Martin Luther King Jr. Day, being observed today, is an appropriate time to recall an exceptional person. But more importantly, it’s a time to recommit the nation to the cause for which King died and the legacy he left for all of us. The famed civil rights leader, assassinated April 4, ...
Gov. Kim Reynolds delivered her Condition of the State message Wednesday. She told lawmakers that the Hawkeye State is ready and able to build a vibrant future for all Iowans. The economic disruption and toll in lives brought about by the pandemic were a central concern in 2020 and remain in ...
To paraphrase a popular song often heard during the holidays, the weather outside is in deed frightful. We Iowans, however, are a hardy bunch. We’re used to some heavy duty winter storms. And many of us know that the best way to deal with terrible winter weather is to not deal with it at ...
When the Fort Dodge City Council turned to the bond market Monday to borrow about $18 million to pay for various projects and purchases, a sometimes bewildering amount of numbers was discussed. As the various facts, figures and percentages were reviewed, it would have been easy to overlook a ...
With the whole world seemingly focused on how fast the COVID-19 vaccine can be administered, we must not forget the importance of an older vaccine: the flu shot. Just about everyone has called in sick at some point, saying they had the flu when they were sniffling, sneezing, maybe running a ...
When the Iowa Legislature begins its 2021 session on Monday, Webster County will be represented by three lawmakers who are uniquely positioned to have significant influence on the future course of our state. State Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, will be the House majority whip. That’s ...
Fort Dodge residents have just seen their sewer bills go up. Probably no one is happy about it, but the situation could have been worse. The increase is about 3 percent, and the money will be used to keep running the sanitary sewer system as daily operating costs increase. What that means ...
Every year around the holidays, the generosity of people who live in and around Fort Dodge blossoms. The familiar red kettles of The Salvation Army get filled with change by people going in and out of stores. Donations flow for initiatives like Coats for Kids. Those are some of the ...
During the recent season of giving, a Coalville woman gave a total stranger a unique and powerful gift. Tonya Peltz donated some of her bone marrow, but what she really gave someone is a second chance at life. On Dec. 22, she traveled to Washington, D.C., to make the donation after being ...
President Trump finally signed the Covid-19 relief bill and 2021 budget on Dec. 27, but not before giving a big assist to Democratic hopes of gaining control of the Senate in the two runoff elections on Jan. 5. Current GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is left this week trying to undo the ...
For months, Americans’ pleas for Congress to give us more financial help in coping with COVID-19 have fallen on political ears — much worse than merely deaf ones — in Washington. Exactly why lawmakers were unable to agree on a second CARES Act is open to debate. Republican loyalists ...
In mid-December, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue released a detailed assessment of his department’s accomplishments in 2020. “While this was a tough year with the coronavirus, historic wildfires and weather damage, USDA met these challenges with a multitude of programs and ...
Today, we welcome in a new year. We suspect many people were happy to see the end of 2020. Last night, no doubt many readers stayed home, joining the ranks of those sitting on the couch, counting down the final moments of 2020 while participating vicariously in the festivities broadcast from ...
It is that time of year when holiday parties pile up one after the other over the course of a couple of weeks – and many of them are held after dark and feature alcoholic beverages. And while the number of parties will likely be fewer this year due to COVID-19, the risk of driving impaired ...
The deep divisions between our two major political parties have made it difficult for Congress to function. All too often, needed policy decisions are left unmade because lawmakers find it difficult to work with colleagues with whom they disagree to craft compromise solutions. President-elect ...
Mention the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and for many people the first thing that comes to mind are the state parks. Fishing licenses and efforts to stop pollution are other things the department is well known for. But few probably realize that it has a role in supporting rural and ...
Hundreds of thousands of doses of COVID-19 vaccine expected by residents of and officials in many states will not be arriving as soon as we had been led to believe. After a few days of confusion — and finger pointing — about the shortfall, U.S. Army Gen. Gustave Perna fell on his sword ...
For rural school districts, recruiting teachers that can lead classes in highly specialized or technical subjects is often an uphill battle. A grant just received by the Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency will help ease the struggle to get teachers who can lead computer science ...
Some 2,000 years ago, an event took place that changed the course of history. No singular event has focused the attention of man on himself to the degree that the story of Bethlehem has, for it is the story of man. Kingdoms have risen and fallen, and great nations have perished from the ...
All across the nation, a feeling of anticipation is in the air. It is Christmas Eve, a time when those whose jobs do not demand that they be at work complete preparations for tomorrow, the biggest day on most of our calendars. Once the packages are all wrapped, the last decorations are adjusted ...