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Let us give thanks

Editorial

Sometimes in America, it seems as if we actually enjoy advertising our trials and difficulties. And, yes, we have had plenty of them this year. There were really trying times in the early days of our nation also. That is why America’s first formal Thanksgiving observance had far more significance to our people than today’s often perfunctory observance. With all our troubles, we Americans are among the very few people in the world who feel it necessary to officially observe a day of thanksgiving. The words of George Washington, our first president, recognized that need. His Oct. ...

Q & A on Main Street Fort Dodge

Local Columns

Please provide some background information about Main Street Fort Dodge and its mission. The Downtown Fort Dodge Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District became a Main Street Iowa district in 2017. Our mission is “Working to reclaim the downtown’s historical purpose and prosperity by revitalizing the culture and character of its original merchant district.” Affiliated with Main Street Iowa and Main Street America, the district encompasses 33 blocks, making Main Street Fort Dodge the third largest district in the state. What specific events or activities are planned to ...

Service clubs team up for ‘Foodraiser’

Editorial

About two weeks ago, a group of people dashed through a closed supermarket, putting groceries in carts as fast as they possibly could. No, they weren’t looting the place. In fact, they were doing a good deed that will help hungry people in the Fort Dodge area. The people filling those shopping carts were members of local organizations like Sertoma and Kiwanis. The event was the 2024 Service Clubs United Foodraiser. The site was the Fareway store at 1231 First Ave. S. When it was all over, thousands of dollars worth of groceries had been collected for the Fort Dodge Community ...

Q & A: Seasonal shopping scams

Local Columns

Q: What should online shoppers know to keep their wallets safe this holiday season? A: No matter the time of year, consumers need to take precautions to protect their hard-earned money from scams, particularly when shopping online during the holiday season. Last year, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) tallied more than $73 million in losses from cybersecurity scams during the holiday season. A tried and true tip is worth repeating and sharing with friends and loved ones: if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Specifically, be on alert for unsolicited ...

United Way is helping single parent families

Local Columns

Parenting can be one of the toughest jobs to have. But for a single parent, the difficulty of parenting increases exponentially. Today, 42 percent of households with dependent children in Fort Dodge are single parent households. And 90 percent of them are headed by mothers. Being a single mother is a challenging journey to say the least. This journey encompasses a myriad of hardships and emotional complexities. Single parents often find themselves navigating a landscape filled with financial strain, emotional burdens, and social isolation, all while striving to provide a nurturing ...

Span will be lasting tribute to those who defended America

Editorial

When it debuted some 56 years ago, the span that carries First Avenue South over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks was named Veterans Bridge. It was an appropriate name, but it was just a name and as the decades passed a number of people forgot that the bridge was even called that. Now the bridge is truly a tribute to veterans, especially a World War II veteran who was the city’s mayor when it was built. And the transformation was driven by a relatively small group of veterans who brought an idea to city officials, and then enlisted the support of the public to raise all the ...