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Editorial

Postal Service should not be privatized

As we Americans celebrate the 250th birthday of our country this year, we ought to take a minute to appreciate an often maligned organization that has helped tie the nation together throughout its history. That organization is the United States Postal Service. Even in the age of email, the Postal Service has a key role in helping Americans communicate and do business. We ought to keep it that way. Privatizing the Postal Service would be a mistake that would result in less service and higher costs for citizens. Unfortunately, the concept of privatizing it has come up a couple of ...

Nurses dedicated to caring for all

There is perhaps no profession that is so intertwined with an individual’s life as nursing is. Nurses are there to help bring new life into the world. They administer the vaccines, and help people get through all the various illnesses and injuries of a lifetime. And at the very end, nurses care for people in their last days. Nurses provide care in the form of medicine and therapy. But they also provide it in the form of reassuring words and a comforting presence. In light of what they do for all of us, it is highly appropriate that we spend a little time honoring them. National ...

Sign up for fun at Frontier Days

Mention Frontier Days and perhaps the first thing that comes to mind for many people is the massive parade that moves through downtown Fort Dodge. It’s a signature part of a traditional three-day event which celebrates the frontier heritage of the community and truly launches the summer season. In addition to the parade, Frontier Days features music, food, games and live entertainment at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village. The 2026 version of Frontier Days is a little more than a month away. It will be held June 5-7. The theme for this year, which is the 51st version of Frontier ...

Use of wind power must be encouraged

Spend any time outdoors in Iowa and one thing becomes immediately apparent - the wind is always blowing. We Iowans are accustomed to the corn stalks rustling in the summer breeze. And we complain when the wind chill factor makes a cold January day feel even colder. But wind is a fact of life here. That constant steady wind provides Iowans with a basically endless supply of low cost electricity. Wind turbines can be seen throughout southern Webster County and much of the state. Those turbines generate 63 percent of the state’s electricity, according to the most recent figures ...

Nitrogen project is worthy of support

A project just getting underway offers a chance to address two issues that affect the state of Iowa every year: water quality and the cost of fertilizer. It is called the Nitrogen Soil Sampling Project. It involves the state Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Iowa Nutrient Research & Education Council and Iowa State University in Ames. Because of the great positive impact it can have, we believe it is worthy of support by Iowa’s farmers. Over the three-year run of this project, researchers will study the year-to-year variability in nitrogen availability and ...

Spring cleaning helps keep city looking good

On Wednesday afternoon, groups of people carrying orange garbage bags could be seen moving through fields on the east side of Fort Dodge, in the area where lots of stores are located. As they moved, they gradually filled those bags with every piece of litter they found. That effort was the annual spring cleanup, once called the FOD Walk. For more than 15 years, the effort organized by the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance has made our community a bit cleaner. The endeavor was started by Rhonda Chambers, the former director of aviation at Fort Dodge Regional Airport who once led the ...