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Opinion

Stand with Israel, bring American hostages home

Local Columns

Today, eight of our fellow citizens are still being held in Gaza by the ruthless terror regime that wants nothing more than the death and destruction of Israel and the United States. I’ve met with the families of our American hostages numerous times — on the ground in Israel and in our nation’s capital. They long for the day when they can embrace their loved ones again, and say two simple, yet remarkably comforting words: welcome home. In the days following Oct. 7, President Biden vowed that Israel would have the full support of the United States. He pledged that we would ...

Hruskas vow to overcome tragic loss, reopen Dam Store one day

Local Columns

Mother Nature may have won the battle when the Hruska family lost its house and widely beloved business to the raging currents of the Blue Earth River that swept away the land beneath the two century-old structures just 12 miles outside Mankato, Minnesota. But the Hruskas — 84-year-old ...

Innovative plan seeks to increase heat on drug dealers

Editorial

Illegal drugs can be found at the root of nearly every crime, ranging from a broken window to a homicide. Here’s how Webster County Sheriff Luke Fleener describes it: “Our crime rate is driven by the influx and availability of illegal narcotics in our community.” What if something could be done to make life miserable for the drug dealers at the heart of all these problems without costing the local taxpayers any more money? An innovative plan put together by county leaders and the Fort Dodge Community Foundation aims to do just that. The plan would pool funding from the ...

Iowa Sales Tax Holiday starts Friday

Editorial

Area families are already beginning to think about the items that will be needed to send young folks back to school properly equipped and looking good. According to the National Retail Federation, families with children in school will spend about $38.8 billion nationwide on back-to-school clothing and supplies. Surveys by the federation have shown that clothing and shoes account for about half of a family’s back-to-school spending. Finding bargains is part of the fun of back-to-school shopping every year. Clothing and shoes are among the necessities that will be on just about ...

The Farm Bill prevents American farmland from falling into the wrong hands

Local Columns

Before I voted for the Farm Bill — which passed out of the House Agriculture Committee in May — I held many town halls with farmers and producers as part of my 36 County Tour and Feenstra Agriculture Tour to ensure that the priorities of our agricultural community were included in this vital legislation. In my conversations with producers, I repeatedly heard about the need for strong crop insurance protections, more opportunities to access new export markets, and foreign animal disease prevention and response. These provisions — and many others — were incorporated into the ...

Shellabration Inc. is an asset to Fort Dodge

Editorial

Jim Reed, Ted Bodensteiner, Craig Schlienz and all the other volunteers who make up Shellabration Inc. have pulled off another musical masterpiece. On Friday night, thousands of people crammed into the intersection of Central Avenue and Ninth Street for this year’s Shellabration concert. They were treated to rousing performances by the Tank Anthony Band, The Babys and headliner Rick Springfield. Hundreds of local volunteers worked behind the scenes for months to make the show possible, then shifted into really high gear the day before the concert to get everything set up. Then the ...