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A thank you for a job well done

Editorial

During a big winter storm such as the monster that dropped 13.5 inches of snow on Fort Dodge recently, lots of people like to stay inside, sipping their favorite hot beverage while they watch the white stuff pile up outside. But one group of people goes out in every storm, and the work of these unsung heroes makes it possible for everyone to travel in snowy conditions. They are the men and women who drive snowplows. They are employed by the Iowa Department of Transportation, counties and cities. Their mission requires them to maneuver big trucks and sometimes, motor graders and ...

Lights at Kennedy makes season bright

Editorial

As Christmas approaches, the campground at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park has once again been transformed into a holiday wonderland. The 22nd annual Lights at Kennedy will help make the season more festive for area residents and visitors. Additionally, the event raises money to support local service groups. This is the first weekend that the lights are on. Actually, they went on Friday and are scheduled for Sunday evening, with Saturday cancelled due to inclement weather. The lights will also be on Dec. 12-14 and Dec. 19-21. Each day, the displays will be lit up from 6 p.m. to 9 ...

Memories from the family that made Shimkat Motor Co. a success

Local Columns

When your family is in the car business, it’s a really big deal when you turn 16-years-old and get your driver’s license and your very first car. Bill Shimkat remembers in vivid detail that day in 1986 when his father, Edward C. Shimkat, took him out to the Fort Dodge family’s ...

A Time for Angels helps those who mourn

Editorial

The death of a loved one is the emotional equivalent of getting hit by a train. There’s almost nothing that can create the bewildering range of emotions that the death of a loved one can generate. The range of emotions can include anger, fear, sadness, loneliness and other feelings that defy ordinary description. And those emotions can hit hardest during the holiday season. The staff of Gunderson Funeral Home and Cremation Services is well aware of that. They also believe that grief shared is grief that is diminished. Keeley Gunderson came up with the idea for a community ...

Supports Larson for House District 7

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: All of us who live in the Iowa House District 7 which includes Calhoun County, Pocahontas County, Sac County and the western part of Webster County are indeed fortunate to have good school districts, good local public libraries, good health care services and a relatively safe environment in which to live and to raise our families and prepare our children for their futures. This also includes human services assistance, good roads and other infrastructure needs to accommodate the largest industry in our district which is agriculture and ethanol production. Compare the ...

School district owes explanation for this goodbye gift

Local Columns

While the text of the Iowa Constitution lacks the prominence of that adopted by our nation’s Founders, people from Ackley to Zwingle and points in between should track down a copy and give it a read. Buried away in the document Iowa voters adopted in 1857, they will find Article III, Section 31, or what has come to be known as the public purpose requirement. That section says, in essence, that state and local governments are barred from spending public money unless there is a public purpose for those expenditures. My public-school education tells me that section prohibits the use ...