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Editorial

Speed limit increase is a bad idea

Iowa’s lawmakers appear to be on the verge of raising the speed limit on the state’s two-lane highways. We think it’s a terrible idea and call on them to reject it. The bill now before the legislature would establish the default speed limit at 60 mph rather than the current 55 mph. But because four-lane highways have an established speed limit of 65 mph and highways that are part of the interstate system have a 70 mph speed limit, the impact of this bill would be realized on the two-lane routes like U.S. Highway 169. We see lots of bad things coming from this concept, and ...

Community Health Center of Fort Dodge is vital

The Community Health Center of Fort Dodge is built on this principle: everyone should get quality health care regardless of what kind of insurance they have or how much money they have in the bank. That’s a concept that seems so basic that no one should have to think about it. But in reality, it takes hard work and dedication to reach that ideal. In Fort Dodge and the surrounding area, we are fortunate to have a Community Health Center that cares for everyone, regardless of their insurance or financial status. Health center leaders repeatedly say that the facility is there for ...

Hearing was missed opportunity to weigh in on FD property taxes

It seems like a segment of the Fort Dodge population has surrendered its right to complain about any potential increase in the city property tax rate that may be coming. As it stands right now, the city’s property tax rate for the 2026-2027 fiscal year is set to go up by 14 cents per $1,000 of taxable value. That would boost the tax rate from $20.75 per $1,000 of taxable value to $20.89 per $1,000 of taxable value. And that higher rate would be levied against any increased value that a piece of property might have. Property owners throughout the city had a golden opportunity on ...

It’s time for spring — and farming

It’s getting to be that time of the year. Although it is early in the season, you just may have seen someone working in the fields already. You may have seen a tractor rolling down a rural road. If you are a farmer, perhaps you have been looking over the fields and getting the machinery ready. All that activity means one thing — the time to start planting is drawing near. Yes, there may be a late season snow storm, but spring is coming and with it comes the annual planting. Spring is the time when the pace quickens on the state’s roughly 90,000 farms. According to the ...

Help celebrate National Ag Day

As another growing season approaches, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is encouraging Iowans to join in the recognition of Tuesday as National Ag Day. One goal of National Ag Day is to recognize the contribution agriculture makes in the lives of all of us. The American Council on Agriculture sponsors and encourages programs during National Ag Week that help Americans: • Understand how food and fiber products are produced. • Appreciate the role ag plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products. • Value the essential role of agriculture in ...

Public notices must remain in newspapers

There are some in the Iowa Legislature who periodically toy with the possibility of eliminating the requirement that local governments print public notices in newspapers. This is the wrong move today, tomorrow and for the future. Government transparency is more important than ever. In truth it is critical. While The Messenger and other Iowa newspapers have an economic interest in seeing that the public notice publishing requirement remains, the issue goes far beyond a few dollars. Maintaining the legal requirement to publish government actions and meetings in local newspapers is ...