Breaking News

Editorial

Building tomorrow’s community leaders

Leadership Fort Dodge has an ambitious mission. It seeks to develop community leaders who are informed, dynamic, qualified and motivated. Now in its 17th year, the project endeavors to mold future leaders by providing them the background information and other tools they need to become positive forces in the community. The program is now overseen by the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance. It got underway initially in 2005 under the auspices of the Fort Dodge Area Chamber of Commerce. Participants spend one day per month for nine months learning about many aspects of the community, ...

Flu shots provide potentially lifesaving protection

Although the potential next round of COVID-19 booster shots is getting attention, 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 fever and generally feeling lousy. Those symptoms definitely add up to an illness, but the problem is not really the flu. Influenza, as it is properly known, is much, much worse. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, influenza is caused by viruses that infect the respiratory tract. Influenza ...

FD resident will play key role in selecting judges

Iowa has a unique way of selecting its judges and Supreme Court justices. Instead of electing them, the jurists are selected by a process that examines their legal knowledge, experience and writing skills. There are panels called Judicial Nominating Commissions that review the qualifications of lawyers seeking to become judges. Those commissions then submit names to the governor, who picks one of those individuals to fill a position on the bench. There is a commission for each of the 14 judicial districts in the state. Obviously, members of those commissions fulfill a key role in ...

It will be a good day to recall past struggles for economic fairness

To most Americans in 21st-century America, Labor Day is not an especially important holiday. It marks the unofficial end of summer. As such, it affords a three-day weekend to pursue summertime passions one last time before the weather cools. For most of us, it has little additional meaning. It may come as a surprise to many contemporary Americans, therefore, to learn that Labor Day became a national holiday during an era characterized by great conflict between organized labor and the business community. The decision to create the holiday was, in part, an act of conciliation. The ...

Overdose deaths are rising in Iowa, US

Heart attacks, strokes, cancer and car accidents have been major causes of death for generations. More recently, COVID-19 emerged as a killer. But there is something else out there that is claiming increasing numbers of lives: overdoses. Last year, 470 Iowans died from overdoses, according to data released by the state government. In 2020, there were 419 overdose deaths. In 2019, there were 350 such deaths. The number of overdose deaths is going in the wrong direction – in other words, up – even as the medical profession scores more and more successes against the old foes such as ...

To benefit their community, bicyclists hit the trails

A pair of local shelters received a healthy financial boost from a group of dedicated bicyclists recently. The organizers of the Prairie Rivers Trail Ride presented $5,000 donations to both the Beacon of Hope and The Lotus Community Project. That money was generated by the Aug. 13 Prairie Rivers Trail Ride during which bicyclists started on Central Avenue and proceeded to pedal their way down all the local trails. A total of $10,000 in donations is pretty impressive. But that is only a portion of the money the trail ride has generated over the last four years. Since the first ride ...