Breaking News

Editorial

Federal money helps Belmond, Pocahontas hospitals

When COVID-19 hit the United States in 2020, health care professionals across the nation were pushed to their limits. They were dealing with an unheard-of disease and the protocols for treating it were changing on nearly a daily basis. The number of infections and deaths were growing exponentially. Major medical centers in the biggest cities were hard-pressed to deal with the crisis. Small rural hospitals that don’t have the staff, equipment or budgets of those big medical centers were hit even harder. Effective vaccines have ended the crisis phase of COVID, which will apparently ...

Iowa is one of the top five egg producing states in the U.S.

Egg production is big business in Iowa. The state’s roughly 60 million laying hens generate a remarkable 16 billion eggs each year, making Iowa the No. 1 egg-producing state in the nation. The Iowa egg industry is a big purchaser of Iowa’s other agricultural products. The state’s layers consume 57 million bushels of corn and 28.5 million bushels of soybeans every year. The Iowa egg industry is responsible for about $2 billion worth of sales annually. This industry also contributes mightily to a positive employment picture in Iowa. According to the Iowa Egg Council, egg ...

Reform needed to prevent chaos in 2024 presidential election

A group of senators met last week to try to prevent anyone from stealing the 2024 presidential election or from once again inciting an armed mob to attack the Capitol. The bipartisan band, led by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), aims to update the 1887 Electoral Count Act, the archaic law that governs how Congress counts electoral votes that became a focus of Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The fate of the nation’s democracy might rest on whether these senators strike a deal, and soon: If Republicans take the House after ...

Friends of St. Edmond Ball is tonight

Catholic education has been an important part of life in Fort Dodge almost since the town was founded. The first Catholic school got underway in 1862. The 160 years since have witnessed many changes and stupendous progress. The impressive educational complex that is today’s St. Edmond is a treasure admired and valued by the whole community. The world of the 21st century is vastly different from the America of the Civil War era, when that first school was established. Even so, the dedication of the Catholic community to the enhancement of its educational system, which was robust from ...

Nurses remain 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 ...

Grants will put federal relief money into the hands of local businesses

Small businesses throughout Webster County that took a financial beating at the height of the COVID pandemic and didn’t get much help now have a second chance at relief. The Webster County Board of Supervisors, working with the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, is once again offering grants for those businesses. Last year, the board chose to use some of of the county’s share of its federal COVID relief money to offer grants of $2,500 to $10,000. The first of those grants were awarded in January. Applications are once again being accepted for the Webster County Business ...