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Ringing in America250

Local Columns

As we wind down the year, America is winding up to celebrate an important milestone in our nation’s history. On July 4, 2026, the United States of America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding. When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, America inches closer to our Semiquincentennial — a Latin-derived term meaning 250 years — with special celebrations to commemorate our storied history in communities across the country. Throughout our history, Americans from all walks of life have shaped our story, including the 56 colonists who signed the Declaration ...

FDCSD moves to reach students who don’t speak fluent English

Editorial

While debate and even controversy goes on nationwide about immigration, locally there is a fact that must be recognized. The reality is that there are students in the Fort Dodge Community School District, regardless of where they were born, who do not speak English fluently or don’t speak it at all. And it is also a fact that the school district remains responsible for educating those students. Teachers and school administrators have wrestled with the challenge of how to break through the language barrier so that those students can learn what they need to know to become productive ...

Have a hands-free holiday driving season

Local Columns

Think what life was like 100 years ago. Most of us living today won’t recall anything about 1925. Those were the days of great American prosperity known as “the roaring 20’s”, when Babe Ruth played for the New York Yankees, the 18th amendment to the United States Constitution outlawed transport and sales of alcoholic beverages across the nation, Calvin Coolidge was the first president to deliver his inaugural address over the radio, the ladies wore flappers, the guys wore zoot suits and fedoras. Jazz music played in the speakeasies, and Henry Ford’s Model T dominated the ...

Home for the holidays

Local Columns

Christmas has always been a season of coming home. For a long time, that meant flying from New York or driving from Chicago back to Fort Dodge. I would walk in the door, drop my bags, and find my dad sitting on the couch with his hand on the remote, already impatient for me to put my stuff away so we could start watching “The West Wing” together. That was our thing. It didn’t matter how long the drive was or how tired I was. The tradition started as soon as I sat down. When I moved back to Iowa in 2014, coming home meant something different. My dad was living with Parkinson’s, ...

Silent night, holy night …

Editorial

All across the nation, a feeling of anticipation is in the air. It is Christmas Eve, a time when those whose jobs do not demand that they be at work complete preparations for Christmas, the biggest day on most of our calendars. Once the packages are all wrapped, the last decorations are adjusted on Christmas trees, cookies are taken out of the oven and, perhaps, a turkey begins cooking, a time of peace descends upon many of us. Weary from the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we relax for a few moments. Many of us go to evening church services, where “Joy to the World” comes ...

Choose Iowa promotes high quality food, drink from our state

Editorial

People across the United States increasingly want to know where their food comes from. It just makes sense to know where something you put in your body comes from. And a problem like the recent scare over the possibility of tiny pieces of metal getting into shredded cheese only adds urgency to the desire for knowledge. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has a relatively new program that lets consumers know when they are getting wholesome food from our state. It’s called Choose Iowa. The distinctive Choose Iowa logo on a package, bag or bottle means the food ...