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Letters to the Editor

Urges public officials to prioritize mental health

To the editor: May is Mental Health Month. By urging my public officials to prioritize suicide prevention, mental health and crisis care, I am hoping to influence collective change to support #MentalHealth4All. Right now, individuals in crisis are able to call 1-800-273-8255 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress and those that care for them. Soon, it will be much easier to remember how to reach the Lifeline as the number will be changing to “988” nationwide by July 2022. Knowing this, ...

FD Area Symphony is back

To the editor: The Fort Dodge Area Symphony is excited to announce our plans to resume in-person concerts for the 2021-2022 season. Please mark these dates on your calendar: Oct. 17, Dec. 5, Feb. 27, 2022; and April 10, 2022. All concerts will begin at 3 p.m. and will be held in the Fort Dodge Middle School Auditorium. As our planning continues we will update our Fort Dodge Area Symphony Facebook page to keep you posted on the most up to date information. We are so excited to see you again. Hope Brown and the FDAS Board

Thank you

To the editor: The family of Annji Marie Madsen wish to pass the most heartfelt thank you for the outpouring of thoughts of the family at the time of Annji’s passing. Michael E. Madsen and family Fort Dodge

Thanks St. Ed teacher for standing up to racism

To the editor: Recently my family has experienced some racism in town. I shared my story of what happened with my friends, but kept it away from my teachers. Until one of my friends told me, “You should tell Ms. (Nancy) Gabriel about what happened.” Ms. Gabriel is my study hall teacher and Gael Pride teacher so I felt pretty comfortable. So I explained to her what happened. The story is the following: My mother and I were going to Target to get my prescription. We got out of the car and proceeded to walk to the doors. We noticed some kids blowing up condoms, as if they were ...

Central School says thanks

To the editor: There’s a lot of scary, troubling news in the world today. It’s easy to get depressed and fearful. But then I think of the words of Fred Rogers, best known for his Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood TV show. “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” That’s still true today. All of us at Central School Preservation would like to thank The Messenger for sharing the recent story on Central School in Lake City. We’d also like to thank the nine South ...

Opposes travel center

To the editor: I am writing in regards to the story written in The Messenger about the travel center on U.S. Highway 20 and Poplar Avenue. I am a resident of 235th Street, born and raised here. As many of my neighbors have done, I have devoted much of my life and income to preserving the beauty of the area, as well as the agricultural heritage of the area, in spite of Highway 20’s construction in the 1980s. I am writing you to let you know that residents of the area are strongly opposed to the proposed project for many reasons which I will outline, and to plead with the public to ...