’s even worse than that. It is vital that travelers who are ...

Some of the young folks attending our schools are not progressing as well as they could be. That’s true even though the educators at the Fort Dodge Community School District do an excellent job. Some young people, however, need a little more special attention than can easily be provided in a ...

Fort Dodge is blessed to be the home of a lot of people who go the extra mile to make their community a great place to live. And when it comes to giving Fort Dodge a boost, age is really just a number. People of all ages have something to contribute. Today, The Messenger, the Greater Fort ...

Well, they’re at it again, trying to pit Americans against each other and thus, disrupting the upcoming presidential eletion. The Russians? We don’t know, although it is certain that the Kremlin’s online campaign of inciting dissention among us never stopped. Someone decided ...

More than a million people in our country are “known or suspected” terrorists, according to the government, in a claim that reaches astronomical heights of imbecility. It makes sense for U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to maintain a list of people who truly pose threats to ...

The days are a tad shorter. The kids are back in school. There’s a hint of fall in the air. The season for summer fairs and festivals is nearly at an end. For the countless Iowans and others who love county fairs, however, one big event remains — the Clay County Fair. The fair that ...

Cops and doughnuts have been the subjects of bad jokes longer than anybody can remember. So upon learning that a bunch of law enforcement officers will be converging on Dunkin Donuts in Fort Dodge on Friday, one could be forgiven for groaning and waiting for the inevitable bad ...

If a seat on the United States Supreme Court opens up, President Trump must nominate a judge and the GOP-majority Senate must, if the nominee is qualified, confirm him or her. Undoubtedly, there will be a loud and raucous chorus of voices decrying such a maneuver and we are already hearing ...

To most Americans in 21st-century America, Labor Day is not an important holiday. It marks the unofficial end of summer. As such, it affords a three-day weekend to pursue summertime passions one last time before the weather cools. For most of us, it has little additional meaning. It may ...

Gov. Kim Reynolds is determined to get our state prepared for the rapidly changing workplace challenges of the 21st century. The governor’s strong commitment to the Future Ready Iowa initiative is part of her game plan for accomplishing that important goal. Future Ready Iowa seeks to make ...