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Editorial

Persistence pays off for Webster County

The bridge that connects the two halves of Lehigh across the Des Moines River is nearing the end of its useful life. It is going to have to be replaced and doing so is going to cost big bucks. Those are inescapable facts. But here’s some good news: Webster County leaders have been able to secure a little over $9 million in grants to help pay for replacing that bridge. A big portion of that money — $6.2 million — came from a U.S. Department of Transportation grant award that was recently announced. Webster County was the only community in Iowa to get any money from that ...

Progress 2025 sections begin today

As the holiday season draws to a close each year, The Messenger’s writing staff embarks on a challenging adventure — producing a comprehensive look at how a wide array of developments in our region are shaping tomorrow. While every issue of this newspaper is filled with articles, features and advertisements that readers find informative and useful, the six special sections we call Progress provide a perspective that goes far beyond simply reporting the latest happenings. Our goal is to look at the big picture, capture trends and explore more fully events that may lead to headlines ...

One man’s work is preserving Fort Dodge history

The yellow cardboard boxes of negatives fill multiple shelves in the Webster County Historical Society's room in the Fort Dodge Public Library. Inside those boxes are about 12,000 photographic negatives. There are years written on the boxes. But what’s really inside them - what images are to be found - remain a mystery until someone digs into them. Joe Kudron has become that someone. Over the course of about 10 years, he has been steadily opening up those boxes and scanning the negatives into a hard drive. There is no profit in this undertaking for the Fort Dodge native who lives ...

Fort Dodge area is home to legislative leaders

Webster County is represented by three lawmakers who are uniquely positioned to have significant influence on the future course of our state. State Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. That’s the panel that handles spending bills. Every measure that calls for spending a cent of state money will go through Kraayenbrink’s committee. State Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, is the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. In Iowa, there can hardly be a more influential committee to lead. After all, this is a state that keeps ...

Transition of power

One of the things that makes American democracy unique took place at the Webster County Courthouse last Thursday. There, in a brief ceremony, a peaceful and seamless transition of authority occurred when two newly-elected members of the Board of Supervisors, along with other officials who won reelection, were sworn into office by District Court Judge Angela Doyle. The newly elected members of the board are Nathan Montgomery in District 2 and John Cochrane in District 5. Shaunna Abrams, the new county auditor, also took the oath of office that day. In the November general ...

The Christmas spirit of giving should continue throughout the year

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 Bikes for Tykes. Those are some of the best-known helping campaigns in the Fort Dodge area that ramp up at Christmas time, and we know there are a lot of others out there as well. The holiday season is now over. Several charitable programs have gone dormant until next Christmas. But the need is still there. Hunger, sickness, poverty and ...