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Editorial

Protect our road workers by slowing down

Every spring, road workers throughout the Fort Dodge area move out to do battle with the potholes, cracks and other damage left behind by the constant freezing and thawing typical of a Midwest winter. Chances are that over the years everyone has heard some version of the old wise crack that goes like this: In Iowa, we have two seasons — winter and road construction. The annual chore of fixing all the potholes will be part of the road construction season. Plus there will be fresh coats of asphalt and concrete being placed on some streets. And there will be bigger construction ...

Fur Ball is Saturday at Laramar Ballroom

It would be hard to imagine our society without pets. Dogs and cats contribute wonderfully to the happiness and well-being of people of all ages. In a perfect world, every pet would at all times be a welcome and loved part of someone’s home. Unfortunately, reality falls short of that ideal. That’s why it’s important to our community that the Almost Home Humane Society of North Central Iowa remains strong and grows even stronger. As with so many other worthwhile endeavors, achieving laudable goals depends in part on raising the money necessary to support the cause. For the ...

Keep Iowa’s roads safe this spring

This is the time of the year when big, slow-moving farm vehicles rumble out onto roadways dominated by faster-paced traffic. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who lives in farm country. Even so, all of us should pay special heed to safety considerations as we share the roads with agricultural vehicles. In general, Iowa has been doing a good job of keeping accidents involving farm vehicles to a minimum. According to data from the Iowa Department of Transportation, fatalities and major injuries resulting from such accidents have been on the decline in recent years. That’s ...

Radon is silent menace in Iowa

Over the years, Hollywood has cranked out lots of scary movies featuring something awful lurking in the basement of an unsuspecting person’s home. In the real world of Iowa, there just may be something awful lurking in the basements of people’s homes. And unlike the ghosts and monsters of the movies, this unwelcome presence can’t be seen. We are speaking of radon. It is a gas that is invisible. It has no odor. And it can cause cancer. There are ways to check for it. If it is detected, there are ways to reduce and even eliminate its presence. We encourage people to have ...

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 ...