Walk into the Clare Community Center and a big axe on one wall just might catch your eye. That axe is part of a larger tribute to some of the town’s volunteer firefighters. The tribute is about four feet long and a little over two feet high. It features the names of the original15 ...

When Dave Flattery launched the effort to get the Floyd of Rosedale sculpture erected in Fort Dodge, some who know him may have been puzzled or even amused by the irony of the situation. After all, here was a proud Iowa State University graduate pushing to memorialize a hallowed University of ...

A recent visit by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst focused attention once again on an innovative school that teaches young people welding and the skills needed to work in manufacturing. It’s called the Northwest Iowa Career Academy, and it’s located in Laurens. The Republican senator visited it on ...

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, ...

Interaction between citizens and the officials they elect to represent them is crucial to a democracy. Citizens must be able to tell the officials what they want and what they don’t want. They must also be able to hold the officials accountable for their actions. The elected officials ...

Some outstanding examples of penmanship are to be found in hundreds of hefty books stored in the Webster County Courthouse. Those books contain the land ownership records of Webster County dating back 150 years. And during most of those years, all of the information was entered by hand – ...