Gov. Kim Reynolds stunned the state by announcing last Friday that she would not seek re-election next year. Who saw that coming? We’re guessing that outside of the Reynolds family only a handful of the governor’s closest advisers knew about that decision in advance. Legislators serving ...

Chances are everyone played with a kaleidoscope as a child, twisting the tube to make the colored pieces inside of it form one unique pattern after another. A series of big kaleidoscopes, each of which is several feet long, have popped up across Pocahontas County. They work very much like ...

The impact of a group of volunteers known as Pride In Community Appearance can be seen throughout Fort Dodge. Usually called PICA, the group makes the town look beautiful by taking care of flower beds and landscaping on public property. PICA members tend to flower beds in parks and around the ...

The temperatures are sure to begin rising now and residents of the Fort Dodge area will be a lot more certain that spring has indeed arrived. And with spring, comes the notion of spring cleaning. But how about giving your home, yard or garden a whole new look? Or perhaps you just need some ...

This is the time of the year when big, slow-moving farm vehicles rumble out onto roadways dominated by faster-paced traffic. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who lives in farm country. Even so, all of us should pay special heed to safety considerations as we share the roads with ...

Persistence really does pay off. If you have any doubt about that, talk to state Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge. For more than four years she worked to protect all of us from distracted drivers who aren’t paying attention to the road because they are talking on their phone, texting or ...