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Insurance tips for high school and college graduates

Local Columns

Graduating from high school or college is a major milestone and comes with new responsibilities, including managing insurance needs. Whether driving a car, renting an apartment, or planning for your health, understanding basic insurance coverage is essential for financial protection. For cheaper car insurance it's smart to stay on your parent’s policy, if possible. However, if you need a policy, shop around for quotes and inquire about discounts for good grades, safe driving courses, and policy bundling with renters insurance. Also, understand key car insurance terms such as ...

Nurses dedicated to caring for all

Editorial

There is perhaps no profession that is so intertwined with an individual’s life as nursing is. Nurses are there to help bring new life into the world. They administer the vaccines, and help people get through all the various illnesses and injuries of a lifetime. And at the very end, nurses care for people in their last days. Nurses provide care in the form of medicine and therapy. But they also provide it in the form of reassuring words and a comforting presence. In light of what they do for all of us, it is highly appropriate that we spend a little time honoring them. National ...

Governor, legislature must support community college funding

Editorial

The Iowa legislature has gone into extra innings for its 2025 session, and the roughly $9 billion proposed state budget is the main obstacle to finishing it up. The lawmakers and Gov. Kim Reynolds are haggling over big, big numbers trying to get a spending plan hammered out. We would like to call their attention to one spending category that is kind of small by state budget standards but pays big, big dividends for our state. That spending category is state support for Iowa’s community colleges. Those 15 institutions now receive a total of $235.8 million from the state. The ...

A walk in the park

Letters to the Editor

To the editor: Recently I was walking my 30-pound golden doodle, Penny, on the nature trail. As we walked past Snell-Crawford Park, I noticed a young woman in the middle of the volleyball court struggling with a full grown pitbull. She lost control of the dog and it was on us faster than I could react, chasing my dog in circles around me until our leash finally wrapped around me and down I went. I would like to thank the woman who called 911 and stayed until the ambulance arrived. I would also like to thank the great EMT crew that picked me up and got me to the hospital, where I ...

Here’s how Congress can save millions of American jobs

Local Columns

Eight years ago, I worked with President Trump to enact the most significant simplification of our tax code in decades, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), also known as the Trump tax cuts. These tax cuts provided relief to every American, simplifying and reducing personal income taxes, and expanding important deductions used by small businesses across Iowa. These changes have allowed entrepreneurs to thrive and contributed to the incredible success we saw during the first Trump administration, which led to strong real wage growth for workers and the lowest unemployment rate in 50 ...

Book sale, Go Big Go Dodgers highlight the week

Editorial

The Friends of the Fort Dodge Public Library is now offering a good opportunity for everyone to expand their collection of books. That group is now conducting the spring version of its twice yearly used book sale. There are tables stretching the length of the library’s big meeting room and they are covered with books for sale. There are even some books still in boxes beneath the tables. Something to satisfy just about any reading taste can be found on those tables. The sale is underway, so book lovers will want to get there as soon as they can to ensure they have a chance to ...