The Fort Dodge Regional Airport is obviously a place for people to get flights that can start them on journeys to anywhere in the world. But its impact extends beyond just the comings and goings of passengers. According to a statewide survey conducted by the Iowa Department of ...
To the editor: Do we really need another law? Distracted driving should cover anyone driving erratically — whether it’s talking on a cell phone, eating, shaving, putting on make-up, etc. Punish the people that drive dangerously instead of of a blanket law that goes after everyone. If ...
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders criticizes Democrats for lacking the courage to think big. But it takes no courage to promise impossible levels of new spending and programs that could not work as advertised. It takes courage to level with voters. Mr. Sanders’s rivals for the Democratic ...
The vast majority of inmates filling Iowa’s prisons will someday complete their sentences and return to society. That reality leaves state leaders with a decision to make. They can either equip those inmates with skills so they can become productive citizens or they can just lock them up ...
There’s an old Greek proverb that says, a society grows great when people plant trees in whose shade they know they will never sit. And even though opportunity lives here today, with a strong, growing economy, we have to be planning for tomorrow, not today. That’s what the Invest in Iowa ...
In 2017, Congress failed to extend a key assist to a new and growing industry. The biodiesel tax credit was allowed to expire. This $1-a-gallon credit was designed to subsidize renewable biodiesel production so a young industry could grow to the point where it would no longer need government ...
Iowans have a reputation of being hard workers, honest, neighborly, connected to the land and genuinely “Iowa nice”. Unfortunately, this reputation does not hold true when we look at our state’s record of protecting its natural resources and investing in outdoor recreation. It has been ...
The once-a-decade collection of information about Americans may well go down in history as the first digital Census. Let us hope it also is not recorded as an electronic fiasco. Officials at the U.S. Census Bureau will be utilizing tons of state-of-the-art technology in gathering information ...
Iowa’s farm families have long understood the importance of state-of-the-art conservation practices. Our state’s farmers pay close attention to the preservation of soil and water quality. They understand that the protection and enhancement of these crucial resources is absolutely vital to ...
In her Condition of the State Address in January, Gov. Kim Reynolds called on lawmakers to pass major legislation — the Invest in Iowa Act. The governor has now forwarded details about this proposal to the Legislature and begun a series of town hall meetings across Iowa to build support for ...
FFA was established in 1928 as Future Farmers of America. It was renamed the National FFA Organization in 1988 to reflect the rapid changes and greater employment diversity in agriculture. To most of us, it is known simply as FFA. After more than eight decades, FFA continues to enrich the ...
To the editor: Donald Trump gets kicked in the rump by those that call him everything that’s wrong (even a Democrat). They thumb their nose and hate what he knows — hate what he vetoes. Curse him wherever he goes. These Democrats can’t be bright in their heads. Their battery went dead. ...
Mexico is a key market for the sale of Iowa’s agricultural products. With the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement due to take effect this year, the stage has been set for that already substantial trade partner to become even more significant for Iowa’s farmers and manufacturers. With that in ...
It’s an all too common sight on Iowa roads: a driver with a phone pressed to their ear, chatting away while their vehicle weaves in and out of its lane. Such action could be the beginning of a crash and, in a worst case scenario, a tragedy. Just how bad is the problem? In 2018, the last ...
To the editor: Strengthening Families for parents and youth 10-14 is about to start in Fort Dodge the week of March 1. This PROSPER program will begin its 19th year of programs with fifth-and-sixth-graders and their families. Families that participate in the programs delivered through ...
Prospects for an agreement that could lead to withdrawl of all American troops from Afghanistan are “very promising,” U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on Saturday. U.S. emissaries have been talking with leaders of the Taliban organization, which once ruled Afghanistan, for ...
To the editor: Last week we have seen an unprecedented delay in the results of our Iowa Caucus. Our broken election process is so convoluted we still don’t have a definitive winner. We need a change and Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is the answer. The spoiler effect prevents people from ...
For as long as anybody can remember, Iowans have been changing their clocks twice a year for Daylight Savings Time. Each spring, they set the clock ahead one hour and each fall they set it back one hour. A bill introduced by state Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, would eventually put an ...
February is Heart Month. Did you know heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, yet many people have no symptoms? To prevent a cardiac event from affecting your life, it’s essential to learn what puts you at risk of developing heart disease, and how to keep it from ...
President Donald Trump has forwarded to Congress his proposed federal budget for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1. Deciding what our national government should spend and how those expenditures should be funded was set out in our Constitution as the job of Congress. In recent decades, ...