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Opinion

Gives thanks for Honor Flight trip

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: Dear Mr. Ron Newsum and board members: I want to thank you for the awesome Honor Flight trip you and the sponsors provided us veterans on May 7, 2025. I had heard that this was an amazing trip but this day was beyond words. WOW! Seeing all the memorials with fellow veterans made it even more meaningful. Realizing the great sacrifices men and women have made over the past 250 years, we know that our freedoms we enjoy today came with a very high price. Arlington National Cemetery’s Changing of the Guard was an incredible ceremony. It was heartwarming to see the area ...

No more handouts for the idle rich living high off the hog

Local Columns

Our nation’s safety net shouldn’t be strained by subsidizing the lifestyles of the self-sufficient. Yet, too many of the idle rich are living high off the hog, collecting government checks for not working, while at the same time earning a million dollars or more from some other side venture. Thousands of out-of-work millionaires were paid more than $271 million in unemployment assistance during the first two years of the Biden administration (amounts are from tax years 2021 and 2022, numbers for 2023 and 2024 are not yet available). Based on an analysis of tax returns from ...

Wants common sense back in government

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: Common sense tells me that if I am in debt and want to maintain the quality of life that I am used to, I certainly wouldn't go ask my employer to start paying me less money. It seems to me that is what our government is doing every time they want to cut taxes. I used to work as a mechanic at a local gypsum factory that was a training facility for engineers right out of college. I remember times when they would come up with plans to make the plant more efficient, and although things really looked good on paper, we had already tried these plans, and they wouldn't work. ...

Congratulations graduates

Editorial

The annual ritual of high school graduation is upon us. On Sunday, several area schools, including St. Edmond Catholic School, Manson Northwest Webster High School, Southeast Valley High School, Humboldt High School and others, will hold their commencement exercises. Each ceremony is a familiar ritual. Excited graduates in caps and gowns will arrive to the accompaniment of “Pomp and Circumstance.” Friends and relatives sitting in the stands will nudge each other and say “Look, there she is.” Hundreds of photos will be snapped. There will be speeches, and it’s a pretty ...

Roger Natte is a local history champion

Editorial

Have you ever wondered how the current community of Fort Dodge came to be? Or what happened around here decades and even centuries ago? There is one man in town who can answer many of those questions from memory. And if he doesn’t know the answers right away, he knows where to find a document, map, book or old letter that holds the answers. That man is Roger Natte. Many know him as the Fort Dodge history expert. Natte not only knows a lot about local history, he is willing and eager to share that knowledge. Knowledge and the willingness to share it is a powerful combination. And ...

Don’t fumble

Local Columns

I am honored to have the opportunity to address this group of Triton graduates and loved ones here in attendance today. Thanks for allowing us the opportunity to assist you in your academic careers. We are honored that you chose Iowa Central, and we don’t take for granted that you did. My background is in education and athletics. I’m going to share with you some advice from having the privilege of working in collegiate athletics as a coach and athletic director for nearly 40 years. I have had the opportunity to learn a few things over these 40 years from a tremendously ...